Numerical modelling of the dynamics of chlorinated solvent pollution in aquifers and their remediation with engineered nano-particles: An integrated approach
[EN] The global water shortage is one of the main environmental concerns in the 21st century. The
main source of drinking water is the groundwater that flows in the subsurface. The increased
agriculture and industrial activities in the last few decades have been proven to be detrimental
for groundwater. While these water resources are limited, the scarcity is further triggered by
the loss of quality due to anthropogenic activities such as waste deposition and landfill leakage.
Contaminants from the anthropogenic waste often migrates through the sub-surface and reach
an underlying aquifer. The occurrence of these contaminants threatens the quality of water
resources and often requires remediation efforts. Several in-situ and ex-situ remediation
methodologies have been developed and tested in the last decades; recently, the use of
Engineered Nano-Particles (ENPs) for in-situ contaminant degradation have gained a lot of
interest in the field of groundwater remediation. These ENPs have been found to be effective
due to their high reactive surface area, minimal disruption of the groundwater system and their
aggressive contaminant degradation capabilities. However, the field scale implementation of
this remediation technique is often challenging, as each polluted site require a custom design
and strategy of remediation.
The field scale remediation of groundwater using ENPs requires a lot of scientific investigation
and technical resources, owing to complexity and the limited accessibility of the contamination-
groundwater system. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a robust remediation strategy which
includes laboratory scale and field scale studies as well as application of a numerical approach.
The success in the remediation effort is often limited by lack of detailed understanding of the
contaminant and hydrogeological properties of the aquifer. While, the information of
contamination-aquifer dynamics can be studied at field, knowledge on the continuous and
consistent contamination behavior on both temporal and spatial scale is often missing. The use
of an integrated numerical model can be helpful for bridging the gap between the field studies
and the relevant insights required for groundwater remediation
