CIE596Z/PTE600N/CIE796AD

Fate and Transport of Pollutants in the Environment

Spring 2024
Homework #1

Problem 1. An aquifer has a hydraulic conductivity of 12 ft/d and an effective porosity of 17% and is
under a hydraulic gradient of 0.0055.

a) Compute the specific discharge

b) Compute the average linear velocity
c) The water temperature is 24°C and the mean pore diameter is 0.33 mm. Is it permissible to use
Darcy’s law under these circumstances? What is the reason for your answer?

Problem 2. Dissolved nitrate in a concentration of 18.0 mg/L is being advected with flowing
groundwater at a velocity of 0.331 m/day in an aquifer with a porosity of 0.225. Groundwater from the
aquifer discharges into a stream. What is the mass flux of nitrate into the stream if the aquifer is 1.80 m
thick and 123 m wide where it discharges into the stream?

Problem 3. A manufacturing facility that manufacture printed circuit boards puts wash water that was
used to wash solvents from the circuit boards into a septic tank which discharges into ground water. The
wash water contains 7.34 mg/L of dissolved trichloroethylene (TCE). The daily rate of discharge is 13.6
m3/day. The underlying aquifer has an average linear groundwater velocity of 0.34 m/day. The thickness
of the aquifer over which the contaminant is injected is estimated at 1.56 m. The discharge has been
going on long enough so that steady state conditions have been reached. Assuming no degradation of
the TCE, what is the concentration at a monitoring well located 22 meters down gradient of the septic
tank discharge (x = 22 m, y = 0).

Problem 4. A sorption study of Cd2+ on a sandy loam grave the following results:

Equilibrium Concentration (mg/L) Cd2+ Sorbed (gm/gm)

0.045 7
0.1 15
0.14 21
0.2 30
0.24 37

Determine the adsorption type and the adsorption isotherm coefficient(s).

Problem 5. The log Kow for benzo(a)pyrene is 6.00. Using the equations in Table 3.2, estimate the Koc
based on the Kow.