In addition to the impacts of changing rainfall patterns and urbanization, the water quality of the groundwater of the Kingston Hydrologic Basin (KHB) is also being challenged by poor sewage treatment facilitates. This is especially true during the dry periods during the year. These are some of the findings recently published in a 2020 edited volume exploring Global Groundwater issues. Chapter 8 entitled “Groundwater availability and security in the Kingston Basin, Jamaica” presents some of the results of a two year interdisciplinary study being undertaken by Dr. Arpita Mandal (Dept. of Geography and Geology), Dr. Debbie-Ann Gordon-Smith (Dept. of Chemistry) and graduate student Peta-Gay Harris (Dept. of Geography and Geology). Using monthly samples from 12 wells in the alluvial and limestone aquifers in the KHB, the authors examined the concentrations of contaminants and their spatial distribution to create an overview of the water quality. The results show elevated concentrations of both chloride and nitrate in the limestone and alluvial aquifers, particularly along the coast, with the nitrate contamination corresponding to densely populated areas, suggesting leakage from absorption pits. Absorption pits are a common method for dealing with sewage in the Kingston metropolitan area. The authors point out that studies like the one being undertaken are very important in the face of the ever increasing challenge being posed to water security by climate change which will result in increasing demand for new water sources. The use of groundwater sources in the KHB must be carefully monitored.

About the book:  Global Groundwater. Editor(s): Abhijit Mukherjee, Bridget R. Scanlon et al. https://www.elsevier.com/books/global-groundwater/mukherjee/978-0-12-818172-0

Link to the chapter: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128181720000086

About the authors (in order of photo collage): Dr. Mandal is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Geology. Her research interests are Hydrology and Hydrogeology, Hydrological Modelling, Groundwater Contaminant Studies, Isotope Hydrology  and GIS based  Multihazard Risk Assessment. Dr. Gordon-Smith is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry. Her research interests are Groundwater-surface water interactions; water pollution; radioactive and stable isotope tracers and climate change effects on water. Ms. Peta-Gay Harris is a graduate student in the Dept of Geography and Geology She is pursuing an MPhil degree.