GROUNDWATER QUALITY MONITORING AND

CONTROL
 Subsurface environment
• The subsurface environment
is no less diverse than
surface waters;
• It’s characteristics vary with
depth as well as from one
location to another.
Ground Water

Ground Water is a subsurface water that fully

saturates pore spaces of bedrock

 lies beneath the ground surface, filling pores

in sediments and sedimentary rocks and
fractures in other rock types

 The rate of movement of groundwater is

gravity driven, varying between 0.6inches
per day(in sandstones) to several inches per
year (in granite)
– The source of groundwater is rain and meltwater
inftrating and percolating through fractures/
pores in soil and bedrock
– Generally cleaner than surface water
Freshwater
Ground Water
Ground Water

Importance of groundwater
Ground Water

Where is groundwater stored?

Groundwater is stored in rock bodies called an aquifer
• An aquifer is an underground layer of porous
rocks or permeable rocks that store and retain
groundwater levels in the soil
– Sandstone
– Conglomerate
– Well-jointed limestone
– Sand and gravel
– Highly fractured volcanic rock
The top of the water level in an aquifer is called
the water table.

• An aquifer is filled with moving water and the

amount of water in storage in the aquifer can
Ground Water

Characteristics of aquifer
• Porosity - the percentage of rock or sediment that consists
of voids or openings
– Measurement of a rock’s ability to hold water
– Loose sand has ~30-50% porosity
– Compacted sandstone may have only 10-20% porosity

• Permeability - the capacity of a rock to transmit fluid

through pores and fractures
– Interconnectedness of pore spaces
– Most sandstones and conglomerates are porous and
permeable
– Granites, schists, unfractured limestones are
impermeable
Ground Water

Confined Aquifer:
• A confined aquifer is a part of a rock bed
or sand covered by a clay confining layer
and prevents the groundwater from
moving from one aquifer to another.
• The water in confined aquifers can have
high pressure due to the overlying
confining layer.

• Confined Aquifer
– Completely filled with water under
pressure (hydrostatic head)
– Separated from surface by impermeable
confining layer/aquitard
Ground Water

• An unconfined aquifer is a section of

rock bed or sand not covered by a
confining layer. An unconfined
aquifer is always shallow in-depth,
and its top consists of the water
table

Unconfined Aquifer
– Has a water table, and is only partly
filled with water
– Rapidly recharged by precipitation
infiltrating down to the saturated zone
Ground Water

• Saturated Aquifer: Saturated aquifers are those aquifers that are filled with
water and have no space to store more water. These aquifers store water with
high-pressure heads.
• Unsaturated Aquifer: Unsaturated aquifers are those aquifers that contain
water but still have some space filled with air and can store more water. These
aquifers generally occur above the water table, and their pressure head is
negative or less than a saturated aquifer.
• Perched Aquifer: Perched aquifer is a type of aquifer that occurs over
unsaturated rock formations. These aquifers develop as a result of
discontinuous impermeable layers of rock or sand.
Ground Water
Groundwater movement

 Movement of groundwater through pores

and fractures is relatively slow (cms to
meters/day, depending on the permeability)
compared to flow of water in surface
streams
– Flow velocities in cavernous limestones can be
much higher (kms/day)

 Flow velocity depends upon:

– Slope of the water table
– Permeability of the rock or sediment
 Groundwater quality

• Groundwater quality is a hidden issue inside a

hidden resource, and as a result far too little
attention is given to it.
• Most groundwater is good quality potable
water that needs almost no treatment before
distribution and use.
• Natural protection provides filtration of
bacteria and protecting the water from
pollutants generated at the land surface
Groundwater quality
• The vastness and natural quality makes groundwater is a highly
valuable resource for water resources managers
• Once groundwater has become polluted, it is usually a very long,
complex and expensive task to restore the water quality, and in many
cases the groundwater resource may be effectively destroyed as a
potable water supply
Factors influencing groundwater quality
The contaminants can be introduced in the groundwater by
naturally occurring activities, such as natural leaching of the
soil and mixing with other groundwater sources having
different chemistry.
They are mostly introduced by planned human activities
(anthropogenic), such as waste disposal, mining, and
agricultural operations. The pollution can impair the use of
water and can create hazards to public health through toxicity
or the spread of disease.
Factors influencing groundwater quality

Largely depend on the;

• Geochemistry of the aquifers

• The age or detention time
• Geological characteristics
• Anthropogenic activities
• Depth
Factors influencing groundwater quality
Geochemistry of the aquifers Groundwater becomes
mineralised due to rock/water interactions resulting
in the dissolution of certain minerals and chemical
elements which remain in solution in the
groundwater.

The age or detention time: The degree of dissolution

depends on the length of time that the rock/water is
in contact, the length of the flow-path through the
rock, the solubility of the rock materials and the
amount of dilution by fresh recharge water.
Factors influencing groundwater quality
• Certain naturally occurring elements (As, F, Mn) present known problems in
groundwater.
• Other elements (notably Ni, U and Al) are of increasing concern.

• It is important for management purposes to differentiate human impacts

from naturally-occurring problems.
Factors influencing groundwater quality
Anthropogenic activities
Factors influencing groundwater quality
Anthropogenic activities
 landfills are the places that our
garbage is taken to be buried.
 Landfills are supposed to
have a protective bottom layer
to prevent contaminants from
getting into the water.

 However, if there is no layer or

it is cracked, contaminants
from the landfill (car battery
acid, paint, household
cleaners, etc.) can make their
way down into the
groundwater.
Factors influencing groundwater quality
Anthropogenic activities
Factors influencing groundwater quality
Depth: Shallow groundwater is vulnerable to fecal contamination,
especially in low-income urban areas where use of on-site sanitation
facilities is high.
 Sources of Water Pollution
The two chief sources of water pollution can be seen as
Point source
Non-Point source

Point source
Those sources which discharge water pollutants directly into the water are known as point sources of
water pollution.
Oil wells situated near water bodies, factories, power plants, underground coal mines, etc. are point
sources of water pollution.

Non-Point source
Those sources which do not have any specific location for discharging pollutants, in the water body are
known as non-point sources of water pollution.
Run-offs from agricultural fields, lawns, gardens, construction sites, roads and streets are some non-point
sources of water pollution.
Problems associated with groundwater withdrawal

In many places, the water

available to recharge the
aquifer falls significantly short
of the amount being withdrawn
Problems associated with groundwater withdrawal
Subsidence

Ground sink when water

is pumped from wells
faster than natural
recharge.
Problems associated with groundwater withdrawal
Problems associated with groundwater withdrawal
Problems associated with groundwater withdrawal
Contamination of aquifers
Major GW quality problem in developing countries

• The greatest water quality

problem in the developing
world is pathogenic waterborne
diseases (faecal origin).

• Nevertheless problems do arise

from natural occurrence of
elevated concentrations of
certain trace elements in some
groundwater supplies
Some toxic naturally occurring inorganic contaminants
• Arsenic (As) is the trace element currently giving greatest concern in
groundwater, being both toxic and carcinogenic at low concentration;

• Fluoride (F) is an element that is sometimes deficient, but in

groundwater supply provision, excessive concentrations can be a
problem, especially in arid climates and in volcanic and granitic rocks
Some toxic naturally occurring inorganic contaminants
• Manganese (Mn) in soluble aspect occurs widely where reducing
groundwater conditions arise, and gives rise to unacceptable
groundwater taste;

• Various other trace elements (including notably (Ni, U and Al) are
listed by WHO as potentially hazardous in drinking water.
Transport of contaminants in the subsurface
• The movement of contaminants through the subsurface is complex and is
difficult to predict.
• Different types of contaminants react differently with soils, sediments, and other
geologic materials and commonly travel along different flow paths and at
different velocities.
• Most contaminants are introduced to the subsurface by percolation through
soils.
• The interactions between a soil and a contaminant are important for assessing
the fate and transport of the contaminant in the groundwater flow system.
• Contaminants that are highly soluble, such as salts (e.g. sodium chloride, NaCl)
move readily from surface soils to saturated materials below the water table.
• Those contaminants that are not highly soluble may have considerably longer
residence times in the soil zone.
Transport of contaminants in the subsurface
Transport of contaminants in the subsurface

• Advection is the process by which contaminants are The advective mass flux of a particular
transported by the flowing fluid or solvent in response to a chemical species is given by
hydraulic gradient.

For saturated flow, the seepage and Darcy velocity are related by

where

vs = seepage velocity
n = soil porosity
q = Darcy's flux, which is given by

where
Q = volumetric flow rate
A = cross-sectional area perpendicular to the direction of flow
K = hydraulic conductivity, a property of the medium and the flow field
H = total hydraulic head
x = flow direction
Ih = hydraulic gradient
Transport of contaminants in the subsurface
Transport of contaminants in the subsurface
Major groundwater management issues

Control of groundwater pollution

sources – quality degradation due to
anthropogenic activities

Control of groundwater
abstraction(Over-abstraction) –
saltwater intrusion, lowering
groundwater levels

Natural groundwater contaminants

Adequate groundwater analysis

Subsurface Remediation
Remediation of subsurface contamination has proven to be problematic.
Early Efforts at groundwater cleanup were characterized as being costly, time-consuming and
ineffective (Knox et al 1986).
Recent years have seen dramatic increases in the number of technologies being promoted for
subsurface remediation. Many of the new technologies represent simple innovations of existing
procedures. A broad categorization of remediation technologies could include (U S E P A , 1990):

1. Pump and Treat - extraction of contaminated groundwater with subsequent treatment at the surface
and disposal or reinjection.

2. Soil Vacuum Extraction - uses vacuum blowers and extraction wells to induce gas flow through the
subsurface, collecting contaminated soil vapor, which is subsequently treated aboveground.

3. Soil Flushing/ Washing - use of extractant solvents to remove contaminants from soils.

4. Containment - emplacement of physical, chemical, or hydraulic barriers to isolate contaminated areas.

5. Bioremediation - uses microorganisms to degrade organic contaminants in soil, groundwater

Most remediation schemes will involve a combination of technologies. However, for any technology to be
Subsurface Remediation
Soil Vacuum Extraction
GROUNDWATER MODELLING AND
VULNERABILITY
Groundwater modelling:
• Since the realization of the pollution of groundwater by persistent and
potentially hazardous chemicals, mathematical models have been formulated
to help evaluate groundwater resources

• The models integrate process descriptions with pollutant properties and

environmental characteristics to yield quantitative estimates of subsurface
transport and fate of these substances in the soil mass.
Groundwater modelling:
Modelling has become an important tool in
• management of groundwater resources and is MODFLOW is considered an
hydrologic model for simulating and
• used to predict the effect of current and future predicting groundwater conditions
and groundwater/surface-water
conditions on groundwater and contaminant interactions
movement
• as well as assessing aquifer vulnerability
• A groundwater model may be defined as a simplified
version of a real world groundwater system that
approximately simulates the relative excitation-
response relations of the real world systems
Groundwater modelling:

• Models are built from a series of mathematical equations that simulate a groundwater situation
in a real world aquifer system.
• Mathematical equations describing groundwater flow in aquifers are based on the continuity
equation and Darcy's law

• According to Darcy's law, the average flow velocity is a function of the hydraulic head gradient
and the effective porosity

• The flow rate, Q is given by Q= nVA

where
Q is the flow rate in m3/s,
V is the velocity of flow in m/s,
n is the effective porosity of the porous medium and
A is the cross sectional area.
Groundwater modeling:
• The Darcy’s law is given by;

where
K is the hydraulic conductivity, m/s,
h is the hydraulic head, m;
n is effective porosity;
x is the distance of flow (in this case in x-direction) and
dh/dx is the hydraulic gradient in the same direction.
 Groundwater modelling:
• Combine continuity equation and Darcy’s law, then the Darcy
equation can be expressed as
Groundwater Vulnerability:

Groundwater vulnerability; a term used to represent the natural

ground characteristics that determine the ease with which
groundwater may be contaminated by human activities.
Groundwater Vulnerability:
• The vulnerability is not an absolute property, but a relative indication of
where contamination is likely to occur.
• Furthermore, it is an amorphous concept, not a measurable property. It is
a probability (i.e. “the tendency or likelihood”) of contamination occurring
in the future and thus must be inferred from surrogate information that is
measurable.
• In this sense, a groundwater vulnerability assessment is a predictive
statement much like a weather forecast, but for processes that take place
underground and over much longer time scales.
 Ground Vulnerability Assessment
The Ground Vulnerability Assessment (GVA) is a dynamic and iterative
process, used for three main purposes:
 Increasing the awareness and knowledge of the public and decision-makers of
the potential of contamination of the groundwater resources that may be their
most valuable use.
 Because groundwater resources are generally hidden (invisible), public
knowledge of groundwater system, its use, and its susceptibility to
contamination is often poor.
 A vulnerability assessment can increase such awareness by highlighting
“hotspots” areas, or human activities that pose danger to the resource.
 Ground Vulnerability Assessment

 Providing a tool for allocating resources.

 The availability of vulnerability assessments can give both

land users and managers (e.g. Water Boards – for the case
of Tanzania) a proper sense of caution and some
information on how to avoid excessive risky actions.

 They also direct resources for mitigation and monitoring

purposes
Ground Vulnerability Assessment
• Guiding the decisions of land users and land use managers.

• The vulnerability assessments play a key role in helping to reach

rational decisions on issuing permits for activities that can contaminate
groundwater. Therefore, the vulnerability assessments can be a key
methodology in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) of proposed
development
Ground Vulnerability Assessment

Major players in Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment (GVA)

Ground Vulnerability Assessment
The DRASTIC Model

• The DRASTIC model was developed in USA for the purpose of protecting the
groundwater resources
• DRASTIC is an empirical groundwater model that estimates groundwater
contamination vulnerability of aquifer systems based on the hydrogeological
settings of that area
• A hydrogeological setting is defined as a mappable unit with common
hydrogeological characteristics
The DRASTIC Model

DRASTIC employs a
numerical ranking
system that assigns
relative weights to
various parameters.

The acronym DRASTIC is

derived from the seven
factors considered in
the method, which are
The DRASTIC Model
• The DRASTIC Index [DI], a measure of pollution potential, is
computed by summation of the products of ratings and weights of
each factor
• The final results for each hydrogeological setting is a numerical value,
called DRASTIC index.
• The higher the value is, the more susceptible the area in question is
to groundwater pollution.
• The DRASTIC model is designed to evaluate the vulnerability of
groundwater in regions greater than 40 hectares (100 acres).
The DRASTIC Model

 The subscripts r and w in the

equation above denote the
rating of the factor being
considered and the
corresponding weight assigned
to the factor.
 The higher the value of DI the
greater the relative pollution
potential or high aquifer
vulnerability.
 Navulur et al (1996) converted
the computed DRASTIC indices
into qualitative risk categories
of low, moderate, high, and
very high
The DRASTIC Model
The DRASTIC Model
 Vulnerability map
• In the south east and small area around the pump
house, the vulnerability to contamination risk ranges
between high and extremely high of the modeled
area.

• These classes were found in the Makutupora ward

(which covers a small area due to highly fracture of
the aquifer media) and Chihanga ward, with high
recharge potential and shallow water table.

• These areas require a particular attention.

• To the north, east and southwestern part of the
Makutupora ward, vulnerability to contamination
risk ranges between low and extremely low of the
modeled area.
• Figure 4: Groundwater vulnerability map