Klingbeil, R., Gröschke, M., 2019. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) in Coastal Aquifers, in Brackish and Saline Groundwater. Presentation at the WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference, Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019.

1. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR)
in coastal aquifers, in brackish
and saline groundwater
Ralf Klingbeil, Maike Gröschke
Federal Institute for Geosciences and
Natural Resources (BGR), Germany

2. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Overview
 Groundwater Management in Coastal Zones
 Subsurface Water Solutions (SWS) – SUBSOL Project:
MAR in saline and brackish groundwater settings
 Special Focus: Buoyancy
… and its impact on Recovery Efficiency
 SUBSOL Outreach to GCC -
EU-GCC potential for cooperation

3. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Groundwater in Coastal Settings
 Urbanization & industrialization - Increasing water demand
 Seawater intrusion into aquifers - Water unsuitable
Example:
Marine saltwater
intrusion due to
overpumping
Post (2016)

4. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Handbook on
Groundwater Management in Coastal Zones
BGR,2018.

5. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Subsurface Water Solutions
Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Areas
Overexploitation
of freshwater
lenses
Upconing
of brackish/
saline water
Low efficiency
of conventional
ASR systems
Modified after KWR (2015)

6. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Subsurface Water Solutions
SWS in Different Coastal Settings
Modified after KWR (2015)
ASR Coastal
Modern
coastal cities
Freshkeeper
Local shallow or
deeper aquifers
Freshmaker
Artificial
islands

7. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Subsurface Water Solutions
ASR Coastal - Concept
 Infiltration, storage and recovery
of freshwater using multiple
partially penetrating wells
(MPPW) to deal with
buoyancy effects
Injection phase
 Freshwater injection in
deeper wells
Abstraction phase
 Option 1: Freshwater abstraction
from shallow wells
 Option 2: Additional brackish
water abstraction from deeper
wells; RO treatment

8. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
ASR in Brackish Aquifers - Multiple Partially Penetrating Well
Optimization of Well Design and Operation
 Laboratory Experiment
Witt&Müller,2019.

9. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
ASR in Brackish Aquifers - Multiple Partially Penetrating Well
Optimization of Well Design and Operation
 Different well designs
 Different pumping (inj/ext) schemes
 Different fresh-saline interaction
Witt&Müller,2019.

10. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
ASR in Brackish Aquifers - Multiple Partially Penetrating Well
Optimization of Well Design and Operation
 Fresh water in fresh water
 no buoyancy
 Fresh water in saline water
 buoyancy
Grenzwert: 2,75mS
Witt&Müller,2019.

11. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
ASR in Brackish Aquifers - Multiple Partially Penetrating Well
Optimization of Well Design and Operation
 Fresh water in saline water
 5 cycles: injection - extraction
 R1: All 4 wells inject & extract all
time
 R2: All 4 wells inject, extract only
until EC limit
R1
R2
Witt&Müller,2019.

12. SUBSOL
Potential Cooperation
with GCC Countries
Oman, Bahrain, UAE M. Gröschke, R. Klingbeil, K. Raat

13. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Potential for EU-GCC Cooperation
Sultanate of Oman
 Increasing salinisation of coastal aquifers
 Potential target aquifer:
Alluvial coastal aquifer
 Excess desalinated water: ASR to increase
water storage options in coastal aquifers
 Excess treated wastewater: ASR to increase
reuse and mitigation of seawater intrusion
 SWS opportunities
 Application of SWS technologies at pilot
sites
 Applied research accompanying
implementation at pilot sites
 Improvement of national regulation,
water quality standards for injection
 Capacity development on EU experiences
for regulation and approval procedures

14. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
Neogene Formation
+ Recent deposits
Alat Member
Orange Marl Member
Khobar Member
Sharks Tooth Shale M.
Rus Formation
Umm Er Radhuma
Formation
Geological Units
Dammam
Formation
metersbelowsealevel
(+anhydrite & shales)
A
B
C
Bahrain main island Sitra
island
A
A'
A A'
Limestone (Aquifer)
Underflow from Saudi
Arabia aquifers
Shale and marl (Aquitard)
Anhydrite (Aquitard)
Potential for EU-GCC Cooperation
Kingdom of Bahrain
 Increasing salinisation of island aquifers
 Potential target aquifer:
Fractured limestone, Dammam aquifer,
Khobar (B) formation
 Excess treated wastewater: ASR to
increase reuse and mitigation of
seawater intrusion
 SWS opportunities
 Suitability of SWS technologies
 Applied research accompanying
implementation at pilot sites
 Improvement of national regulation,
water quality standards for injection
 Capacity development on EU experiences
for regulation and approval procedures

15. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Potential for EU-GCC Cooperation
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
 Increasing salinisation of
inland and coastal aquifers
 Potential target aquifer:
Alluvial coastal aquifers
 Excess desalinated water:
ASR to mitigate seawater intrusion,
develop additional subsurface storage
 SWS opportunities
 Application of SWS technologies at
pilot sites
 Suitability of technologies for
injection in fresh water aquifers
 Applied research accompanying
implementation at pilot sites

16. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Potential for EU-GCC Cooperation
Outcome of SubSol Mission
 Oman, Bahrain & UAE showed strong
interest to cooperate with EU partners
 Increasing salinization of coastal and inland aquifers
 Excess desalinated water & excess treated
wastewater
 National plans exist to increase ASR applications
 Existing enabling environment, institutional capacity,
political support
 Needed: improved regulations, water quality
standards, approval procedures
 Needed: Joint research, joint capacity development,
joint funding

17. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
LAS-EU-Summit, 24-25 Feb 2019
Sharm El-Sheikh summit declaration: “Investing in Stability”
Paragraph 5:
 reaffirmed importance to
strengthen economic cooperation,
 establishing strong partnership based on
investment and sustainable development,
 committed to developing a
positive cooperation agenda
 fields (…) science, research, technology,
(…).
Paragraph 15:
 directed our respective institutions (...)
to identify modalities and mechanisms
to operationalise mutual cooperation (…).

18. WSTA 13th Gulf Water Conference
Kuwait, 12-14 Mar 2019
Acknowledgements
 European Union’s Horizon 2020
research and innovation programme
grant agreement No 642228
 SubSol –
Coastal SUBsurface water SOLutions:
SWS team, esp. colleagues from KWR,
www.subsol.org
 Ms. Lilli Witt, Mr. Moritz Müller,
Freie Universität Berlin

19. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR)
in coastal aquifers, in brackish
and saline groundwater
We ♥ MAR

20. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR)
in coastal aquifers, in brackish
and saline groundwater
Ralf Klingbeil, Maike Gröschke
Federal Institute for Geosciences and
Natural Resources (BGR), Germany