Scenario-Based Analysis of Contaminant Plume Evolution in the Groundwater Using GIS-Based Approach: A Regional Case Study of Panchkula, India

Environmental Modeling & Assessment

Sharad Kumar Gupta., Abhay Guleria, & Dericks Praise Shukla.

2022-11-08

This study conducted a scenario-based analysis of contaminant plume evolution due to the leaching of toxic chemicals from the Panchkula waste dumping site. The fate and transport behavior of conservative and highly reactive contaminants in the various lithological formations was analyzed using a GIS-based modeling approach. Firstly, raster layers of flow and transport parameters around the study site were generated in the ArcMap 10.5 software. Then, groundwater flow and contaminant transport equations were solved via spatial analyst toolbox in the ArcGIS environment. Results showed the highest movement of the center of mass (COM) of plume for the sandstone lithological unit compared to the clay and sandy gravel layer. The maximum concentration value of reactive contaminant in the clay lithological unit was more than two times that of conservative contaminant. An increase in the contaminant concentration was observed with an increase in the retardation factor and ratio of longitudinal to transverse dispersivity based on the maximum and standard deviation values. The ratio of longitudinal and transverse dispersivity was observed as a highly sensitive parameter to the magnitude of contaminant concentration, followed by lithological unit type and retardation factor. Also, the location of COM of plume along longitudinal path track line was found to be governed by lithological unit and retardation factor. For both conservative and reactive cases, the contaminant plume moves shorter distances along the longitudinal path track line in the clay lithological unit compared to sandstone. Despite the lack of substantial site-specific information, the scenarios-driven GIS-based analysis presented in this study can assist decision-makers in conducting preliminary analysis and identifying contaminated regions around the dumping site.