Case Study of Steady Oxygen Concentration Gradients in a Groundwater Plume from a Highway Infiltration Basin
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 11
Abstract
We measure and model the steady transport of specific conductivity and dissolved oxygen through a groundwater plume from a highway infiltration basin in southeastern Massachusetts. Specific conductivity is treated as a conservative surrogate for runoff contamination, and the data calibrate a 0.27-m vertical dispersivity of the aquifer and the bottom streamline elevation of the plume, which falls to an 8-m depth below the water table. The dissolved oxygen degrades as a first order reactant in the plume to levels below 1 mg/L, with a decay constant of . The latter may be attributed in part to the historical use of an alternative de-icing agent calcium magnesium acetate on the highway, since acetate is a readily biodegradable substrate for microorganisms. The calibrated kinetics suggest that plume microbes and geochemistry degrade oxygen over two orders of magnitude faster than their ambient groundwater counterparts, which impose a linear decrease of dissolved oxygen concentration below the plume. Simulations suggest that the anoxic groundwater plume extends 1,600 m downgradient of the infiltration basin, a distance that will shorten by an order of magnitude if salt is used exclusively to de-ice the highway.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The Massachusetts Highway Department funded this research under Interagency Service Agreement UNSPECIFIED38721. The views, opinions, and findings contained in this paper are the Authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of MassHighway. This paper does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
References
Abramowitz, M., and Stegun, I. A. (1972). Handbook of mathematical functions, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C.
Alexander, M. (1991). Introduction to soil microbiology, Krieger, Malabar, Fla.
Appelo, C. J. A., and Postma, D. (2005). Geochemistry, groundwater, and pollution, Balkema, New York.
Barrett, M. E., Irish, L. B., Malina, J. F., and Charbeneau, R. J. (1998). “Characterization of highway runoff in Austin, TX area.” J. Environ. Eng., 124(2), 131–137.
Beveridge, G. S. G., and Schechter, R. S. (1970). Optimization: Theory and practice, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Essaid, H. I., Bekins, B. A., Godsy, E. M., Warren, E., Baedecker, M. J., and Cozzarelli, I. M. (1995). “Simulation of aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation processes at a crude oil site.” Water Resour. Res., 31(12), 3309–3327.
Fischer, H. B., List, E. J., Koh, R. C. Y., Imberger, J., and Brooks, N. H. (1979). Mixing in inland and coastal waters, Academic, New York.
Fodor, G. (1965). LaPlace transforms in engineering, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Freeze, R. A., and Cherry, J. A. (1979). Groundwater, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Garabedian, S. P., LeBlanc, D. R., Gelhar, L. W., and Celia, M. A. (1991). “Large scale natural gradient tracer test in sand and gravel, Cape Cod, MA 2. analysis of spatial moments for a nonreactive tracer.” Water Resour. Res., 27(5), 911–924.
Granato, G. E., and Smith, K. P. (1999). “Estimating concentrations of road salt constituents in highway runoff from measurements of specific conductance.” Rep. No. WRIR 99–4077, USGS, Northborough, Mass.
Han, Y. H., Lau, S. L., Kayhanian, M., and Stenstrom, M. K. (2006). “Characteristics of highway stormwater runoff.” Water Environ. Res., 78(12), 2377–2388.
Hansen, B. P., and Lapham, W. W. (1992). “Geohydrology and simulated groundwater flow, Plymouth-Carver Aquifer, southeastern Massachusetts.” Rep. No. WRIR 90–4024, USGS, Marlborough, Mass.
Hildebrand, F. B. (1976). Advanced calculus for applications, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Horner, R. R. (1988). “Environmental monitoring and evaluation of calcium magnesium actetate.” NCHRP Rep. No. 305, TRB, Washington, D.C.
Houston, S. L., Duryea, P. D., and Hong, R. (1999). “Infiltration considerations for groundwater recharge with waste effluent.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 125(5), 264–272.
Lahvis, M. A., Baehr, A. L., and Baker, R. J. (1999). “Quantification of aerobic biodegradation and volatilization rates of gasoline hydrocarbons near the water table under natural attenuation conditions.” Water Resour. Res., 35(3), 753–765.
LeBlanc, D. R. (1984). “Sewage plume in a sand and gravel aquifer, Cape Cod, MA.” Rep. No. WSP 2218, USGS, Washington, D.C.
Meyer, M. M. (1999). “Fate and transport of deicing agent materials in an unconfined roadside aquifer.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.
Millington, R. J. (1959). “Gas diffusion in porous media.” Science, 130(3367), 100–102.
Ostendorf, D. W., DeGroot, D. J., Dunaj, P. J., and Jakubowski, J. (2005). “A closed form slug test theory for high permeability aquifers.” Ground Water, 43(1), 87–101.
Ostendorf, D. W., DeGroot, D. J., and Hinlein, E. S. (2007). “Unconfined aquifer response to infiltration basins and shallow pump tests.” J. Hydrol. (Amst.), 338(1/2), 132–144.
Ostendorf, D. W., DeGroot, D. J., Pollock, S. J., and Gagnon, P. J. (1995). “Aerobic acetate degradation near the capillary fringe of roadside soil: Field simulations from soil microcosms.” J. Environ. Qual., 24(2), 334–342.
Ostendorf, D. W., DeGroot, D. J., Pollock, S. J., and Long, L. J. (1997). “Aerobic degradation potential assessment from oxygen and carbon dioxide soil gas concentrations in roadside soil.” J. Environ. Qual., 26(2), 445–453.
Ostendorf, D. W., Fauteux, R. T., and Sullivan, A. L. (2002). “CMA induced organic enrichment and oxygen depletion from highway runoff.” Proc., Watershed Management to Meet Emerging TMDL Environmental Regulations, ASABE, Fort Worth, Tex., 93–98.
Ostendorf, D. W., Hinlein, E. S., Ahlfeld, D. P., and DeJong, J. T. (2006). “Calibrated models of deicing agent solids, pavement texture, and specific conductivity of highway runoff.” J. Environ. Eng., 132(12), 1562–1571.
Ostendorf, D. W., Hinlein, E. S., Lutenegger, A. J., and Kelley, S. P. (2000). “Soil gas transport above a jet fuel/solvent spill at Plattsburgh Air Force Base.” Water Resour. Res., 36(9), 2531–2547.
Ostendorf, D. W., Pollock, S. J., DeCheke, M. E., and Palaia, T. A. (1993). “Aerobic degradation of CMA in roadside soils: Field simulations from soil microcosms.” J. Environ. Qual., 22(2), 299–304.
Ostendorf, D. W., Rees, P. L., Kelley, S. P., and Lutenegger, A. J. (2004). “Steady, annual, and monthly recharge implied by deep unconfined aquifer flow.” J. Hydrol. (Amst.), 290(3/4), 259–274.
Ostendorf, D. W., Rotaru, C., and Hinlein, E. S. (2008). “Steady groundwater transport of highway deicing agent constituents from an infiltration basin.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 134(5), 630–637.
Stevenson, I. L., and Katznelson, H. (1958). “The oxidation of ethanol and acetate in soils.” Can. J. Microbiol., 4(2), 73–79.
Weast, R. C. (1966). Handbook of chemistry and physics, Chemical Rubber Company, Cleveland, Ohio.
Wu, J. S., Allan, C. J., Saunders, W. L., and Evett, J. B. (1998). “Characterization and pollutant loading estimation for highway runoff.” J. Environ. Eng., 124(7), 584–592.
Yu, S. L. (1993). “Stormwater management for transportation facilities.” NCHRP Rep. No. 174, TRB, Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: May 8, 2008
Accepted: Feb 13, 2009
Published online: Feb 26, 2009
Published in print: Nov 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.