Thesis (M.S.)--Tennessee Technological University, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Aug. 19, 2009). Bibliography: leaves 53-57.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Env.St.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 106-114.

Chronic exposure to naturally occurring arsenic (As) in groundwater threatens the health of >150 million villagers in S/SE Asia. In Bangladesh, low As aquifers offer the best hope of reducing the exposure of 35-40 million remain exposed to elevated levels of As in drinking water (>10 μg/L). These low As aquifers could be affected, however, by massive pumping from shallow (<30 m) depths for growing rice and overexploitation of deeper aquifer for municipal water supply. The goal of this dissertation is to assess the impacts of groundwater pumping on the distribution in groundwater of dissolved As, reactive carbon, and redox-sensitive elements in anoxic aquifers of Bangladesh based on long-term hydrologic measurements, geochemical analyses, and numerical flow modeling. In the second chapter, changes in the well-water As concentrations within a 25 sq. km area over a 10+ year timespan are assessed on the basis of continuous time series for 18 monitoring wells, a set of 271 wells resampled three times, and a large dataset obtained from blanket surveys of several thousand wells in the region. The two larger data sets both show a 10% decline in the initial areal mean As of 100 μg/L. This decline can be explained by flushing of As in the shallow aquifer by low-As recharge water, evidently compensated to some extent by the desorption of sediment-bound As. The presence of a large exchangeable pool of As in the sediment therefore seems to buffer changes in the distribution of As in the face of large perturbation in groundwater flow, albeit not enough to prevent some trends indicated by the detailed time series. The third chapter provides a complementary perspective on groundwater-sediment interactions by quantifying the rates of adsorption and desorption of As with column experiments conducted in the field for two different types of sediments: grey reduced Holocene sands and orange oxidized Pleistocene sands. The data show that, contrary to widely held beliefs, retardation of As transport by adsorption is quite similar in Holocene and Pleistocene sediments, even if Holocene sands initially contain a much larger pool of easily mobilizable As. The field column experiments also showed significant changes in solid phase speciation that affected As retention within a timespan of only a few weeks. Detailed field observations and flow modeling in the fourth chapter examine how perturbed flow paths can draw either As or reactive carbon into a Pleistocene aquifer. A groundwater flow model, constrained by head measurements and isotopic tracer data shows that certain portions of the aquifer are becoming increasingly contaminated with As as a result of municipal pumping, but against a background of redox transformation in the aquifer that probably preceded this perturbation. Overall, the research conducted for this thesis shows that alteration of the hydrological system due to local and regional forcing is affecting the distribution of As in groundwater. These changes do not affect all wells yet and, if they do, the increase in As concentrations observed so far are gradual because of the buffering capacity of the sediment. Lowering exposure by targeting low As aquifer should therefore definitely continue in Bangladesh, with particular attention paid to regular monitoring using vulnerability criteria this research has helped to identify.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "August 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Natural Resources Management))--Mahidol University, 2008.

Arsenic is a prevalent contaminant at a large fraction of US Superfund sites. Therefore, establishing techniques for accelerating As remediation could benefit many contaminated sites. Remediation of As contaminated groundwater by conventional methods, i.e. pump and treat (P&T), can be impeded by slow desorption of As from Fe and Al (hydr)oxides in aquifer solids. Through experimentation at different physical scales (grain, bench, and field scale), the potential for chemical additions to increase As release from sediments and possibly accelerate P&T remediation is examined. The work described here focuses on As contamination and remediation at the Vineland Chemical Co. Superfund site in southern NJ. The site is extensively contaminated with As resulting from decades of poor chemical storage and disposal practices by the Vineland Chemical Co., which manufactured As-based biocides from 1949-1994. Despite significant intervention, including groundwater remediation by P&T and treatment of solids via soil washing, sufficient site clean up could require many decades with current technologies. Chemical amendments that either compete with As for sorption sites or dissolve Fe and Al (hydr)oxides can increase As mobility and potentially improve P&T remediation efficiency. Simple extrapolations from bench scale column experiments based on pore volumes suggest that treatment with 10 mM oxalic acid could lower the time necessary for clean up at the Vineland site from 600 years (with current techniques involving just groundwater) to potentially on the order of 4 years. Small scale (<1 mm2) X-ray fluorescence maps from columns performed within the synchrotron beamline showed As release during oxalic acid treatment that was consistent with the bulk column materials and suggested that microscale processes can be predictive of the larger system. Finally, during a 3-month pilot study at the Vineland site, oxalic acid was injected into a section of the aquifer via an injection manifold system that was designed and built for the experiment. Groundwater samples indicate that introduction of oxalic acid led to increased As release at a sampling well and pump and treat recovery well in the study area. Addition of oxalic acid shows promise for accelerating treatment of a highly contaminated site.

Arsenic is a known carcinogen, but is persistent in the environment, remaining a popular pesticide. It represents a particular hazard to humans when it stays resident in shallow soils and groundwater. This study of contaminant hydrogeology examined conditions at a former golf course in Florida with known arsenic contamination, and included a detailed examination of existing assessment data for the study area, an experimental pumping test with groundwater sampling, examination of sediment cores, and a preliminary geophysical investigation. The primary purpose was to determine what the existing controls are on As mobility. The primary findings were that redox conditions did have an effect on As concentrations. Groundwater in the study area is generally reducing, but during the pumping test was generally oxidizing. No potential As sources were definitively identified, and the most likely source remains anthropogenic, but interactive conditions with Fe, Mn, NO3-N, and S remain nebulous. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

M.Sc. (Geology) / Most rural communities in developing countries rely on borehole water as their only source of water. Since borehole water comes from underground, it is often considered pure and clean, but this is frequently not the case. Groundwater contains certain amounts of trace elements that may become deleterious to human health. The objectives of this investigation were to assess the concentration levels of Potential Harmful Trace Elements (PHTEs) and their spatial distribution patterns in borehole water in the Greater Giyani area of Limpopo, South Africa, and the potential human health risks associated with this. The method of research comprised two phases: (I) In the first phase, I assessed the occurrence and distribution patterns of PHTEs in the boreholes of the Giyani area. A total of 29 water samples were collected from boreholes (including 15 community boreholes and 14 primary school boreholes) in the Greater Giyani area during the dry season (July/August 2012), and for comparison another 27 samples (including 15 community boreholes and 12 schools boreholes) from the same localities during the wet season (March 2013). The samples were analysed for the trace elements arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se) and lead (Pb) using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass-Spectrometry (ICPMS) technique. In order to assess the groundwater quality, PHTEs concentrations were compared with the South African National Standard of Drinking water (SANS 241-1:2011). (II) In the second phase, I evaluated the geographic variation between PHTEs and associated human health effects. This involved acquisition of data on a total of 100 cancer cases recorded during the period 2011-2014 at Nkhensani Hospital. ArcGIS Spatial analyst tool was used to create thematic maps illustrating spatial distribution of clinical data and arsenic concentrations in boreholes.