A data-driven modeling approach for the sustainable remediation of persistent arsenic (As) groundwater contamination in a fractured rock aquifer through a groundwater recirculation well (IEG-GCW®)

3D GeoRemediation: A Digital Hydrogeophysical–Chemical Clone and Virtual Hydraulic Barrier with Groundwater Circulation Wells (GCWs) for Groundwater Remediation

“…The mobilization and reduction effects of TCE within the ROI of the GCW are also evident in the hydrochemical monitoring of the MLSW, where local rebound effects can be linked with the development of the recirculation cell that affects masses of contaminant accumulations or the influx of dissolved pollutants into the aquifer section intercepted by the virtual barrier. These findings are consistent with numerous literature studies conducted on recirculating systems at both laboratory and field scales, highlighting the mobilization of contaminants adsorbed or absorbed on low-permeability layers and rebound effects induced by groundwater circulation [86,87]. The long-term influx of a contamination plume from the source area becomes evident from the analysis of the temporal trends in TCE concentrations measured in the traditional monitoring wells installed within the site.…”

“…Additionally, GCWs can be utilized to deliver reagents and/or nutrients into aquifers, thereby enhancing in situ bioremediation and creating in situ hydro-bio-geo-chemical reactors for the degradation of chlorinated compounds [64][65][66][67]. These systems eliminate the water consumption associated with traditional physical extraction wells and mitigate the development of groundwater table depression cones associated with P&T/pump-and-stock (P&S) systems [68].…”

“…We know the well's behavior before drilling, adding valuable elements to the MCS. In this regard, the digital conceptual model is a multicriteria puzzle of analysis that simplifies the process of multi-source data fusion and exchange, capturing the hydrogeophysical-chemical conceptualization, decrypting the hydrogeological influences behind contamination processes and dynamics, and guiding the application of remediation technology in line with both strategic objectives and the principles of remediation geology [68,88]. Delving into the accuracy of our multi-source model, we added a high-fidelity filter to our interpolation technique as an additional gridding option.…”

“…In this regard, the digital conceptual model is a multicriteria puzzle of analysis that simplifies the process of multi-source data fusion and exchange, capturing the hydrogeophysical-chemical While groundwater recirculation systems eliminate water resource consumption, the P&S system generates a volume of groundwater to be allocated as waste [91]. Although the disparity in groundwater resource consumption between traditional pumping systems and groundwater recirculation systems is extensively documented in the literature [34,54,92], comparative performance assessments of these remediation systems often refer to applications in source areas [55,87]. In comparison to previous studies, the findings of this research strongly suggest that the application of a traditional hydraulic barrier, ignoring the complex architecture of the contamination source and the migration patterns of pollutants in groundwater, drastically reduces the ability to effectively intercept the plume and remove significant masses of pollutants, despite a large and well-known consumption of groundwater resources.…”

The Effects of Spill Pressure on the Migration and Remediation of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Aquifers

“…Due to low solubility, viscosity, and high density, the remediation of DNAPL contamination in the subsurface environment is quite challenging. Among all remediation techniques used for groundwater contamination, surfactant-enhanced aquifer remediation (SEAR) has been proven to be very effective in removing DNAPLs from aquifers [20,[39][40][41][42]. Pump and treat (PAT) technology is a traditional remediation method used for the treatment of groundwater contamination.…”