Groundwater and contaminated aquifers

Groundwater amounts to nearly 30% of all the world's freshwater and is a good to care of. Threats to (and/or caused by) groundwater are numerous. For instance, groundwater scarcity or low quality may lead to drought or, vice versa, too much groundwater may flood into cellars or low-land, reaching contamination sources.

Numerical models are well suited to address these environmental issues because they integrate available information to qualitatively and quantitatively understand the current state of an aquifer and allow forecasting man-made impacts (e.g., new water wells, the revitalization of a river, etc.).

HydroGeoModels Inc. has twenty years of experience in groundwater modelling. This allows the construction and hosting of accurate models capable of solving most of the issues related to groundwater management and contaminated aquifers. HydroGeoModels Inc. offers services including, but not limited to:

Reference projects

Model construction

  • Conceptual modelling
  • Geostatistical interpretation of data (hydraulic and tracer tests, recharge, hydraulic properties, etc.)
  • GIS databases
  • 3D geological modelling (aquifer architecture and boundaries)
  • 1D, 2D, 3D automatic model discretization (finite elements, finite differences, finite volumes)
  • Steady state definition of initial conditions (the past of the aquifer)
  • Evaluation of boundary conditions temporal series (groundwater heads, flow rates, water levels in rivers, etc.)
  • Evaluation of potential contamination sources

Stochastic model calibration and uncertainty analysis

  • Plausible fit of model parameters to steady state and/or transient measurements (e.g., groundwater levels in boreholes, contaminant concentrations, pumping flow rates, etc.)
  • Stochastic, equally-likely, simulations of spatially distributed hydraulic properties of the reservoir
  • Online updating of the calibrated model

Backtracking and forecasting

  • Identification of contamination sources. Who made this?
  • Impact of new pumping wells on the aquifer and on existing wells
  • Optimum design of pumping and monitoring networks
  • Optimum design of drainage and irrigation systems
  • Optimum (minimum impact) design of new constructions near aquifers
  • Stochastic simulation of contaminant migration paths
  • Well catchment areas and protection zones
Want to know more? Contact HydroGeoModels Inc.