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Potential for Solute Retardation on Monitoring Well Sand Packs and Its Effect on Purging Requirements for Ground Water Sampling
Author(s) -
Palmer Carl D.,
Keely Joseph F.,
Fish William
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6592.1987.tb01040.x
Subject(s) - groundwater , sampling (signal processing) , environmental science , material balance , water well , contamination , environmental engineering , petroleum engineering , geotechnical engineering , process engineering , engineering , electrical engineering , ecology , filter (signal processing) , biology
Monitoring well sand packs are theoretically capable of retarding metal ions and organic contaminants. If this retardation does indeed occur it may have a significant effect on the purging requirements of newly installed monitoring wells. Calculations based on mass balance and retardation concepts demonstrate that if common guidelines for well purging are followed, contaminants may not be detected or may be detected in lower concentrations than are actually present in the ground water. This problem is greatest in relatively shallow wells installed in low to moderate permeability materials. In most cases, the effect of solute retardation in the sand pack can be avoided simply by additional purging prior to the first sampling of the monitoring well. Common purging guidelines can then be applied to subsequent samplings. The methodology outlined in this paper can be used to calculate the purging requirements of existing monitoring wells or it may be applied to alternative monitoring well designs to test which will require the smallest volume of purged water.