Detection of contaminant plumes released from landfills: numerical versus analytical solutions

Contaminant leaks released from landfills are a threat to groundwater quality. The groundwater monitoring systems installed in the vicinity of such facilities are vital. In this study the detection probability of a contaminant plume released from a landfill has been investigated by means of both a s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental earth sciences 2011-12, Vol.64 (8), p.2127-2140
Main Authors: Yenigül, N. Buket, Hensbergen, André T., Elfeki, Amro M. M., Dekking, F. Michel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquifers
Biogeosciences
Chemical contaminants
Contaminants
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Science and Engineering
Exact sciences and technology
Geochemistry
Geology
Groundwater pollution
Hydrogeology
Hydrology. Hydrogeology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Landfill
Landfills
Mineralogy
Numerical analysis
Original Article
Pollution, environment geology
Silicates
Terrestrial Pollution
Waste disposal sites
Water geochemistry
Water monitoring
Water quality
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Summary:Contaminant leaks released from landfills are a threat to groundwater quality. The groundwater monitoring systems installed in the vicinity of such facilities are vital. In this study the detection probability of a contaminant plume released from a landfill has been investigated by means of both a simulation and an analytical model for both homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifer conditions. Since the detection probability is a sensitive quantity, we first compare the two methods for homogeneous aquifer conditions to assess the errors that are encountered by performing simulations. The analysis shows that the simulation model yields the detection probabilities of a contaminant plume at a given monitoring well quite well in the homogeneous case. For heterogeneous aquifers we apply the approximated analytical model based on macro-dispersivities. Here we find that this model is insufficient in monitoring system design, since the obtained analytical values of the detection probabilities at a given monitoring well differ significantly from those computed by simulation.
ISSN:1866-6280
1866-6299
DOI:10.1007/s12665-011-1039-3