Globally, more than 2 billion people drink water from sources contaminated with feces. By 2025, half of the global population will be living in water-stressed areas.
Groundwater remediation seeks to remove contaminants in groundwater. It eliminates contaminants like volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, and pesticides.
The process is delicate, which is why it’s essential to use the best groundwater remediation equipment. Do you want to know what tools it takes to perform easy groundwater remediation?
Keep reading for a guide that breaks it down for you!
What Is Groundwater Remediation?
The process that treats polluted water by removing pollutants is groundwater remediation.
Groundwater is any water below the ground’s surface. More often than not, it exists within underground laters of water-bearing rock fractures, etc.
The purpose of groundwater remediation is to make that groundwater safe for humans. The goal is also to minimize the negative effects that contaminants have on the surrounding environment.
Sometimes, people remediate soil and sediment in the process. This is especially true if it’s contaminated because of groundwater contact. There are 2 types of groundwater remediation: in-situ (on-site) and ex-situ (off-site).
In-Situ Remediation vs. Ex-Situ Remediation
In-situ remediation entails cleaning the water where it presently lies. Rather than removing the water and transferring it somewhere else first, in-situ remediation treats the water right where it is.
Ex-situ remediation involves excavating the contaminated water. Then, contaminants get eliminated off-site. While it’s more expensive, there’s an advantage to this approach. With this method, no further damage can occur at the current location.
Sometimes subsurface contaminant levels exceed what can easily be treated in in-situ situations. In these situations, ex-situ remediation is the better choice.
Why Do You Need a Remediation System?
Why do businesses or homeowners need environmental remediation systems? They provide many advantages. For industries like construction, oil and gas, mining, and waste disposal, environmental impacts can be substantial.
Remediation systems can provide companies in these industries with lots of benefits.
Protecting the Public Health
Industrial pollution is notorious for bleeding into the public. It’s known for causing adverse public health effects. From neurological impairment to cancer, pollution in groundwater and soil can lead to a variety of illnesses.
When companies are proactive about remediation, they ensure that they won’t make communities sick.
Staying Compliant
Industries that require remediation solutions have multiple agencies they must answer to. These agencies impose regulations upon companies to protect public health and preserve the surrounding environment.
There could be local, state, and federal regulations to comply with.
When companies opt to stay on top of environmental remediation, they’ll also stay compliant and maintain strong relationships with these agencies and the communities around them. More often than not, remediation companies can help those businesses navigate their regulatory compliance and make sure they stay compliant in the future.
Minimizing the Impact on the Environment
The goal of any company should be to limit its environmental impact as much as possible. Unfortunately, many companies don’t list this as one of their main concerns, which is why local, state, and federal governments impose strict guidelines for ensuring companies abide by the rules.
Using soil and water remediation, companies that work with an abundance of chemical pollutants and other contaminants can significantly reduce those environmental impacts.
When businesses choose to minimize soil contamination, they enable ecosystems to flourish and preserve biodiversity. Plus, they help to keep schools, businesses, and homes clean.
Water should be safe for bathing, recreation, and drinking, for both people and wildlife.
Boosting the Public Image
Companies don’t have to be entirely selfless in their reasoning for environmental remediation. They can choose to keep the water clean to help their brand and their business, too.
Wastewater can be detrimental to a company’s credibility, brand, and public relations. Any time a company has let gallons of oil spill into local waters, contaminating all the bodies of water around them, they’ve eroded their public trust.
Sometimes, this can lead to protests, boycotts, and legal action.
However, a proactive company would at least be deemed conscientious and trustworthy to the public eye. Consumers are much more willing to purchase products from those who make an effort to run a safe, environmentally-friendly, public health-conscious company.
Saving Time and Money
Believe it or not, environmental remediation saves time and money. Companies that have to clean up spills spend much more than those who choose to keep contaminates and chemicals at bay.
When businesses have an ongoing system for remediating the groundwater around their factories and businesses, they can spend more time on other aspects and business demands.
The Best Groundwater Remediation Tools
Do you want to keep the groundwater around your business or in your community clean? Make sure you get the right groundwater remediation equipment for the job.
Gast Manufacturing has been a pivotal leader in the manufacturing and design of the best air-moving products since 1921. They make some of the best groundwater remediation tools for all your environmental clean-up needs.
They work closely with engineers to create solutions for almost any environmental application challenge.
Let’s take a look at what tools you need for different types of groundwater remediation.
Excavation
Excavation remediation technology entails the removal of impacted soil. After removal, you then transport the impacted soil to an off-site location for disposal or treatment.
Excavation is both cost-effective and reliable for treating soils with low hydraulic conductivities that are also contaminated. Typically, excavation gets conducted together with underground storage tank removal activities too. The only dangers pertain to the equipment, as there’s always a possibility that things to cave around the open excavation site.
The purpose of the excavation is to do so quickly. During groundwater remediation using excavation, vacuum pumps are some of the best tools. They can open, hold, and then close bags in filling machines.
Groundwater Pump and Treat
The method of pumping and treating groundwater means physically removing the groundwater. It’s removed from the aquifer, and then after it’s removed, the groundwater gets treated at the surface.
This method is used for dissolving chemicals like fuel oil, metals, and solvents. The way it works is by pumping groundwater from wells to an aboveground system for treatment. There the contaminants are removed.
The best pump and treat system will help contain the contaminant plume. By containing the plume, it won’t spread contaminated water toward other wells. The pump is the most integral component of this method of remediation.
It helps to remove those contaminants from reaching other wells.
More often than not, this method uses multiple wells to extract the groundwater needing treatment.
Once the water is brought to the surface, there are treatment technologies such as carbon absorption and air stripping. These are typically used for contaminant removal in these circumstances. The advantage is that this approach reduces plume concentration. It also controls contaminant plume migration.
In aquifers with low permeability, the groundwater pump and treat solutions aren’t very effective. The time frame for clean-up is rather lengthy, and equipment costs are high. When seasonal fluctuations of water come into play, it can complicate the clean-up too.
Pump and treat is a safe and effective way to clean up groundwater. It also helps keep it from migrating to other areas where it can affect wildlife, drinking water, and other water sources. When done with the best remediation tools, pump and treat can last more than a few years and even a few decades.
How long the process takes depends on the site.
For a big groundwater pump and treat job, you’ll need a tank system that delivers power and efficiency.
Containment
Containment is a remedy often applied to contaminant source areas. The purpose of containment is to reduce risks by significantly minimizing containment migration. This is done by containing the contaminant source so that there can’t be any more direct route to the source.
When the direct route gets cut off, contamination is no longer an issue.
This method requires a vertical barrier surrounding the source. You also need an aquitard below the source. The top barriers minimize the infiltration of rainwater and other contaminants. The best top barrier tools include drainage layers and polymer sheeting.
You’ll need the proper air and gear motor for drilling to create barriers around your source.
Groundwater Remediation Is Vital for Our Future
With so much contaminated water all over the world, groundwater remediation is a must. Plus, if a company wants to maintain a respectful rapport and brand identity with their customers or neighbors, taking proactive measures to ensure safe and clean water is also necessary.
Companies save money and time in the future by following the clean water regulations set forth by local, state, and federal governments.
Are you ready to invest in the best groundwater remediation equipment? Contact us with any questions or concerns so that we can help you find the right groundwater remediation tools for your project!