Effect of Natural and Induced Groundwater Flow Paths on Groundwater Remediation
Abstract:
Remediation of contaminated groundwater can be conducted ex situ or in situ. During ex situ remediation, the contaminated groundwater is removed and treated; while during in situ remediation, a chemical or biological amendment is introduced into a contaminant plume to react with and degrade the contaminant. The success of both ex situ and in situ remediation is driven by groundwater flow paths, which are controlled naturally by aquifer heterogeneity and natural hydraulic gradients, but can be induced through injection and extraction at wells to create flow paths that enhance removal of contaminated groundwater during ex situ remediation or that enhance contaminant degradation during in situ remediation. This talk presents results of theoretical, numerical, experimental, and field studies that demonstrate how groundwater flow paths influence the extent of contaminant removal or contaminant degradation, and identifies characteristics of induced flow fields that lead to enhanced removal or degradation of contaminants.
Bio:
Roseanna Neupauer is a Professor and President’s Teaching Scholar in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, in Boulder, Colorado, USA. She specializes in groundwater hydrology and solute transport in groundwater, with a focus on groundwater modeling. Current projects include active and passive spreading to enhance groundwater remediation, protection of groundwater from thermal pollution caused by geothermal energy systems, investigation of mechanisms of aufeis formation, and controls on stream depletion due to aquifer pumping. She holds a Ph.D. in Hydrology and an M.S. in Mathematics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.A. in Spanish from University of Colorado Boulder. She is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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