River-induced flow dynamics in long-screen wells and impact on aqueous samples.

Previously published field investigations and modeling studies have demonstrated the potential for sample bias associated with vertical wellbore flow in conventional monitoring wells constructed with long-screened intervals. This article builds on the existing body of literature by (1) demonstrating the utility of continuous (i.e., hourly measurements for ∼1 month) ambient wellbore flow monitoring and (2) presenting results from a field experiment where relatively large wellbore flows (up to 4 L/min) were induced by aquifer hydrodynamics associated with a fluctuating river boundary located approximately 250 m from the test well. The observed vertical wellbore flows were strongly correlated with fluctuations in river stage, alternating between upward and downward flow throughout the monitoring period in response to changes in river stage. Continuous monitoring of ambient wellbore flows using an electromagnetic borehole flowmeter allowed these effects to be evaluated in concert with continuously monitored river-stage elevations (hourly) and aqueous uranium concentrations (daily) in a long-screen well and an adjacent multilevel well cluster. This study demonstrates that when contaminant concentrations within the aquifer vary significantly over the depth interval interrogated, river-induced vertical wellbore flow can result in variations in measured concentration that nearly encompass the full range of variation in aquifer contaminant concentration with depth.

Identifying the potential loss of monitoring wells using an uncertainty analysis.

From the mid-1940s through the 1980s, large volumes of waste water were discharged at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State, causing a large-scale rise (>20 m) in the water table. When waste water discharges ceased in 1988, ground water mounds began to dissipate. This caused a large number of wells to go dry and has made it difficult to monitor contaminant plume migration. To identify monitoring wells that will need replacement, a methodology has been developed using a first-order uncertainty analysis with UCODE, a nonlinear parameter estimation code. Using a three-dimensional, finite-element ground water flow code, key parameters were identified by calibrating to historical hydraulic head data. Results from the calibration period were then used to check model predictions by comparing monitoring wells' wet/dry status with field data. This status was analyzed using a methodology that incorporated the 0.3 cumulative probability derived from the confidence and prediction intervals. For comparison, a nonphysically based trend model was also used as a predictor of wells' wet/dry status. Although the numerical model outperformed the trend model, for both models, the central value of the intervals was a better predictor of a wet well status. The prediction interval, however, was more successful at identifying dry wells. Predictions made through the year 2048 indicated that 46% of the wells in the monitoring well network are likely to go dry in areas near the river and where the ground water mound is dissipating.

In situ chemical reduction of aquifer sediments: enhancement of reactive iron phases and TCE dechlorination.

In situ chemical reduction of aquifer sediments is currently being used for chromate and TCE remediation by forming a permeable reactive barrier. The chemical and physical processes that occur during abiotic reduction of natural sediments during flow by sodium dithionite were investigated. In different aquifer sediments, 10-22% of amorphous and crystalline FeIII-oxides were dissolved/reduced, which produced primarily adsorbed FeII, and some siderite. Sediment oxidation showed predominantly one FeII phase, with a second phase being oxidized more slowly. The sediment reduction rate (3.3 h batch half-life) was chemically controlled (58 kJ mol(-1)), with some additional diffusion control during reduction in sediment columns (8.0 h half-life). It was necessary to maintain neutral to high pH to maintain reduction efficiency and prevent iron mobilization, as reduction generated H+. Sequential extractions on reduced sediment showed that adsorbed ferrous iron controlled TCE reactivity. The mass and rate of field-scale reduction of aquifer sediments were generally predicted with laboratory data using a single reduction reaction.