Groundwater contaminant transport modeling using MODFLOW and MT3DMS: a case study in Rajshahi City

Abstract

Rapidly growing urbanization and industrialization processes including man-made activities result in groundwater contamination that becomes unsafe for human use. In this study, the groundwater flow and contaminant migration through aquifers in Rajshahi City were modeled using MODFLOW and MT3DMS codes. ModelMuse, a graphical user interface (GUI), is used to run the codes and the hydrological and geological data of the region are used as the input parameters for the model. The travel distance of five selected contaminants such as chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), from the source (e.g. landfill site), were simulated corresponding to travel times of 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 50 years. The study results showed that the migration distance of the contaminants increases over time and follows a logarithmic trend. Among the contaminants, the model-predicted results show that the concentration of Cr and Pb in the groundwater varies more than 90% from their standards over the period of 50 years, which suggests that these two pollutants are the prime contaminants polluting groundwater in the coming future. This model can be used as an effective decision-making tool for the monitoring of groundwater contaminant transport for a specific location.