Chemical monitoring groundwater systems

Clean management is often put off by economic considerations If a certain chemical factory has to be fully clean, the products will be too expensive if sewage treatment installations are required to be absolutely leakproof and covered by an appropriate monitoring network, they will not be profitable local landfills instead of centralized landfills may have environmental advantages, but may be more expensive to operate. This is poor and shortsighted thinking. In the name of short-term interests, groundwater systems are allowed to deteriorate, especially under circumstances in which observable harm is delayed for awhile. 

The third approach is to install an external monitoring system that can detect the presence of the stored chemical in or on the groundwater or in the backfill and soil surrounding the tank system. In many instances both internal and external methods are used in conjunction as a way to increase the liability of detection. 

Water and hydrocarbons occurring together, in shallow aquifer systems, may be considered immiscible for flow calculation purposes however, each is somewhat soluble in the other. Since groundwater cleanup is the purpose behind restorations, it receives greater attention. Definition of water quality based on samples retrieved from monitoring wells relies heavily upon the concentration of individual chemical components found dissolved in those samples. An understanding of the processes that cause concentration gradients is important for the proper interpretation of analytical results. 

The hazardous components of MSW, ie, household chemicals, oily wastes, and lead and other metals in batteries, can leach from landfills and contaminate both surface water and groundwater or enter the atmosphere. Increased regulation to improve landfill integrity has led to impermeable liners and drainage and water quality monitoring systems. As a result, in many urban areas, land is either no longer readily available for new landfills or is available only at high cost. 

Fly ash and bottom ash has been declared a special waste by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in concordance with the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (R.C.R.A.). This designation requires that coal ash disposal ponds be sealed to prevent downward percolation of leachate and that groundwater monitoring systems be installed at the site. Many disposal ponds constructed prior to 1976 are unlined and may allow the infiltration of leachate into the groundwater aquifer. While newer ponds may be lined, the life of the lining before it is breached is unknown. Therefore, information is needed on the chemical composition of ash leachates to evaluate the effect of this leachate on groundwater quality. 

Landfills — both the public and hazardous chemical kind — are a major source of groundwater contamination. The landfills that are constructed today require special liners to prevent hazardous materials from leaching into the groundwater. Monitoring equipment is also required to confirm that the hazardous materials don t leak from the landfills. However, very few landfills in the United States have liners and monitoring systems. 

---