Groundwater and soil remediation

Summary

This course covers the essential knowledge of contaminant partitioning and techniques to monitor chemical species, physical extent of contamination and biological processes. In the second part, remediation approaches are tackled. This course represents the fundamentals of remediation.

Content

Keywords

partitioning

microbial processes

bioremediation

physico-chemical processes

Learning Prerequisites

Recommended courses

General Chemistry

General Biology

Microbiology for engineers

Soil science

Important concepts to start the course

Fundamentals of soil science, porosity, bulk density

Major biological processes, sulfate reduction, denitrification

Partitioning of contaminants between phases

Groundwater flow

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Synthesize information about a contaminated site
• Design a remediation approach appropriate for a given site

Transversal skills

• Use a work methodology appropriate to the task.

Teaching methods

Lectures, homework and a project (written report and oral presentation)

Expected student activities

The students are expected to attend the lecture, to work on the homeworks and be ready to ask questions during the homework session.

The project entails proposing an appropriate remediation approach for a given site, writing a report and presenting the project in an oral presentation.

Assessment methods

The written test is 50% and the oral presentation is 20% and the report is 30%. Which means that the project represents 50% (oral presentation and report).

Supervision

Resources

Bibliography

Reading assignments available on Moodle

Notes/Handbook

Course notes available at the bookstore.

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/ENV-504

Prerequisite for

Specialization in Environmental chemistry and processes