Mineral and Thermal Groundwater Resources

Book info: Mineral and Thermal Groundwater Resources (Hardcover, 461 pages) – Springer, 1997. Language: English.

Is it not generally believed that our town is a healthy place . . . a place highly com­ mended on this score both for the sick andfor the healthy? . . And then these Baths - the so-called 'artery' of the town, or the 'nerve centre' . . . Do you know what they are in reality, these great and splendid and glorious Baths that have cost so much money? . . A most serious danger to health! All that filth up in Melledal, where there's such an awful stench - it's all seeping into the pipes that lead to the pump-room! Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People, 1882 Henrik Ibsen gave the 'truth about mineral water' more than 100 years ago in An Enemy of the People. His examples came not from the decadent bathing spas of Bohemia or Victorian Britain, but from the very edge of polite society, subarctic Norway! His masterpiece illustrates the central role that groundwaters and, in particular, mineral waters have played in the history of humanity: their economic importance for towns, their magnetism for pilgrims searching for cures, the political intrigues, the arguments over purported beneficent or maleficent health effects and, finally, their contami­ nation by anthropogenic activity, in Ibsen's case by wastes from a tannery. This book addresses the occurrence, properties and uses of mineral and thermal groundwaters. The use of these resources for heating, personal hygiene, curative and recreational purposes is deeply integrated in the history of civilization. Editorial Reviews From the Back Cover

The first part of this book examines the genesis, occurrence, exploitation and management of mineral and thermal water resources, approaching the subject from the hydrogeologist’s point of view, but also dealing with engineering and therapeutic applications of water resources.

The second part of the book contains case studies of specific geothermal and spa sites in several countries, including Romania, Iceland and the UK, written by hydrogeologists with a specialist knowledge of these areas. This section illustrates the diversity of mineral and thermal water resources worldwide, and highlights different international management philosophies of these resources.

Mineral and Thermal Groundwater Resources combines a scientific treatment of hydrogeochemistry, heat migration and geothermics with reader-friendly sections on the historical context and exploitation of spa and mineral resources. It is the first book to discuss in detail the two related phenomena of mineral and geothermal water resources.

This book will be of interest to professional hydrogeologists and resource managers, researchers in environmental science and engineering, as well as to amateur geologists and historians.