The potential evaluation of groundwater pollution based on the intrinsic and the specific vulnerability index

Abstract

Assessment of groundwater pollution vulnerability is imperative and undeniable for appropriate and sustainable management of aquifer, especially in arid regions like Iran. This study aim was to evaluate the intrinsic and the specific vulnerability rate of Nehbandan aquifer groundwater vis-a-vis � contamination propagation using the three weighting models; DRASTIC, SINTACTS AND modified FUZZY-DRASTIC. Considering the two DRASTIC and SINTACS models only study the intrinsic vulnerability, the fuzzy method was modified DRASTIC to determine the specific vulnerability. The results showed that the best method to estimate the area’s vulnerability was the modified FUZZY-DRASTIC model that had a correlation coefficient of 0.79 with nitrate points. This amount is 0.38 and 0.5 respectively for DRASTIC and SINTACS. Besides, it was observed that only 2% of the area in DRASTIC, 6% in SINTACS and 4% in modified FUZZY-DRASTIC were located in a very high vulnerable situation and the most area was not vulnerable. The outputs of applied methods in the case study area exhibited the intrinsic vulnerability of aquifer and even can be used as a preliminary tool in the development and management of water resources in the future.