Issue 3, 2024

Identification and quantification of diffuse groundwater pollution in a mineralised watershed

Abstract

A tracer injection and synoptic sampling experiment was carried out in a tributary catchment of the River Tywi (Carmarthenshire, Wales) during a very low streamflow event to locate and quantify sources of groundwater metal pollution from the abandoned Nantymwyn Pb mine. High resolution sampling at 22 stream locations and 12 inflows along a 2 km stretch of the Nant y Bai was deployed. This high spatial resolution sampling technique allowed point and diffuse sources of metal pollution to be identified enabling their contribution to the overall stream load to be quantified. It was found that the highest proportion of filtered Zn load originated from diffuse groundwater sources from the upper mine tailings (43%), and that the highest proportion of filtered Pb load originated from diffuse groundwater sources from the lower mine tailings (40%), with smaller inputs from a field on the River Tywi floodplain. These results demonstrate that tracer dilution and synoptic sampling is a powerful tool to locate and apportion diffuse sources of groundwater metal pollution in small, mineralised watersheds.

Graphical abstract: Identification and quantification of diffuse groundwater pollution in a mineralised watershed

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Mac 2023
Accepted
15 Jan 2024
First published
31 Jan 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2024,10, 668-676

Identification and quantification of diffuse groundwater pollution in a mineralised watershed

A. M. L. Todd, I. Robertson, P. Byrne, R. P. D. Walsh, T. Williams and P. Edwards, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2024, 10, 668 DOI: 10.1039/D3EW00194F

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