Ground water assessment

M. Barcelona, A. Wehrmann, J. Kelly, and W. Pettyjohn, Contamination of Ground Water Prevention, Assessment, Restoration, Pollution Technology Review No. 184, Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, N.J., 1990. 

In densely populated areas, traffic is responsible for massive exhausts of nitrous oxides, soot, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. Traffic emissions also markedly contribute to the formation of ozone in the lower parts of the atmosphere. In large cities, fine particle exposure causes excess mortality which varies between one and five percent in the general population. Contamination of the ground water reservoirs with organic solvents has caused concern in many countries due to the persistent nature of the pollution. A total exposure assessment that takes into consideration all exposures via all routes is a relatively new concept, the significance of which is rapidly increasing. 

The ability of polyvalent cations leached from the glass to suppress the free-fluoride ion concentration in basalt ground water is difficult to assess. Fluoride definitely enhances leaching and is the primary cause of the high concentrations of dissolved plutonium in the basalt ground-water leachate. Once the plutonium is dissolved, however, it is not possible to determine what fraction is stabilized by fluoride as opposed to other species leached from the glass. 

Hewitt AD, Shoop SA. 1994. Rapid assessment of trichloroethylene in ground water. Ground Water Monitor Remediation 14 116-122. 

W.W. Lapham, F.D. Wilde, and M. T. Koterba, Ground-Water Data-Collection Protocols and Procedures for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program Selection, Installation, and Documentation of Wells and Collection of Related Data, Open-File Report 95-398, US Geological Survey, Reston, VA (1995). 

Accurate site investigation data with test drillings and pumping tests are also of importance for modelling and simulations to be used for permit applications. The simulations are used to predict the thermal and hydraulic influences and are used for environmental assessment issues as well as for prediction of potential physical damages caused by the pumping of ground water. 

Claff RE (1993) The American Petroleum Institute s (API) decision support system (DSS) for risk and exposure assessment. In Proceedings of the 1993 petroleum hydro- carbons and organic chemicals in ground water prevention, detection and restoration. The American Petroleum Institute and the Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers, Houston, November 10-12, pp 74—84... 

Data from chemical characterization were used to estimate possible adverse effects on humans and the environmental receptors. Following previously published works [11, 19], a hypothetic scenario was set up to assess the risk posed by these non-conventional matrix an accidental leachate release into ground-water resulting in 1 100 and 1 1,000 dilutions of the leachate compounds, which have been subjected to dilution as the leachate mixes with the groundwater (Fig. 3). 

Groundwater vulnerability maps, based on a regional assessment using an index-based system, can be used as a screening tool to rapidly assess the relative scale of impacts arising from pressures. They may be useful for assessing whether ground-water bodies are at risk from pollution sources at initial characterisation. 

Middaugh, D.P., S.E. Lantz, C.S. Heard, and J.G. Mueller. 1994a. Field-scale testing of a two-stage bioreactor for removal of creosote and pentachlorophenol from ground water chemical and biological assessment. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 26 320-328. 

Figure 32.2 The principal uranium-238 decay series, indicating major decay mode and physical halftime of persistence. (Modified from Cecil, L.D. and T.F. Gesell. 1992. Sampling and analysis for radon-222 dissolved in ground water and surface water. Environ. Monitor. Assess. 20 55-66.)...

Effect-based critical limits for soils and ground water have been derived or are under development in various countries for multiple purposes (Radojevic and Bashkin, 1999). These criteria can be used to assess the environmental quality of a site or area, to set priorities in control measures and to derive emission reduction goals. Most of the values are derived from comparable starting points such as protecting terrestrial population, water supply, food quality, and finally, animal and human health. 

The environmental impact of a new product needs to be assessed before it can be released for general use. Chemicals released into the environment can enter the food chain and be concentrated in plants and animals. Aquatic ecosystems are particularly sensitive, in this respect, since chemicals, when applied to agricultural land, can be transported in the ground water to rivers and then to the lakes, where they can accumulate in fish and plant life. The ecokinetic model presented here is based on a simple compartmental analysis and is based on laboratory ecosystem studies (Blau et ah, 1975). The model is useful in simulating the results of events, such as the accidental spillage of an agrochemical into a pond, where it is not ethical to perform actual experimental studies. 

Feenstra S, Mackay DM, Cherry JA. 1991. A method for assessing residual NAPL based on organic chemical concentrations in soil samples. Ground Water Monitoring Review 11(2) 128-136. 

CohenDB. 1986. Ground water contamination by toxic substances, California Assessment. Pollutant Investigations Branch, State Water Resources Control Board, Sacramento, CA American Chemical Society. 

Henderson, T., 1989, Assessment of Risk to Ground Water Quality from Petroleum Product Spills In Proceedings of the National Water Well Association and American Petroleum Institute Conference on Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water Prevention, Detection and Restoration, NWWA, Houston, TX, pp. 333-345. 

Office of Technology Assessment, 1984, Protecting the Nation s Ground Water from Contamination, Vol. I and II OTA, Washington, D.C., No. OTA-O-233, October, 503 pp. 

Analysis for such isotopes as carbon and deuterium has been conventionally used to assess the relative age of groundwater, and in evaluating its origin (i.e., meteoric, juvenile, formation, etc.), chemistry, and total salinity. Isotope composition of ground-water and surface water has also been used to correlate between areas of precipitation and groundwater, thus providing an indication of source area(s) of recharge. 

Feenstra, S., Mackay, D. M., and Cherry, J. A., 1991, A Method for Assessing Residual NAPL Based on Organic Chemical Concentrations in Soil Samples Ground Water Monitoring Review, Vol. 11, No. 23, pp. 128-136. 

Yaniga, R M. and Demko, D. J., 1983, Hydrocarbon Contamination of Carbonate Aquifers Assessment and Abatement In Proceedings of the National Water Well Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers Third National Symposium on Aquifer Restoration, pp. 60-65. 

R93002 A Review of Methods for Assessing Aquifer Sensitivity and Ground Water Vulnerability to Pesticide Contamination 600483039 Addendum to Handbook for Sampling and Sample Preservation, EPA-600/4-82-029... 

The above described situation deserves two final comments First of all, the need of keeping extensive monitoring campaigns for the control of pesticides in ground-water as the only reliable basis to assess quality status, and secondly, it must be... 

Finally, an equally Important component of ground water risk assessment Is toxicity. Only rarely have levels of pesticides In well water been detected which would cause acute toxicity, unless Improper disposal caused the contamination. Rather, as can be seen In Table III, the pesticide levels are usually In the low ppb range. Therefore, our current toxicity concerns are usually for chronic human toxicity or, occasionally, aquatic toxicity. There Is also the possibility of organisms receiving toxic amounts of pesticide residues over time via blomagnlf1catIon. 

Thomas DH, Delfino JJ. 1991a. A gas-chromatographic/chemical indicator approach to assessing ground water contamination by petroleum products. Ground Water Monitoring Review 11(4) 90-100. 

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