Abstract
The characteristics of groundwater pollution caused by illegal waste dumping and methods for predicting and remediating it are still poorly understood. Serious 1,4-dioxane groundwater pollution—which has multiple sources—has been occurring at an illegal waste dumping site in the Tohoku region of Japan. So far, anti-pollution countermeasures have been taken including the installation of an impermeable wall and the excavation of soils and waste as well as the monitoring of contamination concentrations. The objective of this numerical study was to clarify the possibility of predicting pollutant transport in such dynamic and complex hydrologic environments, and to investigate the characteristics of pollutant transport under both naturally occurring and artificially induced groundwater flow (i.e., pumping for remediation). We first tried to reproduce the changes in 1,4-dioxane concentrations in groundwater observed in monitoring wells using a quasi-3D flow and transport simulation considering the multiple sources and spatiotemporal changes in hydrologic conditions. Consequently, we were able to reproduce the long-term trends of concentration changes in each monitoring well. With the predicted pollutant distribution, we conducted simulations for remediation such as pollutant removal using pumping wells. The results of the prediction and remediation simulations revealed the highly complex nature of 1,4-dioxane transport in the dumping site under both naturally occurring and artificially induced groundwater flows. The present study suggests possibilities for the prediction and remediation of pollution at illegal waste dumping sites, but further extensive studies are encouraged for better prediction and remediation.
Highlights
Many areas around the world still rely heavily on groundwater for daily water consumption
The objective of this study was to clarify the possibility of numerically predicting pollutant transport in a dynamic and complex hydrologic environment and to investigate the characteristics of pollutant transport under both naturally and artificially induced groundwater flows
We attempted to reproduce the changes in 1,4-dioxane concentrations in groundwater observed in the monitoring wells using a quasi-3D flow and transport simulation that considered the multiple sources and spatiotemporal changes in hydraulic conditions
Summary
Many areas around the world still rely heavily on groundwater for daily water consumption. The most common pollutants include heavy metals, non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [8,9]. These pollutants are hazardous chemicals that can potentially negatively impact human health. The characteristics of pollution caused by illegal waste dumping as well as ways of predicting and addressing the problem are still poorly understood. This limited understanding is due to the dynamic and highly complex nature of pollution caused by illegal waste dumping, and the complexity originates from multiple pollution sources and the artificially induced pollution-prevention changes (e.g., excavation and pumping) in hydrologic environments
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