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1 September 2007 Contaminant Transport in a Municipal Drinking Water Supply: A Steady-state Approach to Estimate Rate and Uncertainty
Martin Bergvall, Harald Grip, Jan Sjöström, Hjalmar Laudon
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Abstract

Contaminant transport is generally considered to be a key factor when assessing and classifying the environmental risk of polluted areas. In the study presented here, a steady-state approach was applied to obtain estimates of the transit time and concentration of the pesticide metabolite BAM (2,6-dichlorobenzoamide) at a site where it is contaminating a municipal drinking water supply. A Monte Carlo simulation technique was used to quantify the uncertainty of the results and to evaluate the sensitivity of the used parameters. The adopted approach yielded an estimated median transit time of 10 y for the BAM transport from the polluted site to the water supply. Soil organic carbon content in the unsaturated zone and the hydraulic conductivity in the saturated zone explained 44% and 23% of the uncertainty in the transit time estimate, respectively. The sensitivity analysis showed that the dilution factor due to regional groundwater flow and the soil organic carbon content at the polluted site explained 53% and 31% of the uncertainty of concentration estimates, respectively. In conclusion, the adopted steady-state approach can be used to obtain reliable first estimates of transit time and concentration, but to improve concentration predictions of degrading contaminants, a dynamic model is probably required.

Martin Bergvall, Harald Grip, Jan Sjöström, and Hjalmar Laudon "Contaminant Transport in a Municipal Drinking Water Supply: A Steady-state Approach to Estimate Rate and Uncertainty," AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 36(6), 512-519, (1 September 2007). https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[512:CTIAMD]2.0.CO;2
Published: 1 September 2007
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