Question

4. An underground storage tank leaks tetrachloroethylene (PCE). The leak continues for about a year before it is discovered and plugged. The tank lies at the water table, so all of the PCE released enters the sand aquifer. The hydraulic gradient is 0.0004. The retardation factor of PCE is 6.

   1. How far would you expect PCE to have traveled downgradient during the one year leakage period?

   2. Assume the PCE all dissolves and distributes uniformly in a plume 12.0 m wide and 6.0 m deep, extending as far as you calculated in part a. How much water is contaminated by the end of the year?

Answer 1