A Comparison between BIOCHLOR and the Analytical Contaminant Transport Analysis System (ACTS) for a Case Study in Coastal Georgia

Recent literature articles have highlighted approximation errors inherent in the Domenico analytical solution for describing contaminant fate and transport in groundwater. The Domenico solution is included in two widely-used analytical contaminant fate and transport models—BIOCHLOR and BIOSCREEN. These screening-level models are often used to determine the feasibility of contaminant remediation by monitored natural attenuation. In this paper, the authors compare results obtained from the Domenico solution (BIOCHLOR) to results obtained from another public domain analytical modeling software platform, the analytical contaminant transport analysis system (ACTS). ACTS incorporates an exact analytical solution given by Wexler to quantify contaminant fate and transport in a two-dimensional, infinite aquifer model. The two models are applied in a probabilistic approach for a case study at Oatland Island, Georgia, USA. Because the Wexler approach provides an exact analytical solution, the authors suggest that ACTS provides a more accurate screening analysis tool.