3. Assume there is a plume of Trichloroethylene (TCE) heading toward a towns drinking water well in a confined aquifer. Building a physical containment unit is decided to be too expensive so hydrodynamic containment is considered. The plume is estimated to be 15m wide. The city can afford to install one well and plan to pump at a rate of 0.05m3/s. The hydraulic gradient in the region is 0.004, the hydraulic conductivity is 5.5x10-3m/s. The aquifer has a consistent thickness of 25m.

a. Calculate key points of the capture zone assuming the planned pumping rate. Key points should include your well location, the leading edge of your capture zone (y=0), the width of your capture zone at the well location (x=0), and the maximum width of the capture zone (x -> ). Mark the values on the capture zone diagram.

b. Will this single well pumping at this rate be enough to capture the plume?

c. What do you propose the pumping rate should be to capture the plume at the

lowest cost?