2D model of groundwater flow and total dissolved HCH transport through the Gállego alluvial aquifer downstream the Sardas landfill (Huesca, Spain)

Abstract

The organic pollutants disposed at the Sardas landfill in Sabiñánigo (Huesca, northeastern Spain) by the INQUINOSA lindane factory have reached the Gállego alluvial aquifer and could affect the Sabiñánigo reservoir. The daily oscillations of the reservoir water level produce a tidal effect on the piezometric heads of the aquifer. These oscillations are transmitted in a damped way with a time lag, thus attesting that the silting sediments of the reservoir and the natural silts of the Gállego alluvial are interposed between the reservoir water and the layer of sands and gravels. A 2D finite element groundwater flow and total dissolved hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) transport model through the Gállego alluvial aquifer is presented here. The flow model was constructed to: (1) Quantify the tidal effect, produced by the daily fluctuations of the reservoir water level on the aquifer; (2) Estimate the hydrodynamic parameters of the layer of sands and gravels; and 3) Estimate the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the silting sediments and silts; and (4) Quantify aquifer/reservoir interactions. The flow model reproduces the dynamics of the tidal effect and attests that groundwater velocity and flow direction changes daily in response to the oscillations of the reservoir level. Model results reproduce the measured well hydrographs and the Darcy velocity derived from tracer tests and confirm the validity of the conceptual model. The transport model of total dissolved HCH simulates the time evolution of the contaminant plume. The computed concentrations of total dissolved HCH and the contaminant mass outflux are very sensitive to changes in the source terms and the distribution coefficient, K_d of HCH. The best fit to the measured HCH plumes in September 2010 and December 2020 is obtained with a K_d ranging from 1 to 3 L/kg. The computed flux of dissolved HCH leaving the Sardas site in 2020 towards the Sabiñánigo reservoir ranges from 0.6 kg/year for K_d = 3 L/kg to 3.1 kg/year for K_d = 1 L/kg. The findings of this study will be most useful for planning and designing remedial and containment actions at the Sardas site and other similar lindane-affected sites.