University of Portsmouth

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Contaminated Land and Groundwater Protection

SEES706/ U20138

Geotechnics and Groundwater

SEES702/ U20126

Level 7 Examination 2019

This is an OPEN BOOK EXAM. Answer ALL questions; other general

guidance are –
 If doubt exists as to the interpretation of any question, the candidate is
urged to submit with the answer paper, a clear statement of any
assumptions made.
 Candidates may use non-communicable calculator.
 All questions require an answer in essay format. Clarity and
organization of the written answer and any figures or sketches are
important and that will attract some marks even the calculation is
incorrect.
 The grade for each question is equal.
 Background information related to each question is given in italic fonts.

Date: 15th May 2019 Time Allowed : 90 minutes

Time: 14.00 – 15.30

SEES706/702 2019 Page 1 of 5

1. You are required to assess the risk of river water contamination from the Wheal (10+5+5)
Maid Tailings, Gwennap, Cornwall - a valley infill consisting of 2 lagoons
separated by 3 earth embankment dams constructed over an impermeable
bedrock layer. The tailings lagoons contain a few million litres of mine waste.

The St Day stream, a tributary of the Carnon River, flows from west to east through
a culvert beneath the site. The eastern dam is 150 m across (i.e., the distance
from the water in the lagoon to the tailwater below the dam is 150 m). The average
hydraulic conductivity of the material used in the dam construction is 0.06 m/day.
The water in the lagoon behind the dam is 15 m deep and tailwater below the dam
is 5 m deep (see Figure 1).

Compute the volume of water that seeps from the lagoon, through the entire
width of the dam, which is laterally 100 m wide, into the tailwater in cubic
meter per day.

If the tailing lagoon water contains 90 ppm arsenic how much arsenic (kg/d)
is being added into the stream on a daily basis assuming there is no
geochemical alteration of the arsenic while it is passing through the dam.

Explain whether this wastewater can be a source of river water

contamination (note WHO drinking water guideline value for arsenic is 10
ppb) assuming the stream is a typical UK stream.

Figure 1: Sketch illustrating the perspective of the described problem. Note the dam is
150 m across and laterally 100 m wide.

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2. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ, >2,500 km2 in Ukraine) is a highly (20)
heterogeneously contaminated area affected by a number of radionuclides
including long-lived 137Cs and 90Sr as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl
Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) in 1986 (Figure 2) .

Among those, 90Sr is more mobile and could be expected to mix readily with
groundwater in the underlying unconfined aquifer through leaching from the soil
zone. The concentration of radioactive contaminants is expressed as Becquerels
(Bq) per Kg (a measure of nuclear disintegration per unit time), which often on an
aerial basis is expressed as Bq/m2. Concentration of 90Sr in the area reaches up
to 50,000 kBq/m2 (1 kBq = 1000 Bq) but a large area within the CEZ had a
concentration of 100 kBq/m2 or under as measured in 1997 survey, and, 22 years
on, since the measurements, the amount of 90Sr in the soils must have reduced
by various contaminant attenuation processes.

Assume radioactive decay is the dominant process; soil erosion and surface run-
off are negligible as the land is very flat.

If the concentration of 90Sr is reduced to ≤74 kBq/m2, it possesses a very low

likelihood of groundwater contamination and, a tolerable limit of population
habitation without any restrictions. Note that 90Sr has a half-life of 28.8 years.

Assess the vulnerability of groundwater (in the underlying unconfined

aquifer) to contamination by 90Sr in areas where 90Sr was 100 kBq/m2. Show
your calculation of the estimated current (2019) concentration of 90Sr and
comment on whether the land is still a threat to groundwater contamination
and habitation.

Figure 2: 90Sr distribution in CEZ as measured in 1997. Note that extensive area used to
contain ≤100 kBq/m2 90Sr which may be safe by now. In your assessment, assume ≤100
kBq/m2 as equal to 100 kBq/m2.

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3. Give an account of the Environment Agency’s ‘Groundwater Protection (20)
Policy’, giving details of the philosophy, classifications and the various
defined protection ‘zones’ illustrated with diagrams and examples from
typical generic aquifer situations.

4. Consider that you are working as an international consultant, a part of a team, to

(10+10)
help the Bangladesh Government mitigate groundwater arsenic contamination,
which is widespread in the country and is restricted to the shallower depths (Figure
3). The available data shows that the deeper part of the aquifers (>100 mbgl –
metre below ground level) are effectively arsenic free (<10 ppb), which is driving
the most mitigation effort.

Figure 3: Extent of
groundwater arsenic problem
in Bangladesh and (in inset)
scatter plot of the same data
shows that the most of the
polluted wells are restricted
within 150 mgbl. Note that 10
ppb is WHO guideline value
while 50 ppb is local standard
in Bangladesh for drinking
water.

You are required to provide expert advice on the following:

a) designing a sustainable pumping regime for an urban water supply tapping

water from the deeper groundwater zone (250 mbgl);

b) developing a regional groundwater flow and contaminant transport model to

evaluate long-term security of deeper aquifers against potential invasion of
arsenic from shallower depths due to over-pumping.

In both cases, consider that you have been provided with hydraulic conductivity
information along with other data sets. Analyses were made of the hydraulic
conductivity of a number of sites using (i) permeameter tests of core samples, (ii)
SEES706/702 2019 Page 4 of 5
 slug tests of monitoring wells, (iii) long-duration pumping test of production wells,
and (iv) you have also been provided with lithological drilling records from
hundreds of locations, which can be used to estimate effective hydraulic
conductivity.

It is often observed that the hydraulic conductivity as measured by each of

the above four methods is different. Comment on which method would be
most appropriate for the aforesaid cases ‘a’ (pumping regime) and ‘b’
(developing regional groundwater model)? Justify your choices.

5. The potential for Groundwater to be contaminated from nitrate pollution from

(20)
septic tank leakage is common in rural areas of developing countries where the
density of pit latrines is high and aquifer condition is favourable. Groundwater
Relief (a UK based charity working in Rohingya Refugee camps in Rakhine State,
Myanmar to provide drinking water sourced from underlying aquifers) seeks your
advice on the potential nitrate contamination problem. They have provided you
with information on the redox condition, aquifer geology and depth of their
abstraction wells (shown in Figure 4).

Most of the well water at A contains relatively high amounts of dissolved oxygen
while at B water is enriched with high levels of dissolved iron. The Eh (the activity
of electrons / redox potential) was measured as near positive at A and very
negative at B.

Provide an assessment of contamination of groundwater by nitrate of A and

B blocks in the figure considering aquifer biogeochemistry, geology and
groundwater flow regime.

Figure 4: Conceptual hydrogeological framework described in the problem with major

groundwater flow lines.

(End of Script)
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