Groundwater Treatment Calculator

Size a pump-and-treat system from plume dimensions, aquifer properties, and cleanup targets.

Inputs

Plume length (m)

Plume width (m)

Saturated thickness (m)

Effective porosity

Hydraulic conductivity (m/s)

Hydraulic gradient

Initial concentration (µg/L)

Target concentration (µg/L)

Retardation factor

Tab to move between fields

Results

Required pump rate (GPM)

5.94

Total water to treat (M gal)

83.98

Estimated cleanup time (years)

26.9

Pore volume (m³)30,000

Pore volume (gallons)7,925,160

Groundwater velocity (m/day)0.14

Pump rate (m³/day)32.4

Pore volumes to flush10.6

Plume travel time (days)1,388.9

How to Use This Calculator

Enter plume dimensions (length, width, saturated thickness in meters) from site investigation data.
Set effective porosity and hydraulic conductivity (m/s) from aquifer testing or boring logs.
Enter hydraulic gradient and initial and target contaminant concentrations.
Input the retardation factor (1.0 for non-sorbing contaminants, higher for organics).
Review required pump rate (GPM), pore volumes to flush, and estimated treatment duration.

How the result changes with Plume width (m)

Plume width (m)	Required pump rate (GPM)	Total water to treat (M gal)	Estimated cleanup time (years)
501	59.56	841.48	26.9
1,751	208.15	2,940.98	26.9
3,250	386.35	5,458.7	26.9
4,500	534.95	7,558.2	26.9

What each input means

Plume length (m): Downgradient length of the contaminant plume.
Plume width (m): Cross-gradient width of the plume.
Saturated thickness (m): Vertical thickness of the contaminated saturated zone.
Effective porosity: Sand ~0.25-0.35, gravel ~0.25, silt ~0.35, clay ~0.06.
Hydraulic conductivity (m/s): Sand ~1e-4, gravel ~1e-2, silt ~1e-6, clay ~1e-9 m/s.
Hydraulic gradient: Head drop per unit distance. Typical 0.001 to 0.01.
Initial concentration (µg/L): Average contaminant concentration in the plume.
Target concentration (µg/L): Regulatory cleanup target (MCL). Benzene MCL = 5 µg/L.
Retardation factor: Accounts for sorption. 1 = no sorption (Cl-), 2-5 for BTEX, 10+ for metals.

What each result means

Pore volume (m³): Volume of water within the plume zone.
Pore volume (gallons): Pore volume in US gallons.
Groundwater velocity (m/day): Actual groundwater seepage velocity.
Required pump rate (GPM): Extraction rate for full plume capture with 50% safety factor.
Pump rate (m³/day): Extraction rate in cubic meters per day.
Pore volumes to flush: Number of pore volumes needed accounting for retardation.
Total water to treat (M gal): Total volume of groundwater to extract and treat.
Estimated cleanup time (years): Approximate time to reach target concentration at given pump rate.
Plume travel time (days): Time for groundwater to traverse the plume length.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Plume length (m) = 200, Plume width (m) = 50, Saturated thickness (m) = 10, Effective porosity = 0.3 = 9 input(s) provided
Calculate Required pump rate
Required pump rate = captureFlowRate * 15850.3
5.94 = 5.94
Calculate Total water to treat
Total water to treat = totalWaterM3 * 264.172 / 1e6
83.98 = 83.98
Calculate Estimated cleanup time
Estimated cleanup time = cleanupTimeDays / 365.25
26.9 = 26.9
Calculate Pore volume
Pore volume = plumeVolume * porosity
30000 = 30000
Calculate Pore volume
Pore volume = poreVolume * 264.172
7925160 = 7925160

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