Modeling Water Table Mounding and Contaminant Transport beneath Storm-Water Infiltration Basins
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15, Issue 12
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to link an unsaturated and saturated flow model for the purpose of evaluating mounding and contaminant transport beneath an infiltration basin, to calibrate and test the combined water table flow model using experimental data collected from an infiltration basin, and to evaluate the potential for contaminant transport with a numerical fate and transport model. Mound formation may reduce the thickness of the soil available to retard pollutant movement, reduce the infiltration rate of the basin if the mound intersects the basin bottom, and facilitate contaminant movement away from the basin. A 0.10-ha infiltration basin serving a 9.4-ha residential subdivision in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, was instrumented. Two storm events were modeled using the three-dimensional saturated numerical model MODFLOW. Recharge used in MODFLOW was taken from the seepage flux of the unsaturated one-dimensional model HYDRUS. A good fit was achieved between modeled and measured timing and magnitude of water table rise for both storms. The three-dimensional saturated fate and transport code MT3D was used to simulate a tracer study. Mounding caused more rapid tracer transport away from the basin compared to the natural gradient.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this research was provided by the Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The writers would like to thank Mr. Roger Bannerman of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for technical assistance with this research and Mr. William Enters for assistance in instrumentation of the field site.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15 • Issue 12 • December 2010
Pages: 963 - 973
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 24, 2008
Accepted: Apr 15, 2010
Published online: Apr 28, 2010
Published in print: Dec 2010
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