Water resource management

Water is one of the most important natural resource. As you could read in the previous post, untreated „raw” water is usually not suitable for human consumption due to the natural biological and chemical processes and human pollution. Water must fulfill very high quality standards to be safe to drink in bottled form or through water pipes. Not surprisingly, drinking water is the most controlled foodstuff in Hungary.

The best way to protect our water resources is to prevent pollution and keep surface water and aquifers safe from contamination. As a first step, we must do hydrogeological researches to recognise local geological and groundwater conditions and put it into a regional perspective. Based on this knowledge, we can plan safety regulations and create source protection zones. These areas are defined based on the hydrological basin’s groundwater flow conditions, potential sources of pollution, and geological data. As a result, hydrogeologists can count how fast the pollution could reach the drinking water wells from the different points in its catchment area.


  • Inner zone: protects the well and its direct surrounding, therefore it’s fenced. The border is defined by a travel time of 20-days and a distance of at least 10 m from the well.
  • Outer zone: its borderline indicates a travel time of 60.days and a distance of at least 100 m from the well. Its purpose is the protection against bacterial and other (degradable and non degradable) contaminants. Constructions, mining, traffic, and land use are regulated strictly in this area.
  • Hydrogeological zone: it is divided into zones A, B, and C.
  1. Zone A: the border is defined by a travel time of 5 years. In this area it’s not allowed to build new living areas, landfills, septic tanks, or produce/store/process toxic or radioactive substances.
  2. Zone B: its borderline is defined by a travel time of 50-years. Industrial septic tanks, producing/storing/processing of toxic or radioactive substances are not allowed.
  3. Zone C: this zone means the total catchment area of the well. Defining this zone is not obligatory and the regulations are made locally but cannot be as strict as zone B.

Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and accepted the EU Water Framework Directive which has been a complex action in the field of water policy. The directive’s purpose is to encourage sustainable water management, keep good chemical and ecological water quality, and protect water dependent ecosystems. Therefore, the EU members have to build monitoring systems to get widely accessible information about water quality, and develop local programs to protect aquifers and surface waters and increase biodiversity. This is the only possible way to have safe and healthy drinking water not just for us but for our grandchildren as well.

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