Vinasse has been widely replacing chemical fertilizers in sugar cane plantations as a source of nutrients, mainly potassium. Despite its value as a fertilizer, which has already been shown, there are very few publications about the mobility of its constituents as well as their effect on groundwater quality.
In a sugar cane plantation located on the Botucatu aquifer recharge area, a research project has been developed to determine the dynamics of the constituents of vinasse through the unsaturated and saturated zones, aiming at defining the agronomic rate of vinasse irrigation in order to preserve the groundwater quality.
Geological and hydrogeological surveys were carried out utilizing data from geophysical methods (electromagnetism and electroresistivity), boring and piezometers.
The area wasdivided into three plots where vinasse was applied at rates of 150 and 300 m3/hectare.
A monitoring net was installed after the hydrogeological characterization of the site, consisting of monitoring wells, multilevel piezometers, tensiometers, suction and pan lysimeters, which allow the evaluation of the water flow and solute transportation through the unsaturated and saturated zones.
This paper shows the preliminary results of the monitoring and the methodology used.
The analytical solution of a cation adsorption soil problem is derived in detail by an integral transform method. The solution applies to the case of unsteady‐state, one‐dimensional flow through soils where a linear equilibrium exists between the cation in the flowing solution and the cation adsorbed on the exchanger phase. The effects of axial dispersion are also included in the solution.
A preventive approach in groundwater protection programs throughout Europe and the United States, and almost unknown in Brazil, is to define the surface and subsurface areas, the Wellhead Protection Area (WHPA), from which a well or wellfield draws its water during a specified time. Overlaying a map of potential pollution sources on the delineated WHPA (Figure 1), those sources which fall within the WHPA boundaries are identified as definite threats, that need to be closely monitored, to the continued safe operation of the wellfield. Given the importance of effectively delineating the WHPA to protect public water supplies, the current delineation criteria, methods, and zones are presented, as well as analytical and numerical PC model analyses of different hydrogeological scenarios' effects on WHPA's size, shape and direction. Numerical models are shown to more accurately define WHPAs by taking into account the surrounding heterogeneous and anisotropic geology.
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