Groundwater Remediation Systems Research Articles

Comparing single and multiple objective constrained optimization algorithms for tuning a groundwater remediation system

Groundwater flow and particle tracking models are critical tools to simulate the natural system, contaminant fate and transport, and effects of remediation. Constrained optimization uses models to systematically explore the interplay between remedial design and contaminant fate, considering uncertainty. Sequential Linear Programming (SLP) provides a design alternative addressing a single goal (e.g. maximum hydraulic containment, maximum mass removal). Multi-objective algorithms like Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) explore the tradeoffs among such objectives and more (e.g. cost, public-supply well contamination). We explore both approaches at a contaminated site in Long Island, New York USA. We compare the algorithms and ramifications on results. NSGA-II explores, at additional computational cost, explicit tradeoffs among multiple objectives, providing additional insights relative to SLP. The NGSA-II algorithm allows for graphical consideration of three objectives. SLP decision variables often settle at predetermined bounds. Bounds assignment thus differs from parameter estimation; bounds must be acceptable rather than safeguards.

Comparison of the PFAS and physical-chemical parameter fluctuations between an ash landfill and a MSW landfill

Studies of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) fluctuations at landfills have focused on municipal solid waste (MSW) leachate. Few studies exist that evaluate fluctuations (defined by the coefficient of variation, CV) in MSW incinerator ash (MSWA) landfill leachate and that evaluate PFAS fluctuations in stormwater, groundwater, and treated liquids on-site. In this study, aqueous landfill samples (leachate, treated leachate, stormwater, gas condensate, ambient groundwater, and effluent from a groundwater remediation system) were collected from a MSW and an MSWA landfill geographically located within close proximity (less than 40 km). The objective of this study was to compare the leachate compositions between these two landfill types and to evaluate temporal variations. Results indicated that the CV of total detected PFAS concentrations in leachate was higher for the MSW landfill (CV = 43 %) compared to the MSWA landfill (CV = 16 %). The total detected PFAS concentration in MSW leachate samples (mean: 9641 ng/L) was higher than in MSWA leachate samples (mean: 2621 ng/L) (p < 0.05). Within a landfill, PFAS concentrations were correlated (rs > 0.6, p < 0.05) with alkalinity, total organic carbon (TOC), and ammonia. Results from the on-site leachate treatment system at the MSW landfill indicated reductions in COD, TOC, and ammonia; however, the ∑26PFAS concentration increased 3 % after the treatment. Overall, results demonstrated that differences between landfill types and fluctuations in PFAS within landfills should be considered when designing landfill leachate collection and treatment systems to remove PFAS. The comparative analysis in this study can provide insights into optimizing leachate management for MSW and MSWA landfills.

Supercritical water oxidation for the destruction of spent media wastes generated from PFAS treatment

Granular activated carbon (GAC) and anion exchange resin (AIX) have been successfully demonstrated to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water and wastewater. These treatment technologies, when applied for PFAS removal, generate spent media loaded with a high mass of PFAS requiring further treatment and disposal. This project is the first study on the use of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) to destroy both the spent media and the PFAS adsorbed onto it. One sample of spent GAC and one sample of spent AIX were collected from full-scale groundwater remediation systems treating PFAS. A second spent AIX sample was collected from a mobile PFAS treatment unit. The total PFAS concentrations reported in the GAC, AIX and second AIX feedstock slurries were 0.21 mg/kg, 1.3 mg/kg and 0.9 mg/kg, respectively. Each feedstock was processed separately in a one (1) wet metric ton per day tubular reactor SCWO system. The study demonstrated that SCWO is a very effective PFAS destruction technology for spent GAC and AIX, derived from water remediation systems treating PFAS. The spent media were completely mineralized to water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and a negligible amount of residual minerals. Total target PFAS compound concentrations in the SCWO system effluents after treating spent GAC, AIX and second AIX feedstocks were 548, 77 and 796 ng/L, respectively. The results indicated that the percentage elimination of perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) was better than that of perfluosulfonic acids (PFSAs) and long-chain PFAS elimination was better than short-chain PFAS.

Natural sediments activating peroxydisulfate for in situ degradation of antibiotics under anoxic conditions: The critical role of surface-adsorbed and structural Fe(II)

Peroxydisulfate (PDS) is widely used in groundwater remediation systems. Previous studies investigated its activation by natural sediments under oxic conditions. However, the role of sediments Fe(II) species in PDS activation under anoxic conditions remains unclear. This work elucidated the activation of PDS and concurrent degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in sediments-based systems under various anoxic scenarios. The reaction of 10 g/L sediment suspensions with 2.2 mM PDS degraded SMX (10 µM) up to 86.4%, leading to the decrease of SMX toxicity towards Photobacterium phoshoreum T3 spp. PDS activation by solid Fe(II) species in the sediments generated sulfate (SO4•−), hydroxyl (•OH), and organic matter-like (OM•) radicals. Kinetic modeling and radical quenching experiments substantiated that SO4•− and OM• were the main contributing species to SMX degradation. Chemical extraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses demonstrated that sediments surface-adsorbed Fe(II) predominantly interacted with PDS at a high molar Fe(II)/PDS ratio of 1.41, whereas structural Fe(II) underwent slower electron transfer reactions at a lower ratio of 0.75. This study provides novel insights into PDS activation by Fe(II)-bearing sediments and could advance the development of effective sediments-based PDS activation strategies for remediating contaminants in anoxic subsurface environments.

Climate‐influenced hydrobiogeochemistry and groundwater remedy design: A review

AbstractThe process of designing a remedy for contaminated groundwater historically has not commonly included climate‐future, hydrologic, and biogeochemical aquifer characteristics. From experience, the remedy design process also has not consistently nor directly integrated or projected future hydrologic and biogeochemical effects of the human‐induced or developed environment—aka the anthropogenic influence—on potential remedy performance. The apparent practice of (1) not regularly assessing anthro‐influenced hydrological (termed here as anthrohydrology) or biogeochemical characteristics (collectively hydrobiogeochemistry) of a site and (2) rarely accounting for future climatic shifts as design factors in remedy design may be due, in part, to the general practice‐level view that groundwater remediation systems (whether in situ or ex situ) have seldom been anticipated to last more than a few years (or one or two decades at the most). Second, methods to reliably and quantitatively estimate site‐specific, climate‐future shifts in groundwater conditions using global and/or regional climate models and the resultant impacts on contaminant plume characteristics have not been readily available. The authors here suggest that while the concept of remedy design resilience and durability, within an envelope of climate change and anthropogenic influence, has been discussed in some technical circles as a component of “sustainable remediation,” we have found that direct application of these technical concepts in quantifiable terms remains rare. By incorporating the potential influence of future hydrobiogeochemical scenarios into remedy design, however, the design process could account for reasonable climate‐induced influence on the groundwater system for a given site. These scenarios could then be applied within the remedy selection process to assess performance durability under potentially changing hydrologic, biological, and chemical conditions.

Efficient utilization of biogenic manganese oxides in bioaugmentation columns for remediation of thallium(I) contaminated groundwater

Little attention has been paid to the in situ-generated biogenic manganese oxides (BMnOx) for practical implementation in continuous groundwater remediation systems. The enrichment effects of manganese oxidizing bacteria (MOB) in bioaugmentation columns and the in situ-generated BMnOx for continuous thallium(I) (Tl(I)) removal from groundwater were investigated. Results indicated that Pseudomonas Putida MnB1 (strain MnB1) attached on the groundwater sediments (GS) can achieve a maximum of 97.37 % Mn(II) oxidation and generate 29.6 mg/L BMnOx, which was superior than that of traditional quartz sand (QS). The in situ-generated BMnOx in MOB_GS column effectively removed 10–100 μg/L Tl(I) under the interference of high concentrations of Fe(II) and Mn(II) in groundwater. Distinctive microbial enrichment effects occurred in the bioaugmentation columns under the competition of indigenous microbes in groundwater. The release of Mn(II) from the BMnOx inhibited with the decrease in Tl(I) removal efficiency. XAFS analysis revealed Tl(I) was effectively adsorbed by BMnOx and Mn-O octahedra with Tl-O tetrahedral coordination existed in BMnOx. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the in situ-generated BMnOx for the Tl(I) removal and contributes to the application of BMnOx in groundwater remediation.

An effective multi-objective optimization approach for groundwater remediation considering the coexisting uncertainties of aquifer parameters

An accurate groundwater simulation model and an efficient optimization algorithm are critical for building a reliable remediation scheme using simulation–optimization method. The hydraulic conductivity (K) and the porosity (n) of aquifers are two main controlling parameters for groundwater flow and contaminant transport, whose uncertainties are high and often coexists. Such coexisting uncertainties have not been fully considered in previous studies on the optimization of groundwater remediation system. In this work, a new multi-objective optimization algorithm, namely the probabilistic multi-objective fast harmony search and genetic algorithm (PMOFHS-GA), is developed, capable of finding Pareto optimal solutions with high reliability. The algorithm is applied on a case study in designing a groundwater remediation system based on pumping and treating (PAT) technology considering different scenarios with varying K and n realizations. Furthermore, a novel decision-making strategy based on the reliability of different objective functions is proposed to help designers determining the final best remediation scheme from Pareto optimal solutions. Results show that the coexisting uncertainties of K and n will cause significant impacts on final optimization results. In addition, if there is a correlation between uncertainties of K and n, the reliability and variability of optimization results will be different from that under no correlation condition. Thus, accurate information of aquifer parameters is critical for the final optimization results. Furthermore, the proposed decision-making strategy can help decision-makers to identify the final contaminant remediation scheme more reasonably. The PMOFHS-GA and decision-making strategy developed in this study are promising methods which can help decision-makers to design a groundwater contaminant remediation system effectively.

Development of novel persulfate tablets for passive trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated groundwater remediation

In this study, a biodegradable binder, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), was used for the first time to mix with persulfate powder for developing novel persulfate-releasing tablets to remediate trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated groundwater. To obtain feasible parameters for the preparation of persulfate tablets, different pressures, HPMC/tablet mass ratios, and persulfate dosages were evaluated. The results showed that the persulfate tablet released 2868 mg-persulfate/day for 12 days under the optimal manufacturing parameters of HPMC/tablet mass ratio of 0.5 and pressure of 4.90 × 108 N/m2. Persulfate diffusion and gel layer erosion were dominant mechanisms for controlling the persulfate released in water. The persulfate release time and rate can be controlled by adjusting the persulfate dosage at the optimal HPMC/tablet ratio. In the column experiment, TCE with an initial concentration of 70 mg/L reached 55% removal efficiency by the tablet, which showed that the developed tablet was capable of degrading highly concentrated TCE. The results of electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy showed that both SO4−· and ·OH were responsible for the oxidation of TCE. During 150 days of incubation, the biodegrading efficiency of HPMC by microbes in soil and activated sludge was 67% and 80%, respectively, under aerobic conditions, while 58% of HPMC was removed by soil bacteria under anaerobic conditions. The results showed that persulfate tablets could be used as a passive groundwater remediation system. There is no waste generated after persulfate is completely released during groundwater remediation. The developed persulfate tablets are environmentally friendly and meet the green remediation aspect.

Developing an approach for the sustainability assessment of groundwater remediation technologies based on multi criteria decision making

Groundwater is regarded as an important supply of drinking water, as well as for agricultural and industrial purposes. Groundwater pollution worsens as a result of several contaminants such as industrial, urban, and agricultural activities, and the difficulty is to select appropriate groundwater remediation methods. This research develops a technique for assessing the sustainability of groundwater remediation methods by integrating the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method with a Fuzzy Inference Engine. A standard approach for assessing the sustainability of groundwater remediation systems has been developed, consisting of four major criteria: economic, technical, environmental, and social. Following the calculations and determining the priority of all the criteria and techniques based on the weights, the results show the sequence of technologies in which Pump and Treat is the best with 7.83, followed by air stripping with 7.04, and monitored natural attenuation and permeable reactive barrier were the last with 3.70 and 3.19, respectively. The criteria that give P&amp;amp;T the most weight is both the technical and social criterion, with a weight of 8.18, while the criterion with the lowest weight was the economic criterion, with a weight of 4.22. The technical, environmental, and social aspects of P&amp;amp;T were all high, making it the optimum technology where the decision-maker or stakeholder can deal with the decline in the economic component, which is also proof of P&amp;amp;T's preferability and the most sustainable one, and It was also feasible to examine all options to determine which factors are reducing their sustainability and which should be addressed in order to enhance sustainability.

Optimal design of groundwater pollution management systems for a decanting contaminated site: A simulation-optimization approach

Major challenges facing groundwater management arise mostly from approaches aiming at ensuring water resources sustainability, water quality protection and aquifer restoration. In many old polluted sites, the most challenging practice is the management of decanting contaminated water from flooded shaft that decants into the natural environment. Pump and treat (PAT) is one of the commonly used techniques in management of groundwater pollution problem. Simulation-Optimization (S–O) models have proven to be very useful in appropriate design of an effective PAT groundwater remediation system. In this study, simulation models MODFLOW and MT3DMS for groundwater flow and transport respectively, and a solving constraint integer program (SCIP) optimization algorithm were employed in designing of an effective system for cleaning and controlling pollution coming from hypothetical decanting site. Simulation models were used to predict the spatial and temporal variation of contaminant plumes and aquifer response to remediation measures. SCIP optimization algorithm, on the other hand, was applied to determine the optimal solution of the formulated objective function while attaining a set of water quality and head constraints as well as operation bounds. Results from this study indicated that the optimal pumping rates for the proposed pumping wells met water quality and water head requirements. Further, the obtained results demonstrate the application of SCIP in conjunction with simulation models as a capable tool in designing an effective groundwater management system and control decanting problem. The performance of SCIP is also compared with genetic algorithm (GA) and the SCIP is found to have a better convergence rate than the GA.

A novel two-step approach for optimal groundwater remediation by coupling extreme learning machine with evolutionary hunting strategy based metaheuristics

We propose a simulation-optimization (SO) model based on a novel two-step strategy for the optimal design of groundwater remediation systems. The SO models are developed by coupling simulation models directly or through the extreme learning machine (ELM) with evolutionary hunting strategy based metaheuristics (EHSMs). In the first step, EHSMs with a combinatorial optimization technique are used to obtain optimal pumping locations by minimizing the percentage of contaminant mass that remained in the aquifer while keeping the pumping strategy as constant. In the second step, the optimal pumping locations are directly used as input, and a composite function is employed to minimize the sum of the water extraction rates and the percentage of extracted contaminant mass by constraining hydraulic heads and contaminant concentrations. The performance of the two-step strategy is found to be slightly better and computationally more efficient than the alternate approach. Moreover, various statistical measures suggest the superiority of EHSMs over other metaheuristics for groundwater remediation.

Automatic clustering-based surrogate-assisted genetic algorithm for groundwater remediation system design

Simulation-optimization techniques in support of groundwater management are computationally expensive. To tackle such computational burden, a variety of surrogate modeling-frameworks have been proposed, where a cheaper-to-run model referred to as a surrogate is used in lieu of a computationally intensive model. These frameworks are generally based on what referred herein to as ‘global surrogate modelling’ where a single surrogate approximates the underlying response surface of a model. Such classic frameworks, however, are sub-optimal when the response surface is complex and/or high-dimensional. This paper proposes a novel ‘local surrogate modelling’ framework that simultaneously builds and evolves multiple local surrogates, guided by an automatic clustering method. Unlike traditional clustering methods that select the number of clusters a priori, the proposed automatic clustering method concurrently determines the optimum number of clusters and the clustering scheme itself. To serve as the surrogate, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are used. The proposed framework is applied to solve a computationally intensive groundwater remediation optimization problem. This study shows that the proposed automatic clustering-based local surrogate modeling is effective and reliable while reducing at least 60 percent of the computational burden.

Backward Probability Model for Identifying Multiple Contaminant Source Zones Under Transient Variably Saturated Flow Conditions

AbstractGroundwater contamination is one of the major concerns to public health and water resource management. Identification of contamination sources is essential for designing cost‐effective groundwater remediation systems and minimizing risks of further contamination. Various numerical approaches have been applied to reconstruct spatiotemporal distributions of contaminant sources. Due to difficulties in obtaining source information, the backward probability model is computationally efficient; however, its applications have largely been limited to relatively simple problems such as two‐dimensional or simplified three‐dimensional steady‐state saturated flow conditions with a single contaminant source. More importantly, the traditional backward probability model requires some a priori knowledge on the suspected source locations or source release times to quantify source area location probabilities. Here we improve the capability of the backward probability model for solving real‐world problems by implementing it into a three‐dimensional transient variably saturated flow model. To evaluate the applicability of the model, we apply it combined with the shift‐average method to a field‐scale problem for identifying multiple contaminant sources occurring in the vadose zone that release contaminants to the saturated zone through infiltration. Compared with the suspected potential sources reported through a site characterization study, the enhanced backward probability model reasonably captures most of the reported potential sources under various hydrologic/hydrogeological/dispersion conditions, which demonstrates that the approach developed here can overcome limitations of the backward probability theory previously reported in the literature.

Experimental study on the transport characteristics of buried pipeline leakage and the performance of groundwater remediation system.

Enhanced understanding of light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) infiltration into sandy porous medium is significant to the effective design of remediation strategies. A system for buried pipeline leakage in 2-D sandbox was conducted to investigate the migration of diesel through a sandy porous medium, and the system could also be conducted to investigate groundwater remediation. Two groups of experiments were carried out. The first experiment consisted of diesel infiltration into a fine sand matrix. We could notice that diesel spilled in dry sand layer at a constant speed and the diesel front kept longitudinal movement due to the gravity before it arrived at the edge of the capillary zone. The diesel front broadened as a whole because of the capillary force jacking after it reached the capillary zone. Finally, the bulk of the diesel was contained on top of the capillary zone. To protect groundwater, the second experiment consisted of remediating soils and groundwater. The results indicated that the voltage of electrocoagulation apparatus had a great influence on the treatment effect, and the removal rate of diesel was found to be more than 90% with a constant voltage of 20V. The efficiency of groundwater remediation was influenced by the flow velocity, and it took 11h when the flow velocity was 2.089L/min. To summarize, the research was conducive to the study on diesel pollution control and pollution prediction.

Green Synthesis of Resin Supported Nanoiron and Evaluation of Efficiency for the Remediation of Cr(VI) Contaminated Groundwater by Batch Tests

In this study the fixation of nano zero valent iron (nZVI) on a polymeric matrix applying an environmentally friendly technique and the performance of this material for the treatment of Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater were evaluated. The investigated method could be applied in a pump & treat groundwater remediation system. A macroreticular cationic resin was selected as porous host material. It was found that green tea polyphenols were able to penetrate within the macroporous resin matrix and obtain the reduction of Fe(III) to the elemental state. The effectiveness of this composite material in removing Cr(VI) contaminated waters was evaluated by conducting batch tests. It was found that the reduction of Cr(VI) follows a kinetics law of first order with respect to the concentration of Cr(VI) and to the amount of nZVI per liter of solution. The kinetic constant varied between 5·10-3 and 0.5·10-3 per min and per mM of nZVI in the pH range 3.5-7.5.

Groundwater remediation optimization using Solving Constraint Integer Program (SCIP)

Simulation-optimization methods have increasingly been used to develop optimal solutions for a variety of groundwater remediation systems. The feasibility of these approaches is often dependent on their simplicity in application and software accessibility. Therefore, it is imperative to evaluate the applicability of a freely accessible and user friendly algorithm in the design of more robust groundwater remediation solutions. In this study, we present a coupled simulation-optimization model with solving constraint integer program (SCIP) algorithm in designing of groundwater remediation procedure of a polluted aquifer. The proposed method is illustrated by applying to a hypothetical groundwater problem. The primary objective of optimization in this work was to minimize the total pumping volume of water from a confined aquifer, subject to the state variable constraints such that the resulting decrease in hydraulic head and contaminant concentration in a set of control boreholes are within specified target levels. Borehole pumping rates were considered as decision variables of the optimization problem. The results of two cases demonstrate that the SCIP algorithm has the ability to design a groundwater remediation system of a polluted aquifer with a high degree of accuracy. Results of the SCIP were compared to firefly algorithm (FA) and indicated potential gains in efficiency to identify robust and reliable groundwater remediation system.

Effectiveness of Electron Transfer and Electron Competition Mechanism in Zero-Valent Iron-Based Reductive Groundwater Remediation Systems

Effectiveness of Electron Transfer and Electron Competition Mechanism in Zero-Valent Iron-Based Reductive Groundwater Remediation Systems

Remediation of MTBE-contaminated groundwater by integrated circulation wells and advanced oxidation technologies

Abstract The proximity of shallow groundwater systems to sources of contamination usually exposes them to severe environmental threats. Hazardous pollutants that leak from gas stations, landfills, and industrial facilities may eventually reach the underneath shallow groundwater aquifers, posing risks to human health and the environment. Cleaning contaminated groundwater sources has always been a challenge to the local authorities. This is even more challenging when dealing with difficult pollutants such as methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) due its high solubility in water, poor biodegradability, and poor adsorption onto solids. This study aims to assess the efficiency of a pilot groundwater remediation system to treat a shallow aquifer contaminated with MTBE. The in-house designed and fabricated pilot system combines the technology of circulation wells and UV-based advanced oxidation technology for the breakdown and removal of MTBE from water. An ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) process was used in this study to remove MTBE from water. The concentration of MTBE was reduced from approximately 1,400 μg/L to as low as 34 μg/L within 30 minutes, with a treatment efficiency of about 98%. The study also assesses the effects of the UV intensity and the treatment time needed to remove the target pollutant.

An Elitist Multiobjective Tabu Search for Optimal Design of Groundwater Remediation Systems.

This study presents a new multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA), the elitist multiobjective tabu search (EMOTS), and incorporates it with MODFLOW/MT3DMS to develop a groundwater simulation-optimization (SO) framework based on modular design for optimal design of groundwater remediation systems using pump-and-treat (PAT) technique. The most notable improvement of EMOTS over the original multiple objective tabu search (MOTS) lies in the elitist strategy, selection strategy, and neighborhood move rule. The elitist strategy is to maintain all nondominated solutions within later search process for better converging to the true Pareto front. The elitism-based selection operator is modified to choose two most remote solutions from current candidate list as seed solutions to increase the diversity of searching space. Moreover, neighborhood solutions are uniformly generated using the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) in the bounded neighborhood space around each seed solution. To demonstrate the performance of the EMOTS, we consider a synthetic groundwater remediation example. Problem formulations consist of two objective functions with continuous decision variables of pumping rates while meeting water quality requirements. Especially, sensitivity analysis is evaluated through the synthetic case for determination of optimal combination of the heuristic parameters. Furthermore, the EMOTS is successfully applied to evaluate remediation options at the field site of the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. With both the hypothetical and the large-scale field remediation sites, the EMOTS-based SO framework is demonstrated to outperform the original MOTS in achieving the performance metrics of optimality and diversity of nondominated frontiers with desirable stability and robustness.

Engineering and enviro-management value of radius of influence estimate from mining excavation

In mining operations carried out below the water table, mine area could potentially affect the surrounding. With further deepening of the mine and quarry, the drawdown can impact on water supply wells and base flow. The variation in radius of influence under confined and unconfined aquifer condition is assessed using a hypothetical case study with three operational quarry sites. Average pit-wise radius of influence (R0) for the pit mine, under unconfined and confined aquifer conditions is 963 m and 61 km, respectively, whereas effective radius (Re) for total (cumulative) excavated mine area is 1.7 and 146 km, respectively. It means that the maximum and minimum value of overall impact/influence for the unconfined aquifer lies in-between 963 m and 1.7 km. Similarly that the maximum and minimum value of overall impact/influence for the confined aquifer lies in-between 61 and 146 km. Meanwhile, Re or effective radius for total (cumulative) excavated area seems more appropriate from evaluation viewpoint due to the overlapping (superposition) concentric mining quarries. Thus, assessment of quarry-wise and total radius of influence is of importance to fulfil targeted production, economically with minimum interruptions as part of the mine planning. Moreover, it helps us to assess, monitor and regulate the impact of a mine-dewatering program in the area. Also, the pumping test is often used to estimate radius of influence; it can trigger the inflow or radius of influence. Estimate of the radius of influence using analytical equation mainly independent of discharge/abstraction from the aquifer stands as a preferred choice for the prediction of radius of influence at the quarry/mine pit. There is a strong rationale that policies should be informed by such analytical assessment because it helps us to prevent or minimize negative impacts as part of regulation and pit-mining management and are useful tools for practitioners to design economically efficient and cost-effective in situ groundwater remediation systems, to contain contaminant plumes, to evaluate the surface–subsurface water interaction and to verify numerical models.