Subsurface Acid Sulphate Pollution and Salinity Intrusion in Coastal Groundwater Environments

Abstract

Water is vital for humans and this paper explores subsurface water or groundwater––a natural storage of water that may replace the large expensive dams that cost a lot and can fail. The pollution of groundwater is a major area of research and various studies have examined subsurface environments—nature of pollution and possible remediation of the coastal groundwaters. This paper reviews work done by the author and colleagues on acidity, salinity and flow using partial differential and time-series methods, but the models themselves are not the focus. A brief review of the nature of groundwater modelling is presented first with the focus on Acid Sulphate Soils (ASS) and salinity pollution. Models used to investigate groundwater acidity, salinity and flow in coastal areas and some methods that deal with pollution are then examined. This is followed by an examination of difficulties with the modelling packages that were used. A possible alternative of desalination is then presented for potable water but it has its own problems. A summary and conclusion then concludes the paper on subsurface pollution.