Author(s)

A. M. Marinov & M. A. Diminescu

Abstract

We propose here a project to study the complex phenomenon of groundwater pollution with nitrogen compounds. It is an attempt to answer the following basic questions: having found the quantity of rain or irrigation, and the quantity of fertilizer, how much will these damage the layer of drinkable water? Which is the best solution to minimize the damage? Our proposal is based on our earlier work, which treated the fluid flow through the first layer of unsaturated soil. Our main goal is to extend the model to include what happens in soil lower levels and how the influence of groundwater hydrodynamics can be taken into account. The nitrogen compound transformations take a key role in our study, which is multidisciplinary (fluid mechanics, chemistry, agriculture studies engineering). The soil pollution study implies the computation of the pollutant concentration through the soil profile. The mathematical models achieve the integration of equations describing the water movement and the pollutant concentrations. We have calibrated the hydraulic model using experimental data. Keywords: groundwater, pollution, unsaturated soil, nitrogen, nitrate, pollutant concentration, pressure head, mathematical model, coupled model. 1 Introduction Groundwater systems are in continuous dynamic interaction at local, intermediate, and regional scales with the surface water systems through the

Keywords

groundwater, pollution, unsaturated soil, nitrogen, nitrate, pollutantconcentration, pressure head, mathematical model, coupled model.