Modelling of lindane transport in groundwater of metropolitan city Vadodara, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Migration pattern of organochloro pesticide lindane has been studied in groundwater of metropolitan city Vadodara. Groundwater flow was simulated using the groundwater flow model constructed up to a depth of 60 m considering a three-layer structure with grid size of 40 × 40 × 40 m(3). The general groundwater flow direction is from northeast to south and southwest. The river Vishwamitri and river Jambua form natural hydrologic boundary. The constant head in the north and south end of the study area is taken as another boundary condition in the model. The hydraulic head distribution in the multilayer aquifer has been computed from the visual MODFLOW groundwater flow model. TDS has been computed though MT3D mass transport model starting with a background concentration of 500 mg/l and using a porosity value of 0.3. Simulated TDS values from the model matches well with the observed data. Model MT3D was run for lindane pesticide with a background concentration of 0.5 μg/l. The predictions of the mass transport model for next 50 years indicate that advancement of containment of plume size in the aquifer system both spatially and depth wise as a result of increasing level of pesticide in river Vishwamitri. The restoration of the aquifer system may take a very long time as seen from slow improvement in the groundwater quality from the predicted scenarios, thereby, indicating alarming situation of groundwater quality deterioration in different layers. It is recommended that all the industries operating in the region should install efficient effluent treatment plants to abate the pollution problem.

Groundwater Nitrate Contamination Integrated Modeling for Climate and Water Resources Scenarios: The Case of Lake Karla Over-Exploited Aquifer

“…MT3DMS code was applied to study the spatial and temporal variability of nitrate in the groundwater regime. The spatial distribution of nitrate in groundwater is determined mainly by hydraulic characteristics of the aquifer such as hydrodynamic dispersion and advection parameters, calculating the mass flux at sources with the use of velocities from the groundwater flow model [14,18,48]. Advection and dispersion of pollutant in hydrogeological environment was predicated on some critical geological coefficients.…”

Modeling Flow and Nitrate Transport in an Over-Exploited Aquifer of Rural Basin Using an Integrated System: The Case of Lake Karla Watershed

“…The Nitrate mass transport process on the groundwater is dominated by advection-dispersion. Nitrates is dispersed longitudinally and transverse drifting by groundwater flow [14]. It is recognized that dispersivity depends on geological characteristics.…”

“…The effective porosity used is 0.3 [9]. For nitrate transport modeling, advective flux masses are defined at flow sources/sinks [14]. Cultivation data were obtained from the Integrated Management System of cultivated areas [17].…”