The HYDRO Bank is a hydrogeological database, which collects documentation data on boreholes, intakes and springs of regular, mineral and thermal groundwaters from the area of Poland. The information stored in the database includes:
- location of the hydrogeological feature (borehole, spring)
- hydrogeological measurements and calculations
- basic drilling and lithostratigraphic data
- physicochemical data of groundwater samples
Historical background
The hydrological drilling archiving project was formed in 1970s in the IT Department of the Polish Geological Institute (PGI) and it was intended for collecting hydrogeological borehole documentation data for the area of Poland through the network of HYDRO Regional Hydrogeological Data Banks.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the HYDRO Bank system was modernised several times. 1998 marked the commencement of work on the hydrogeological Database Integrator used in the Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology Department of PGI. According to the modernisation project, the resources of the HYDRO Bank and the Groundwater Monitoring Network (SOH) were to be transferred to the ORACLE relational database and they were to be integrated with the 1:50,000 Hydrogeological Map of Poland and the 1:50,000 Geological and Economic Map of Poland in a GIS system – GeoMedia Professional. Works in the Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology Department of PGI were carried out in collaboration with Intergraph.
In 2000 the system was implemented in the Central Hydrogeological Data Bank of the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw and in the network of the Regional Hydrogeological Data Banks.
Structure and resources
Throughout its 25-year history, the HYDRO Bank has accumulated a large amount of hydrogeological information. Currently the database contains documentation data about approx. 130,000 hydrogeological features. The database is being constantly updated. Approx. 1700 new hydrogeological features are entered in the database every year. The organisational structure of HYDRO Bank comprises: the Central Hydrogeological Data Bank known as HYDRO Bank (CBDH) in Warsaw and seven HYDRO Regional Hydrogeological Data Banks (RBDH) in Gdansk, Cracow, Lublin, Kielce, Wrocław, Szczecin and Warsaw.
Regional Hydrogeological Data Banks collect and update hydrogeological data for their assigned regions. Data from throughout the whole country is collected in the Central Hydrogeological Data Bank of the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw. The Central Hydrogeological Data Bank integrates the data resources from the Regional Hydrogeological Data Bank and makes them available to users.
Informational resources of the HYDRO Bank
They are used for design and documentation purposes in hydrogeology, geology, water management and environmental protection. The resources and the system of the HYDRO Bank are used by government and local government administration as well as by national services as a decision-support system in environment management. The main users of the HYDRO Bank include the following institutions and companies: Ministry of the Environment, Polish Geological Institute, Polish Hydrogeological Survey, Polish geological administration, geological companies and enterprises, an environmental protection foundation, voivodeship, poviat and gmina offices, units of geological and mining higher education institutions, Polish Army, Regional Boards of Water Management, and Inspection for Environmental Protection.
The information collected in the HYDRO Bank is the property of the State Treasury.
Access
Browsing data:
