Geology topics

Herb Levine

Publications and source records attributed to Herb Levine.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2021

Evaluation and application of the Purge Analyzer Tool (PAT) to determine in-well flow and purge criteria for sampling monitoring wells at the Stringfellow Superfund site in Jurupa Valley, California, in 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are developing analytical tools to assess the representativeness of groundwater samples from fractured-rock aquifers. As part of this effort, monitoring wells from the Stringfellow Superfund site in Jurupa Valley in Riverside County, California, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles, were field tested to collect information to assist in the evaluation and application of in-well flow as computed by the analytical model called the Purge Analyzer Tool, which computes in-well groundwater travel times for simple piston transport of inflowing groundwater from open intervals of a monitoring well to the pump intake and can provide insight into optimal purging parameters (duration, rate, and pump position) needed for the collection of representative groundwater samples. Field testing of wells included hydraulic, chemistry, and dye tracer analysis to investigate travel times in wells under pumping conditions. The Purge Analyzer Tool was able to replicate dye velocities (travel times) for one of three wells that had appreciable inflow from the aquifer but not the other two wells, which are screened in low-permeability sediments and rock, where flow was dominated by borehole storage. A set of criteria was established to help assess the ability to collect representative groundwater chemistry from monitoring wells; criteria included understanding the height of the static well water column and relative exchange rate between the aquifer and the well.

California↗

USGS2020

Phytoremediation of slightly brackish, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon‐contaminated groundwater from 250 ft below land surface: A pilot‐scale study using salt‐tolerant, endophyte‐enhanced hybrid poplar trees at a Superfund site in the Central Valley of California, April‒November 2019

Slightly brackish groundwater contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at a Superfund site in the Central Valley of California was pumped from 250 feet below land surface to a water storage tank using solar power and then gravity‐fed into 18, 330‐gallon intermediate bulk containers (totes) as follows: (1) Five totes contained planting medium with three salt‐tolerant hybrid poplar trees per tote ( n = 15); (2) Seven totes contained planting medium with three salt‐tolerant hybrid poplar trees per tote and inoculated with the naturally occurring, PAH‐degrading endophyte Pseudomonas putida PD1 ( n = 21); (3) Three totes contained planting medium only ( n = 0); (4) One tote contained groundwater with three PD1‐inoculated trees ( n = 3) and one tote contained groundwater with three regular trees ( n = 3); and (5) One tote contained groundwater only ( n = 0). All trees grew well during the 7‐month growing season in spite of the area's hot, dry air temperature, little precipitation, tote‐influent chloride concentrations of 290 mg/L, and tote‐influent naphthalene concentrations that ranged from 650 to 5100 mg/L. PD1‐inoculated trees initially had 56% larger tree area (tree height × tree width) than regular trees and up to 69% larger tree area by the end of the growing season, indicating some conferred phytoprotection to the PAH contamination. All trees had similar trunk caliper (diameter) and leaf chlorophyll content by the end of the growing season. Total naphthalene removal ranged from 88% to 100% across all totes. The lowest naphthalene removal of 88% was observed in a tote that contained only planting medium and indicates substantial adsorption of naphthalene onto the high organic content of the planting medium. Contaminant removal due to uptake by the hybrid poplar trees was confirmed by the detection of naphthalene in in vivo passive samplers placed in tree trunks. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, total xylenes, 2‐methylnaphthalene, 1,2,4‐trimethylbenzene, and isopropylbenzene were also detected. These results from the pilot‐scale study indicate that a full‐scale application of using salt‐tolerant hybrid poplar trees at this site could effectively decrease naphthalene concentrations in groundwater pumped from the deep aquifer. These initial results provide hope for similar application at other contaminated sites characterized by groundwater at considerable depths, especially at Superfund sites where costly pump‐and‐treat systems have been used long term to treat low levels of groundwater contamination.

California↗

USGS2019

Instructions for running the analytical code PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool) for computation of in-well time of travel of groundwater under pumping conditions

Introduction Understanding the optimal time needed to purge a well while pumping to collect a representative groundwater sample requires an understanding of groundwater flow in wells (in-well flow). Parameters that affect in-well flow include the hydraulic properties of the aquifer, well construction, drawdown from pumping, and pump rate. The time of travel relative to in-well flow is affected by the pump’s intake location. The Purge Analyzer Tool (PAT) incorporates hydraulic calculations to help assess the optimal purge times required to vertically transport groundwater in the well to the pump intake (Harte, 2017). Harte (2017) includes a discussion on the rationale for determining in-well groundwater flow and time of travel and also discusses the limitations inherent in the PAT; an understanding of the limitations is important to ensure proper use. The PAT calculates flow by use of the Dupuit-Theim equation (Lohman, 1979) that assumes steady-state radial flow and a total inflow from the well opening or screen equal to the pumping rate (eq. 1). A bulk average hydraulic conductivity (K avg ) is derived from this relationship. Once K avg is calculated, the program calculates incremental (layered) horizontal radial inflow into the well over user defined increments (layers). These defined increments represent the screen or well opening as a fraction of the total inflow. The amount of inflow per layer is proportional to the user-defined layered distribution of hydraulic conductivity (K layer ) because drawdown is assumed to be uniformly distributed in the well. The water budget equation that guides the solution of the PAT (eq. 1) is specified as: Q p = Q v + Q H + Q w (1) where Q P is pumping rate, Q v is vertical flow entering the boundary of the mixing zone (M z ) from the summation of layered radial flow (∑ Q hl-n ) where l-n denotes number of layers, Q H is horizontal radial flow into the mixing zone (M z ), and Q w is flow from wellbore storage effects. The in-well flow is computed from the convergence of incremental (layered) radial inflows (Q hl-n ) summed to the total vertical flow (Q V ) entering the adjacent zone to the pump intake (called mixing zone [M z ]) as shown in figure 1. The Q v is transported as one-dimensional piston flow. Within the M z , it's assumed that flow to the pump is dominated by horizontal radial flow (Q H ) when the pump is in the open interval of the well. Flow from the wellbore storage (Q w ) is computed from the volume of water pumped from the well at the time of the drawdown (s) measurement(s). Aquifer storage effects are unaccounted for but are likely to be problematic when (1) dewatering within the well opening occurs or (2) when the water table is close to the top of the well screen or open interval where additional flow into the upper portion of the well opening may occur. For fully saturated wells tens of feet below the water table, storage effects are likely to be more uniformly distributed across the well screen or open interval (regardless of confined or unconfined conditions). Therefore, radial inflow from storage will be less prominent under pump rates commonly used in groundwater sampling either for volumetric sampling ( < 3 gallons per minute) or low-flow sampling ( < 0.5 liters per minute). A major benefit of the use of the PAT is the understanding of time-varying, vertical integration of captured pump water. The analytical model computes aquifer (formation) capture intervals relative to the open interval of the well. This information is displayed graphically (called aquifer fraction graphs) and can be used to assess the likely formation intervals contributing water to the sample at any time.

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