Modeling and Prediction of Groundwater Contaminant Plumes

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2021) | Viewed by 12398

Special Issue Editors

UMR 1114 INRAE EMMAH Avignon Université, 84916 Avignon, France
Interests: geochemistry; water quality; environment; biogeochemistry; hydrology; groundwater; irrigation; soil science; soil; hydrological modeling
IRD, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, UMR 5563, Géoscience Environnement Toulouse, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
Interests: soil; environment; soil chemistry; water quality; environmental impact assessment; soil and water conservation; evapotranspiration; freshwater ecology; rivers; soil conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The detection and monitoring of groundwater contamination plumes is a crucial aspect of water resource management in the context of increasing anthropogenic pressures. Various disciplines have focused on this problem with their own tools. This Special Issue will be devoted to modeling and forecasting pollution plumes in groundwater. The types of pollutant that can generate plumes with which we are concerned include: chemical contamination (synthetic products or not), radioactive contamination, microbiological contamination, thermal contamination, etc., without limitation.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • the acquisition of data necessary for the development, calibration, and validation of models;
  • reaction aspects (physico-chemical and/or biological) and dispersion aspects of pollutant transport;
  • the numerical aspects of modeling two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) plumes (the discretization problem);
  • measurements of the location of the contours of pollutant plumes; and
  • applications of models of pollution plumes to water resource management (natural attenuation or monitored natural attenuation).

Prof. Dr. Vincent Vallès
Dr. Laurent Barbiero
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • groundwater
  • contamination
  • plumes
  • modeling
  • management

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 4028 KiB  
Article
Mapping Contaminant Plume at a Landfill in a Crystalline Basement Terrain in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Using Self-Potential Geophysical Technique
by Abdoul Azize Barry, Suzanne Yameogo, Meryem Ayach, Meryem Jabrane, Abdessamad Tiouiouine, Samuel Nakolendousse, Hajar Lazar, Ahlam Filki, Meryem Touzani and Ismail Mohsine
Water 2021, 13(9), 1212; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091212 - 28 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2214
Abstract
The delineation of pollution plumes generated by household waste landfills is not easy, particularly in the case of discontinuous or intricately extending water tables, such as those developed in a fractured crystalline bedrock context. In Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), there are many uncontrolled landfills [...] Read more.
The delineation of pollution plumes generated by household waste landfills is not easy, particularly in the case of discontinuous or intricately extending water tables, such as those developed in a fractured crystalline bedrock context. In Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), there are many uncontrolled landfills throughout the urban area. The water table, generally located between 3 and 10 m deep, is likely to be contaminated by the leachate from these landfills. More than 1000 measurements of spontaneous potential (self-potential), referenced by GPS, have been carried out on a landfill and its immediate surroundings to the south of the urban area. The geostatistical processing by analysis of variograms and correlograms highlights an adapted prospecting technique and reliable cartography. The response seems to be mainly due to the electrochemical component with hot spots within the landfill and a plume heading towards the North-East. The distribution of the spontaneous potential seems to be controlled, not by the topography of the site, but by the fracturing of the mother rock of dominant direction 15° N, and by the mother rock/saprolite contact. Thus, the plume does not flow to the market gardening just below the landfill but rather to a residential area where monitoring of the quality of the borehole water is required. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Prediction of Groundwater Contaminant Plumes)
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10 pages, 1584 KiB  
Article
Mapping the Pollution Plume Using the Self-Potential Geophysical Method: Case of Oum Azza Landfill, Rabat, Morocco
by Meryem Touzani, Ismail Mohsine, Jamila Ouardi, Ilias Kacimi, Moad Morarech, Mohamed Habib El Bahajji, Tarik Bouramtane, Abdessamad Tiouiouine, Suzanne Yameogo and Badr El Mahrad
Water 2021, 13(7), 961; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070961 - 31 Mar 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2878
Abstract
The main landfill in the city of Rabat (Morocco) is based on sandy material containing the shallow Mio-Pliocene aquifer. The presence of a pollution plume is likely, but its extent is not known. Measurements of spontaneous potential (SP) from the soil surface were [...] Read more.
The main landfill in the city of Rabat (Morocco) is based on sandy material containing the shallow Mio-Pliocene aquifer. The presence of a pollution plume is likely, but its extent is not known. Measurements of spontaneous potential (SP) from the soil surface were cross-referenced with direct measurements of the water table and leachates (pH, redox potential, electrical conductivity) according to the available accesses, as well as with an analysis of the landscape and the water table flows. With a few precautions during data acquisition on this resistive terrain, the results made it possible to separate the electrokinetic (~30%) and electrochemical (~70%) components responsible for the range of potentials observed (70 mV). The plume is detected in the hydrogeological downstream of the discharge, but is captured by the natural drainage network and does not extend further under the hills. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Prediction of Groundwater Contaminant Plumes)
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11 pages, 3677 KiB  
Article
Landfill Pollution Plume Survey in the Moroccan Tadla Using Spontaneous Potential
by Yousra El Mouine, Amal El Hamdi, Moad Morarech, Ilias Kacimi, Meryem Touzani, Ismail Mohsine, Abdessamad Tiouiouine, Jamila Ouardi, Abdelmajid Zouahri, Hasna Yachou and Houria Dakak
Water 2021, 13(7), 910; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070910 - 26 Mar 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2767
Abstract
In many parts of the world, the impact of open landfills on soils, biosphere, and groundwater has become a major concern. These landfills frequently generate pollution plumes, the contours of which can be delineated by non-intrusive geophysical measurements, but in arid environments, the [...] Read more.
In many parts of the world, the impact of open landfills on soils, biosphere, and groundwater has become a major concern. These landfills frequently generate pollution plumes, the contours of which can be delineated by non-intrusive geophysical measurements, but in arid environments, the high soils resistivity is usually an obstacle, which results in the low number of studies that have been carried out there. In addition, such prospecting using geophysical techniques do not provide information on the intensity of the processes occurring in the water table. This study was carried out on an uncontrolled landfill in the arid Tadla plain, Morocco’s main agricultural region. A survey based on geo-referenced spontaneous potential measurements was combined with measurements of anoxic conditions (Eh-pH and O2 equilibrating partial pressure) in the groundwater and leachates, in order to highlight a pollution plume and its geometry. The range of spontaneous potential measurement is wide, reaching 155 mV. Ponds of leachate with high electrical conductivity (20 to 40 mS cm−1) form within the landfill, and present very reducing conditions down to sulphate reduction and methanisation. The plume is slowly but continuously supplied with these highly reducing and organic carbon-rich leachates from the landfill. Its direction is towards N-NW, stable throughout the season, and consistent with local knowledge of groundwater flow. The fast flow of the water table suggests pollution over long distances that should be monitored in the future. The results obtained are spatially contrasting and stable, and show that such techniques can be used on a resistive medium of arid environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Prediction of Groundwater Contaminant Plumes)
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18 pages, 2741 KiB  
Article
Optimization of the Groundwater Remediation Process Using a Coupled Genetic Algorithm-Finite Difference Method
by S. M. Seyedpour, I. Valizadeh, P. Kirmizakis, R. Doherty and T. Ricken
Water 2021, 13(3), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13030383 - 01 Feb 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3374
Abstract
In situ chemical oxidation using permanganate as an oxidant is a remediation technique often used to treat contaminated groundwater. In this paper, groundwater flow with a full hydraulic conductivity tensor and remediation process through in situ chemical oxidation are simulated. The numerical approach [...] Read more.
In situ chemical oxidation using permanganate as an oxidant is a remediation technique often used to treat contaminated groundwater. In this paper, groundwater flow with a full hydraulic conductivity tensor and remediation process through in situ chemical oxidation are simulated. The numerical approach was verified with a physical sandbox experiment and analytical solution for 2D advection-diffusion with a first-order decay rate constant. The numerical results were in good agreement with the results of physical sandbox model and the analytical solution. The developed model was applied to two different studies, using multi-objective genetic algorithm to optimise remediation design. In order to reach the optimised design, three objectives considering three constraints were defined. The time to reach the desired concentration and remediation cost regarding the number of required oxidant sources in the optimised design was less than any arbitrary design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Prediction of Groundwater Contaminant Plumes)
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