WRRCTR No.174 Trace Organic (DBCP) Transport Simulation of Pearl Harbor Aquifer, Oahu, Hawaii: Multiple Mixing-Cell Model, Phase I

dc.contributor.author Orr, Shlomo
dc.contributor.author Lau, L. Stephen
dc.date.accessioned 2008-07-17T23:02:44Z
dc.date.available 2008-07-17T23:02:44Z
dc.date.issued 1987-08
dc.description State of Hawaii, Office of Environmental Quality Control, Department of Health Grant/Contract No. T-377
dc.description.abstract Lumped parameter models were chosen to provide a preliminary appraisal of the fate of trace organics (DBCP) in a portion of the Pearl Harbor aquifer and to provide a management tool for policymaking. The models, which consider portions of the aquifer as mixing cells, extensively simplify the systems. Special attention focused on attenuation and travel time in the approximately 800 ft (244 m) thick, vadose zone. Pseudo first-order decay coefficients determined from pesticide residues in the topsoil were used to determine attenuation in the vadose zone. A separate mixing-cell model was developed for the topsoil to distinguish between the different mechanisms responsible for the attenuation of adsorbed pesticides, particularly leaching vs. volatilization. Thus, an alternative method that excludes the varying distribution coefficients is suggested to estimate the leaching fraction of strongly adsorbed pesticides. The results indicate that at least a decade will pass before the aquifer starts to recover and another five years before DBCP concentrations become undetectable. The concentration attenuation within the vadose zone is about three orders of magnitude greater than the concentration reduction resulting from dilution within the aquifer. The simulated concentrations are very sensitive to the decay coefficients determined for the unsaturated zone. We conclude that leachate concentrations as low as 0.1 ppb (pg/l) below the top few feet of soil can reach and contaminate deep groundwater, where (usually) the dilution is limited to less than 1: 10. Due to the high persistence of many volatile organic carbons (dissolved in water) in very low concentrations, they can be considered as "conservative" tracers for modeling purposes.
dc.format.extent ix + 60 pages
dc.identifier.citation Orr S, Lau LS. 1987. Trace organic (DBCP) transport simulation of Pearl Harbor aquifer, Oahu, Hawaii: multiple mixing-cell model, phase I. Honolulu (HI): Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa. WRRC technical report, 174.
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/2021
dc.language.iso en-US
dc.publisher Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa
dc.relation.ispartofseries WRRC Technical Report
dc.relation.ispartofseries 174
dc.subject aquifers
dc.subject organic pesticides
dc.subject model studies
dc.subject groundwater
dc.subject saturation zone
dc.subject vadose water
dc.subject mixing-cell model
dc.subject DBCP
dc.subject EDB
dc.subject TCP
dc.subject Mililani Wells
dc.subject basaltic aquifer
dc.subject Pearl Harbor aquifer
dc.subject Oxisols
dc.subject Ultisols
dc.subject Lahaina
dc.subject Wahiawa
dc.subject Leilehua soils
dc.subject Maui
dc.subject Hawaii
dc.subject Oahu
dc.subject.lcsh Dibromochloropropane -- Hawaii -- Oahu -- Environmental aspects.
dc.subject.lcsh Groundwater -- Pollution -- Hawaii -- Oahu.
dc.subject.lcsh Groundwater flow -- Hawaii -- Oahu.
dc.subject.lcsh Organic water pollutants -- Hawaii -- Oahu.
dc.title WRRCTR No.174 Trace Organic (DBCP) Transport Simulation of Pearl Harbor Aquifer, Oahu, Hawaii: Multiple Mixing-Cell Model, Phase I
dc.type Report
dc.type.dcmi Text
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