Evaluation of total groundwater abstraction from public waterworks in Denmark using principal component analysis

In Denmark water abstraction data have been collected since the late 1970s. Initially the purpose was to monitor and assess the groundwater resources available for future local water abstraction. For this reason, abstraction data were collected not only from waterworks, but also from irrigation, industry etc. Today water abstraction data are used for several purposes, for instance in water-balance calculations to estimate the available resource to wetlands, streams and lakes or to calculate the flow of chemical substances in the water environment.