PRODUCTIVITY COMPARISON OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL GROUND-WATER REMEDIATION WELL SCENARIOS

A productivity parameter was developed to compare vertical and horizon tal ground water remediation scenarios. The parameter was determined b y dividing the cumulative mass of contaminant removed from an aquifer in a specified time by the total volume of ground water extracted to r emove the mass, This was compared to two other methods of assessing re mediation effectiveness: (1) the mass of contaminant removed at specif ied times; and (2) the volume of aquifer containing contaminants above a specified concentration limit as a function of time, A finite-diffe rence now and a contaminant mass transport model were used to simulate a hypothetical contaminated aquifer. Productivity indices were calcul ated for the remediation scenarios developed in this paper It is shown that these indices can be used as an additional tool in choosing amon g possible remediation scenarios. It was demonstrated that a ranking c an be obtained for the various remediation scenarios, using each of ou r three methods for assessing remediation effectiveness. The ranking o f a scenario depended on which method was used, and the selection of o ne particular remediation scenario over the other can be made taking t he three methods into account. The relative importance of the three me thods depended on the goal of the remediation. In an actual design, th ese methods can be used as part of the overall feasibility study that includes cost considerations.