• Title/Summary/Keyword: Aquifer contamination

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Groundwater vulnerability assessment in the southern coastal sedimentary basin of Benin using DRASTIC, modified DRASTIC, Entropy Weight DRASTIC and AVI

  • Agossou, Amos;Yang, Jeong-Seok
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2021.06a
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    • pp.152-152
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    • 2021
  • The importance of groundwater has long been recognized, but the ground water potential to become contaminated as a result of human activities has only been recognized in recently. Before 1980 it was thought that soils served as filters, preventing harmful substances deposited at the surface from migrating into groundwater. Today it is known that soils have a finite capacity to protect groundwater. It can be contaminated from divers sources. Therefore, Assessment of aquifer vulnerability to pollution is essential for the protection and management of groundwater and land use planning. In this study, we used DRASTIC and AVI for groundwater vulnerability to contamination assessment. the different methods were applied to the southern coastal sedimentary basin of Benin and DRASTIC method was modified in two different steps. First, we modified DRASTIC by adding land use parameter to include the actual pollution sources (DRASTICLcLu) and second, classic DRASTIC weights was modified using Shannon's entropy (Entropy weight DRASTIC). The reliability of the applied approaches was verified using nitrate (NO3-) concentration and by comparing the overall vulnerability maps to the previous researches in the study area and in the world. The results from validation showed that the addition of landcover/land use parameter to the classic DRASTIC helps to improve the method for better definition of the vulnerable areas in the basin and also, the weight modification using entropy improved better the method because Entropy weight DRASTICLcLu showed the highest correlation with nitrate concentration in the study basin. In summary the weight modification using entropy approach reduced the uncertainty of the human subjectivity in assigning weights and ratings in the standard DRASTIC.

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A Study on groundwater and pollutant recharge in urban area: use of hydrochemical data

  • Lee, Ju-Hee;Kwon, Jang-Soon;Yun, Seong-Taek;Chae, Gi-Tak;Park, Seong-Sook
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2004.09a
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    • pp.119-120
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    • 2004
  • Urban groundwater has a unique hydrologic system because of the complex surface and subsurface infrastructures such as deep foundation of many high buildings, subway systems, and sewers and public water supply systems. It generally has been considered that increased surface impermeability reduces the amount of groundwater recharge. On the other hand, leaks from sewers and public water supply systems may generate the large amounts of recharges. All of these urban facilities also may change the groundwater quality by the recharge of a myriad of contaminants. This study was performed to determine the factors controlling the recharge of deep groundwater in an urban area, based on the hydrogeochemical characteristics. The term ‘contamination’ in this study means any kind of inflow of shallow groundwater regardless of clean or contaminated. For this study, urban groundwater samples were collected from a total of 310 preexisting wells with the depth over 100 m. Random sampling method was used to select the wells for this study. Major cations together with Si, Al, Fe, Pb, Hg and Mn were analyzed by ICP-AES, and Cl, N $O_3$, N $H_4$, F, Br, S $O_4$and P $O_4$ were analyzed by IC. There are two groups of groundwater, based on hydrochemical characteristics. The first group is distributed broadly from Ca-HC $O_3$ type to Ca-C1+N $O_3$ type; the other group is the Na+K-HC $O_3$ type. The latter group is considered to represent the baseline quality of deep groundwater in the study area. Using the major ions data for the Na+K-HC $O_3$ type water, we evaluated the extent of groundwater contamination, assuming that if subtract the baseline composition from acquired data for a specific water, the remaining concentrations may indicate the degree of contamination. The remainder of each solute for each sample was simply averaged. The results showed that both Ca and HC $O_3$ represent the typical solutes which are quite enriched in urban groundwater. In particular, the P$CO_2$ values calculated using PHREEQC (version 2.8) showed a correlation with the concentrations of maior inorganic components (Na, Mg, Ca, N $O_3$, S $O_4$, etc.). The p$CO_2$ values for the first group waters widely ranged between about 10$^{-3.0}$ atm to 10$^{-1.0}$ atm and differed from those of the background water samples belonging to the Na+K-HC $O_3$ type (<10$^{-3.5}$ atm). Considering that the p$CO_2$ of soil water (near 10$^{-1.5}$ atm), this indicates that inflow of shallow water is very significant in deep groundwaters in the study area. Furthermore, the P$CO_2$ values can be used as an effective parameter to estimate the relative recharge of shallow water and thus the contamination susceptibility. The results of our present study suggest that down to considerable depth, urban groundwater in crystalline aquifer may be considerably affected by the recharge of shallow water (and pollutants) from an adjacent area. We also suggest that for such evaluation, careful examination of systematically collected hydrochemical data is requisite as an effective tool, in addition to hydrologic and hydrogeologic interpretation.ion.ion.

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Prediction of Seasonal Nitrate Concentration in Springs on the Southern Slope of Jeju Island using Multiple Linear Regression of Geographic Spatial Data (지리 공간 자료의 다중회귀분석을 이용한 제주도 남측사면 용천수의 시기별 질산성 질소 농도 예측)

  • Jung, Youn-Young;Koh, Dong-Chan;Kang, Bong-Rae;Ko, Kyung-Suk;Yu, Yong-Jae
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.135-152
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    • 2011
  • Nitrate concentrations in springs at the southern slope of Jeju Island were predicted using multiple linear regression (MLR) of spatial variables including hydrogeological parameters and land use characteristics. Springs showed wide range of nitrate concentrations from <0.02 to 86 mg/L with a mean of 20 mg/L. Spatial variables were generated for the circular buffer when the optimal buffer radius was assigned as 400 m. Selected regression models were tested using the p values and Durbin-Watson statistics. Explanatory variables were selected using the adjusted $R^2$, Cp (total squared error) and AIC (Akaike's Information Criterion), and significance. In addition, mutual linear relations between variables were also considered. Small portion of springs, usually <10% of total samples, were identified as outliers indicating limitations of MLR using circular buffers. Adjusted $R^2$ of the proposed models was improved from 0.75 to 0.87 when outliers were eliminated. In particular, the areal proportion of natural area had the greatest influence on the nitrate concentrations in springs. Among anthropogenic land uses, the influence of nitrate contamination is diminishing in the following order of orchard, residential area, and dry farmland. It is apparent quality of springs in the study area is likely to be controlled by land uses instead of hydrogeological parameters. Most of all, it is worth highlighting that the contamination susceptibility of springs is highly sensitive to nearby land uses, in particular, orchard.

Evaluation of Groundwater Quality Deterioration using the Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of Shallow Portable Groundwater in an Agricultural Area (수리지화학적 특성 분석을 이용한 농촌 마을 천부 음용지하수의 수질 저하 원인 분석)

  • Yang, Jae Ha;Kim, Hyun Koo;Kim, Moon Su;Lee, Min Kyeong;Shin, In Kyu;Park, Sun Hwa;Kim, Hyoung Seop;Ju, Byoung Kyu;Kim, Dong Su;Kim, Tae Seung
    • The Journal of Engineering Geology
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.533-545
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    • 2015
  • Spatial and seasonal variations in hydrogeochemical characteristics and the factors affecting the deterioration in quality of shallow portable groundwater in an agricultural area are examined. The aquifer consists of (from the surface to depth) agricultural soil, weathered soil, weathered rock, and bedrock. The geochemical signatures of the shallow groundwater are mostly affected by the NO3 and Cl contaminants that show a gradual downward increase in concentration from the upper area, due to the irregular distribution of contamination sources. The concentrations of the major cations do not varied with the elapsed time and the NO3 and Cl ions, when compared with concentrations in background groundwater, increase gradually with the distance from the upper area. This result suggests that the water quality in shallow groundwater deteriorates due to contaminant sources at the surface. The contaminations of the major contaminants in groundwater show a positive linear relationship with electrical conductivity, indicating the deterioration in water quality is related to the effects of the contaminants. The relationships between contaminant concentrations, as inferred from the ternary plots, show the contaminant concentrations in organic fertilizer are positively related to concentrations of NO3, Cl, and SO42− ions in the shallow portable groundwaters, which means the fertilizer is the main contaminant source. The results also show that the deterioration in shallow groundwater quality is caused mainly by NO3 and Cl derived from organic fertilizer with additional SO42− contaminant from livestock wastes. Even though the concentrations of the contaminants within the shallow groundwaters and the contaminant sources are largely variable, it is useful to consider the ratio of contaminant concentrations and the relationship between contaminants in groundwater samples and in the contaminant source when analyzing deterioration in water quality.

Evaluation of Denitrification Efficiency and Functional Gene Change According to Carbon(Fumarate) Concentration and Addition of Nitrate Contaminated-soil in Batch System (회분식반응조 실험을 통한 탄소원(Fumarate) 주입조건에 따른 지하수 중 탈질율 및 탈질 관련 기능성 유전자 분석)

  • Park, Sunhwa;Kim, Hyun-Koo;Kim, Moon-su;Lee, Gyeong-Mi;Jeon, Sang-Ho;Song, Dahee;Kim, Deok-hyun;Kim, Young;Kim, Tae-seung
    • Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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    • v.20 no.7
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    • pp.80-89
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    • 2015
  • Nitrate is on the most seriou pollutant encountered in shallow groundwater aquifer in agricultural area. There are various remediation technologies such as ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and biological denitrification to recover from nitrate contamination. Biological denitrification by indigenous microorganism of the technologies has been reviewed and applied on nitrate contaminated groundwater. In this work, we selected the site where the annual nitrate (NO3) concentration is over 105 mg/L and evaluated denitrification process with sampled soil and groundwater from 3 monitoring wells (MW4, 5, 6). In the results, the nitrate degradation rate in each well (MW 4, 5, and 6) was 25 NO3 mg/L/day, 6 NO3 mg/L/day, and 3.4 NO3 mg/L/day, respectively. Nitrate degradation rate was higher in batch system treated with 2 times higher fumarate as carbon source than control batch system (0.42M fumrate/1M NO3), comparing with batch system with soil sample. This result indicates that increase of carbon source is more efficient to enhance denitrification rate than addition of soil sample to increase microbial dynamics. In this work, we also confirmed that monitoring method of functional genes (nirK and nosZ) involved in denitrification process can be applied to evaluated denitrifcation process possibility before application of field process such as in-situ denitrification by push-pull test.

Geochemical Investigation on Arsenic Contamination in the Alluvial Ground-water of Mankyeong River Watershed (만경강유역 충적대수층 지하수의 비소오염현황 및 지구화학적 특성)

  • Moon, Jeong-Tae;Kim, Kang-Joo;Kim, Seok-Hwi;Jeong, Cheon-Sung;Hwang, Gab-Soo
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.41 no.6
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    • pp.673-683
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    • 2008
  • As-rich alluvial groundwaters occurring in the agricultural area of Mankyeong River watershed were geochemically studied. 15 out of 29 investigated wells (52%) showed As levels exceeding the WHO drinking water standard ($10{\mu}g/L$). Their chemistry is characterized by low Eh levels, low $NO_3$ and $SO_4$ concentrations, and high pH, alkalinity, Fe, $NH_4$, and $PO_4$ levels. This suggests that arsenic is enriched by the reductive dissolution of As-bearing Fe-/Mn-(hydro)oxides, the commonest process in Bangladesh and West Bengal of India, of which groundwaters are severely contaminated by As. It was also revealed that As concentrations in the area are strongly regulated by the presence of agrochemicals such as $NO_3$ and $SO_4$.

Seasonal Variation of Cr(VI)-contaminated Groundwater Quality and the Potential for Natural Attenuation (6가 크롬 오염 지하수 수질의 계절변화와 자연저감 가능성)

  • Chon, Chul-Min;Ahn, Joo-Sung;Roh, Yul;Rhee, Sung-Keun;Seo, Hyun-Hee;Kim, Gue-Young;Koh, Dong-Chan;Son, Young-Chul;Kim, Ji-Wook
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.41 no.6
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    • pp.645-655
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    • 2008
  • The Cr(VI) concentrations at the shallow aquifer well (MPH-0-1) of the Moonpyung groundwater monitoring station were in the range of 0.5 to 3.1 mg/L exceeding 10 to 62 times the guideline for drinking-water quality, indicating continuous contamination. However, Cr was not detected at the deep bedrock well and the other subsidiary monitoring wells except for MPH-1 and 6. Cross-correlation analyses were conducted for rainfall and groundwater level time series, resulting in the mean time of recharge after precipitation events to be 5.6 days. For rainy season, the water level was raised and the Cr(VI) concentration was several times lower than that during dry season at well MPH-0-1 well. Correlation of the Cr(VI) concentration with the groundwater-level showed that the Cr(VI) reduction was closely related with the groundwater-level rise in the well. However, the groundwater level rise during high water season induced the lateral migration of the Cr(VI)-contaminated groundwater at well MPH-4. We enriched and isolated a chromium reducing bacteria, Enterobacter aerogenes, from the Cr(VI)-contaminated groundwater in the wells MPH-0-1 and MPH-1. The bacteria may play an important role for immobilizing Cr(VI) in the Cr(VI)-contaminated groundwater. Therefore, the migration of the contaminant (Cr(VI) must has been restricted because of the natural attenuation by microbial reduction of Cr(VI) in the groundwater. This research suggests that the bioremediation of the Cr(VI)-contaminated groundwater by the indigenous bacteria may be feasible in the Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater.

Field Studios of In-situ Aerobic Cometabolism of Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

  • Semprini, Lewts
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2004.04a
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    • pp.3-4
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    • 2004
  • Results will be presented from two field studies that evaluated the in-situ treatment of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) using aerobic cometabolism. In the first study, a cometabolic air sparging (CAS) demonstration was conducted at McClellan Air Force Base (AFB), California, to treat chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) in groundwater using propane as the cometabolic substrate. A propane-biostimulated zone was sparged with a propane/air mixture and a control zone was sparged with air alone. Propane-utilizers were effectively stimulated in the saturated zone with repeated intermediate sparging of propane and air. Propane delivery, however, was not uniform, with propane mainly observed in down-gradient observation wells. Trichloroethene (TCE), cis-1, 2-dichloroethene (c-DCE), and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration levels decreased in proportion with propane usage, with c-DCE decreasing more rapidly than TCE. The more rapid removal of c-DCE indicated biotransformation and not just physical removal by stripping. Propane utilization rates and rates of CAH removal slowed after three to four months of repeated propane additions, which coincided with tile depletion of nitrogen (as nitrate). Ammonia was then added to the propane/air mixture as a nitrogen source. After a six-month period between propane additions, rapid propane-utilization was observed. Nitrate was present due to groundwater flow into the treatment zone and/or by the oxidation of tile previously injected ammonia. In the propane-stimulated zone, c-DCE concentrations decreased below tile detection limit (1 $\mu$g/L), and TCE concentrations ranged from less than 5 $\mu$g/L to 30 $\mu$g/L, representing removals of 90 to 97%. In the air sparged control zone, TCE was removed at only two monitoring locations nearest the sparge-well, to concentrations of 15 $\mu$g/L and 60 $\mu$g/L. The responses indicate that stripping as well as biological treatment were responsible for the removal of contaminants in the biostimulated zone, with biostimulation enhancing removals to lower contaminant levels. As part of that study bacterial population shifts that occurred in the groundwater during CAS and air sparging control were evaluated by length heterogeneity polymerase chain reaction (LH-PCR) fragment analysis. The results showed that an organism(5) that had a fragment size of 385 base pairs (385 bp) was positively correlated with propane removal rates. The 385 bp fragment consisted of up to 83% of the total fragments in the analysis when propane removal rates peaked. A 16S rRNA clone library made from the bacteria sampled in propane sparged groundwater included clones of a TM7 division bacterium that had a 385bp LH-PCR fragment; no other bacterial species with this fragment size were detected. Both propane removal rates and the 385bp LH-PCR fragment decreased as nitrate levels in the groundwater decreased. In the second study the potential for bioaugmentation of a butane culture was evaluated in a series of field tests conducted at the Moffett Field Air Station in California. A butane-utilizing mixed culture that was effective in transforming 1, 1-dichloroethene (1, 1-DCE), 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane (1, 1, 1-TCA), and 1, 1-dichloroethane (1, 1-DCA) was added to the saturated zone at the test site. This mixture of contaminants was evaluated since they are often present as together as the result of 1, 1, 1-TCA contamination and the abiotic and biotic transformation of 1, 1, 1-TCA to 1, 1-DCE and 1, 1-DCA. Model simulations were performed prior to the initiation of the field study. The simulations were performed with a transport code that included processes for in-situ cometabolism, including microbial growth and decay, substrate and oxygen utilization, and the cometabolism of dual contaminants (1, 1-DCE and 1, 1, 1-TCA). Based on the results of detailed kinetic studies with the culture, cometabolic transformation kinetics were incorporated that butane mixed-inhibition on 1, 1-DCE and 1, 1, 1-TCA transformation, and competitive inhibition of 1, 1-DCE and 1, 1, 1-TCA on butane utilization. A transformation capacity term was also included in the model formation that results in cell loss due to contaminant transformation. Parameters for the model simulations were determined independently in kinetic studies with the butane-utilizing culture and through batch microcosm tests with groundwater and aquifer solids from the field test zone with the butane-utilizing culture added. In microcosm tests, the model simulated well the repetitive utilization of butane and cometabolism of 1.1, 1-TCA and 1, 1-DCE, as well as the transformation of 1, 1-DCE as it was repeatedly transformed at increased aqueous concentrations. Model simulations were then performed under the transport conditions of the field test to explore the effects of the bioaugmentation dose and the response of the system to tile biostimulation with alternating pulses of dissolved butane and oxygen in the presence of 1, 1-DCE (50 $\mu$g/L) and 1, 1, 1-TCA (250 $\mu$g/L). A uniform aquifer bioaugmentation dose of 0.5 mg/L of cells resulted in complete utilization of the butane 2-meters downgradient of the injection well within 200-hrs of bioaugmentation and butane addition. 1, 1-DCE was much more rapidly transformed than 1, 1, 1-TCA, and efficient 1, 1, 1-TCA removal occurred only after 1, 1-DCE and butane were decreased in concentration. The simulations demonstrated the strong inhibition of both 1, 1-DCE and butane on 1, 1, 1-TCA transformation, and the more rapid 1, 1-DCE transformation kinetics. Results of tile field demonstration indicated that bioaugmentation was successfully implemented; however it was difficult to maintain effective treatment for long periods of time (50 days or more). The demonstration showed that the bioaugmented experimental leg effectively transformed 1, 1-DCE and 1, 1-DCA, and was somewhat effective in transforming 1, 1, 1-TCA. The indigenous experimental leg treated in the same way as the bioaugmented leg was much less effective in treating the contaminant mixture. The best operating performance was achieved in the bioaugmented leg with about over 90%, 80%, 60 % removal for 1, 1-DCE, 1, 1-DCA, and 1, 1, 1-TCA, respectively. Molecular methods were used to track and enumerate the bioaugmented culture in the test zone. Real Time PCR analysis was used to on enumerate the bioaugmented culture. The results show higher numbers of the bioaugmented microorganisms were present in the treatment zone groundwater when the contaminants were being effective transformed. A decrease in these numbers was associated with a reduction in treatment performance. The results of the field tests indicated that although bioaugmentation can be successfully implemented, competition for the growth substrate (butane) by the indigenous microorganisms likely lead to the decrease in long-term performance.

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