Sprinkler Irrigation for the Removal of VOCs from Groundwater

Abstract

Sprinkler irrigation is a common farming practice in parts of the United States where a semi-arid climate and lack of sufficient rainfall during critical growing periods necessitate supplemental water. The source of most irrigation water is groundwater, which can be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Since the groundwater may be the primary, or only, source of drinking water for a community, there is a need for cost effective VOC treatment and disposal methods. Because irrigation is a fairly widespread practice, there is an opportunity to employ it as a dual function technology — crop irrigation and treatment and disposal of contaminants from the groundwater. This could augment conventional groundwater treatment and result in cost savings. Additional benefits of implementation include containment of the groundwater plume, elimination of discharge or reinjection of the treated groundwater, and reduced irrigation expense for site vegetative covers. An evaluation of the performance of sprinkler irrigation for these purposes was conducted in July 1996 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. A sprinkler irrigation system has been shown to remove 96+% of VOCs from a contaminated groundwater source without a significant impact to the air quality. Results and activities of the evaluation of sprinkler irrigation technology for the treatment and disposal of groundwater contaminated with VOCs are presented in this paper.