Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2016 (96. évfolyam)

2016 / 3. szám - HISTORICAL SNAPSHOT - Papp Mária - Ritvayné Szomolányi Mária - Szalay Miklós - Nagy-Kovács Zsuzsanna Ágnes: Water supply in Hungary

Mária Papp et al: Water Supply in Hungary

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30° Celsius can be obtained. We must, however, exercise caution in the exploitation of thermal water, as this resource is only recharged slowly; therefore, its use must be limited for the sake of sustainability. Groundwater quality is still generally favourable, which allows its versatile utilisation. 94-95% of Hungary’s drinking water is gained from groundwater resources. Shallow groundwater, i.e. the first aquifer, however, is contaminated in several places. At the same time, contamination has also occurred in also some 5-6% of deep groundwater and karstic water, which limits their utilisation.

WATER UTILISATION

Recently annual average water abstraction for different purposes reaches 5 300 million nr’. Far the most amount of water is used by the energy industry for cooling (Table I). The second largest user is the agriculture with its 510 million nr’ abstraction from surface waters for irrigation and fishery.

Table 1. Annual water abstraction from surface waters

[M irfVyl

%

Municipal

30

0.6

Irrigation

110

2.1

Fishery

400

7.5

Industrial

70

1.3

Services, construction

300

5.6

Energy industry, cooling

4 100

76.9

Bank filtered

320

6.0

Total

5 330

100.0

Table 2 shows that municipal usage is the dominant water abstraction from subsurface waters, which exceeds 57% of the country’s total annual average abstraction. Significant portion (13.4%) of the water abstractions from subsurface waters is in the grey or dark side. That portion is an estimate of illegal water abstractions, which exceeds the legal agricultural use (irrigation and livestock combined).

Table 2. Annual water abstraction from subsurface waters ____________(without bank-filtered)____________

[M nfVyl

%

Municipal

400

57.2

Irrigation

10

1.4

Illegal

94

13.4

Livestock

50

7.2

Industrial

55

7.9

Services, construction

40

5.7

Energy industry, cooling

50

7.2

Total

699

100.0

waters, the Transdanubian Mountains and the Buda thermal karstic system. The annually abstracted amount of groundwater is 699 million m\ of which 565 million m3 will flow into surface waters as treated waste water (Fig. 1)•

■ Municipal

■ Industrial

■ Energy industry

■ Irrigation

■ f istierios a Recreation

Ecological

Figure 1. Distribution of waste water discharges into surface waters in Hungary

WATER RESOURCES AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Compared to the rest of the world, Hungary and the other countries situated in the Danube River basin have a solid access to renewable water resources; only the Czech Republic is water stressed (Fig. 2). Hungary has a 10 000-m3/capita/year availability. However, Hungary’s internal freshwater resources are among the lowest compared to the other countries, about 6 billion m3/year. This is an important argument why Hungary should be considered vulnerable in the region. Luckily, due to the rich groundwater resources, drinking water supply is granted.

As for climate change, Hungary is affected by an increase in air and hence water temperature, prolonged droughts and low flow situations coupled with worsening flood trends and changes in water runoff patterns. Since the Hungarian water sector depends strongly on regular rainfalls and temperature-related consumption, these changes may jeopardise the good condition of the infrastructure and revenue gains in the near future. Though measures have been taken, these are such challenges that are hard to face not only on a professional level.

One of the expected consequences of climate change is that water resources become less and less accessible. Despite the reduction of available resources, the level of demand remains and is even expected to increase. In other words, there will be more and more demand for water, which could be only satisfied to a limited extent or not at all. Therefore, in order to avoid water shortages, it is necessary to know both the resources and the future demand in more detail than currently, as it is shown in Fig. 3. In addition, more conscientious water management is in order. We must aim for:

WASTE WATER DISCHARGES

Except for power plants and fish ponds, the economy uses groundwater substantially besides surface water, even though it is less justified by the rate of recharge. In some regions, we exploit our resources almost totally. These regions are the followings: between the rivers Danube and Tisza, the Nyírség, and in the case of karstic

• increased water retention for better utilization of our waters

• more economical and more efficient water use

• gradual improvement of the status of our waters

• a higher quality water and water utility service and the implementation of stormwater

• management with affordable tariffs