Introductory editorial

Excerpt

Mineral and thermal waters have great economic importance and are widely used for therapeutic, balneological, water bottling and energetic purposes, even though they represent a small percentage on the total yield of groundwater systems. The hydrogeological environment where mineral and thermal waters originated is complicated by specific hydrostratigraphical and structural conditions that permit the occurrence of different hydrochemical facies, including more flow paths and interactions among waters with different qualities. Geological uncertainties affect the hydrogeological model and make the interpretation of the hydrochemical facies often difficult. On the other side, the understanding of the recharge area, flow paths and processes of water–rock interaction is indispensable for the determination of available resources and their proper management. Often the legislation on mineral and thermal waters is focused on the definition of quality of the resources rather than the best practices of abstraction and management. …