Author(s)

F. Jaenig

Abstract

Groundwater in the discharge area of former ammunition production facilities often reveals severe contamination by production residues and waste products. Thus, these can effect a health hazard to human beings in cases where untreated water is consumed. Based on a case study of a more than 1.5 km elongated contamination plume, column tests were carried out for determining the mechanisms of transportation. By using local soils taken in undisturbed cores and the contaminated local groundwater consisting of TNT, DNT, DNB, TNB, ADNT and DNN, in-situ conditions were created. Previous investigations showed that the sorption strongly correlates with the content of clay and organic matter in the soil; recent investigations additionally show the existence of complex interactions in the pristine multi-compound systems investigated. In compliance with the percentage composition of clay and organic matter, various breakthrough-curves were obtained, which imply different sorption phenomena, e.g., competitive adsorption. In particular, step-like breakthrough-curves have to be emphasised as extraordinary phenomenon. Keywords: nitroaromatic compounds, sorption, step-like breakthrough-curves, multi-compound system. 1 Introduction With the example of the WASAG explosives plant in Haltern, Germany, we have to deal with a former production area used for military production during times of war. There, from 1918 until 1922, waste waters from disintegrating

Keywords

nitroaromatic compounds, sorption, step-like breakthrough-curves, multi-compound system.