Contaminant mass flux is the measurement of the concentration and flow of contaminants from a source area, represented as mass per unit area per unit time. Contaminant flux measurements show how much, how fast, and where a contaminant is moving – more than you can get from traditional groundwater grab samples. Kirk started his presentation… Continue Reading »
To begin his presentation, Rick discussed the current trends in groundwater remediation. Over the past decade, in situ methods have greatly increased in popularity. Although the use of these approaches is growing, Rick pointed out some limitations. Geological heterogeneity is a limitation to determining hydrogeological aspects of a contaminated site, and how a reagent will… Continue Reading »
Ryan Wilson used the SABRE project to base his discussion on treatment performance assessment (PA). According to Ryan, PA is about asking questions: Is the treatment working? Why or why not? Is risk reduced? When can treatment stop? Are processes sustainable? Is sufficient mass reduced? What do trends indicate? How can we optimize treatment? How… Continue Reading »
Gary Wealthall gave a very informative talk on dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones. He provided an overview of the characteristics of a DNAPL zone, and tools and techniques that can be used to characterize a source zone. Because of their low solubility, high density and viscosity, DNAPLs tend to persist due to mass… Continue Reading »
Jim Barker focused his discussion on how contaminants behave in the capillary fringe. The capillary fringe is the zone of soil immediately above the water table. Groundwater is pulled up from the water table by capillary action, filling the pores at the base of the zone. As a result, part of the capillary fringe can… Continue Reading »
Rick Devlin kicked-off the Symposium with a presentation that stressed the importance of groundwater velocity measurements, especially for contaminant hydrogeology. Through case study examples, Rick showed that measuring velocity is essential in determining the fate and transport of contaminants, which in turn, helps focus remediation efforts in the right direction. Traditional velocity estimates are based… Continue Reading »
Listening to the speakers at the 2011 Symposium, it became clear that getting results requires a collaborative effort. During his presentation, Jim Barker highlighted this by introducing a combined initiative that is currently taking place in the province of Ontario. The Southern Ontario Water Consortium is a development platform for new water technologies that includes… Continue Reading »
The theme of this year’s Symposium was “Enhanced Monitoring and Remedial Methods for Contaminated Groundwater”. It became clear that enhancing monitoring and remedial approaches involves recognizing “uncertainty” as a factor in all contaminated site assessments. It was put forth that heterogeneity in the subsurface affects the level of uncertainty in any groundwater study – when… Continue Reading »
Beth Parker provided attendees with a glimpse of the extensive research she has been spearheading for the past 20 years. Her work is focused on developing the “Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) Field Approach for Investigating Contaminated Sites in Fractured Sedimentary Rock”. Understanding how groundwater flows and chemicals migrate in these networks requires a unique approach… Continue Reading »
From the induction of the Drillers Act in 1946 to the Walkerton tragedy in 2001, Christopher Munro and Heather Brodie-Brown discussed the major changes and events that have shaped how groundwater is managed in Ontario. In addition, their presentation included an overview of the major groundwater management initiatives taking place in Ontario today. This includes… Continue Reading »
