Assessment of drinking water supplies based on the hydrogeological features in the north-east part of Prigorje

Sa？etak The aim of this paper is to assess the value of potable water supplies based on the hydrogeological features in the area called Sesvetsko Prigorje, which belongs to the southeastern slopes of Medvednica mountain. Springs of Medvednica are generally numerous but with low flow, providing the water supply of small settlements in that area. Known springs are about 230. The villages that have water management under local self-government in the study area are: Ka？ina, Gornja Planina, Donja Planina, Blagu？a, Jesenovec, Glavnica Donja, Glavnica Gornja, Prepu？tovec, Vurnovec, Gajec, Vugrovec Gornji, Goranec and ？imun？evec. In the southern slopes of Medvednica, the most important aquifers are the well-to-medium marbled (recrystallized) limestones of the Paleozoic age, then the dolomitic limestone complex of the middle and upper thresias and the carbonate-clastic deposits of the Middle Ages. The flow of the springs ranges from 1.0 l/s to 10 l/s. According to the results of hydrogeological surveys related to the quantity and quality of water it is obvious that the available quantities of water are sufficient for the number of inhabitants living in the area, but the distribution of water quantities is not uniform for individual settlements. The quality of the affected groundwater is mostly bacteriologically contaminated due to the old and unmanaged local water supply network and the absence of wastewater drainage systems from households and commercial facilities. The rehabilitation and reconstruction of local waterworks and the introduction of modern methods of treatment of affected waters would significantly improve their quality. The available amounts of groundwater can be increased by building additional wells. Since the Sesvete area will have an increasing demand for water in the very near future, partly because of the technical quality level, and partly for human consumption, investigated resources should be taken into account