A comparison between pump & treat technique and permeable reactive barriers for the remediation of groundwater contaminated by chlorinated organic compounds

This paper deals with the design and the preliminary optimization of the remediation of a . Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated aquifer by Pump and Treat technique (P&T) or Permeable . Reactive Barrier (PRB). The experimental site is located near a solid waste landfill in the metropolitan area . North of Naples (Italy) where a considerable amount of solid waste has been deposited over the past . decades. For both remediation technologies, adsorption onto granular activated carbon was adopted to . remove PCE from water. In particular, a comparison of the results obtained, both in terms of efficacy of . pollutant removal and the corresponding preliminary overall cost, was conducted. The design of both . remediation techniques was conducted by using a commercial 3D hydrodynamic code to simulate . groundwater flow and contamination transport and a second code, developed by the authors, to describe . the adsorption phenomena involving the pollutant.