AQUIFER PROTECTIONEnvironment & Quality
Water permits and approved catchment basin management plans.
All water abstraction sources used by EYATH S.A. to supply water to areas within its remit hold a lawful water usage permit in accordance with the relevant legislative provisions and are posted on the Government’s Transparency (Diavgia) website:
Aliakmon: Web Ref. No.: 7ΤΩΛΟΡΙΥ-ΕΥΜ
Aravissos and boreholes: Web Ref. No.: ΩΠΒΕΟΡ1Υ-ΠΞΟ
In addition, EYATH S.A. helped draft the Catchment Basin Management Plans under the auspices of the Special Secretariat for Water of the Ministry of the Environment & Energy, in accordance with the relevant European Directive. To that end, the company provided raw data and engaged in public consultation on the management plans, submitting comments and observations.
Protection zones
Based on the 1st revision to the Catchment Basin Management Plan for rivers in the Central Macedonia water region (EL 10) prepared by the Special Secretariat for Water to protect water in ground systems intended for human use -which in the case of EYATH means the Aravissos springs and boreholes- the following measures need to be taken:
Code – Name of measure: Μ10Β0401 – Clearing and demarcation of zones and/or measures to protect abstraction sites for water intended for human consumption from ground water systems.
Category of measure: Measures to protect water intended for human consumption (Article 7).
Reference to 1st Management Plan: Amendment/detailing of measures ΟΜ03-02 and ΟΜ03-03.
Implementing Bodies: Decentralised Administration (Water Directorate) and water suppliers (water supply companies, municipal water supply corporations, Municipalities, etc.).
That measure sets out the steps to be taken and/or the protection zones for individual sites where water is abstracted from ground water systems (springs, wells, boreholes) and abstraction fields from which water is pumped to produce water for human consumption, in quantities of over 10 m3 a day, on average a year, or which serve more than 50 people.
EYATH S.A. implements the catchment basin management plan and complies with the temporary protection zones for water abstraction sites which have been demarcated. These are categorised as follows:
- Total protection zone I: 10-20 m around the edge of a water abstraction site depending on local morphological conditions..
- Total protection zone II: The minimum area is demarcated as follows depending on the type of aquifer:
– Karst systems: 1,000 m upstream on both sizes (supply zone) and 500 m downstream from water abstraction sites.
– Fault systems: 500 m upstream on both sizes (supply zone) and 300 m downstream from water abstraction sites.
– Free-flowing granular systems: A radius of 500m all around.
– Pressurised granular or partly pressurised aquifers: A radius of 500m all around.
EYATH aquifer sustainable management principles.
Currently, operation of the refinery means that use of water reserves in the Sindos – Kalohori aquifer is limited primarily to the summer (normally from June to October) and the rest of the year the aquifer is naturally topped up with rainfall. Facilities there are systematically maintained and remain on stand-by to deal with emergencies. The result of sustainable management, with boreholes as a backup, has been a significant rise in the level of the aquifer overall, recorded in recent years, and in many cases the appearance of artesian phenomena (overflows). To avoid problems being created for nearby farmland, and to limit any losses, controlled depression of the aquifer level is performed by occasionally turning on the EYATH S.A. boreholes.
Hydrological network quantitative data collection network.
To ensure the sustainable management of EYATH S.A.’s water resources, a hydrological data collection network has been installed in the Aravissos springs area. Monitoring hydrological parameters using instrumentation (rainfall, temperature, flow rates, ground water levels), at the Aravissos springs began in earnest in December 2007 and includes:
- A rain meter (Aravissos springs),
- A water level logger (borehole Γ15),
- A complete meteorological station (Megali Livadia), run in partnership with the Hydraulics Division of the AUTH School of Civil Engineering,
- A surface water meter.
