Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS{reg_sign}): Groundwater pathway formulations

Abstract

This report describes the mathematical formulations used for contaminant fate and transport in the groundwater pathway of the Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS). It is one in a series of reports that collectively describe the components of MEPAS. The groundwater component of the MEPAS methodology models solute transport through the groundwater environment (i.e., partially saturated and saturated zones). Specifically, this component provides estimates of groundwater contaminant fluxes at various transporting medium interfaces (e.g., water table or aquifer/river interface) and contaminant concentrations at withdrawal wells. Contaminant fluxes at transporting medium interfaces represent boundary conditions for the next medium in which contaminant migration and fate is to be simulated (e.g., groundwater contamination entering a surface-water environment). Contaminant concentrations at withdrawal wells provide contaminant levels for the exposure assessment component of MEPAS. A schematic diagram illustrating the groundwater environment is presented. The migration and fate of contaminants through the groundwater environment are described by the three-dimensional, advective-dispersive equation for solute transport. The results are based on semianalytical solutions (i.e., solutions that require numerical integration) that are well established in the scientific literature. To increase computational efficiency, limits of integration are also identified.