Rohit Goyal

Prof., Civil Engineering

MNIT Jaipur
Mail: rgoyal.ce@mnit.ac.in
Training course for WRD Engineers
 Groundwater (GW) is the most important natural
resource required for drinking, irrigation and industrial
purposes in many places.
 The resource can be optimally used and sustained only
when the quantity and quality of ground water are
properly assessed.
 This is possible only when we understand all the
factors and environmental conditions which can
influence the GW occurrence & its movement
 Assessment of both GW quantity and quality is
required.
 GW quantity estimation is very important in assessing
the regional aquifer conditions for a sustainable
agricultural development
 Also GW vulnerability assessment is foundation stone
for evaluating the risk of GW contamination and
developing management options to preserve the
quality of GW.
 Innovative technologies, as remote sensing (RS) and
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), have an
immense role to play.
 RS and GIS techniques have provided a new dimension
to such assessment and are now invariable being used
for GW quantity and quality assessment in all parts of
the world.
 Groundwater vulnerability is a cornerstone in evaluating the
risk of groundwater contamination and developing
management options to preserve the quality of groundwater.
 Vulnerability assessment has been recognized for its ability to
delineate areas that are more easily to be contaminated than
others. (Wen et al., 2009).
 Mapping the degree of groundwater vulnerability to
contaminants, as a function of hydrogeological conditions,
shows that effective protection provided by the natural
environment may vary drastically from one place to another
(Gogu and Dassargues, 1999).
SUBSURFACE CONTAMINANT LOAD

AQUIFER VULNERABILITY

GROUNDWATER
POLLUTION HAZARD
There are three traditional methods for assessing groundwater
vulnerability to pollution:
Process Based:
Involves numerical modelling and is useful at the local level
but not the regional level.
Example : LEACHM and CALF model.

Statistical:
Involves correlating actual water quality data to spatial
variables and requires a large amount of site specific data.
Example : Probability model.
 Overlay and index:
Involves obtaining and combining maps of the
parameters that affect the transport of contaminants
from the surface to groundwater, then assigning an index
value to those parameters.

The results are a spatially oriented vulnerability index

Example : DRASTIC Method.
 Though there are many different models for GW
assessment and assessing pollution potential but
DRASTIC is one of the most popular model for GW
vulnerability mapping.
 GW finite difference mathematical modeling using
MODFLOW, SEEP2D, FEMWATER, SEAM3D are some of
tools which could be used for GW flow and transport
modeling.
 Tools like MODPATH, MT3D, RT3D are some of the
modeling code that could be used for GW contaminant
transport modeling
 DRASTIC – methodology guided by EPA
◦ Developed by EPA & National Water Well Assoc.

 Provides a basis for evaluating the vulnerability to

pollution of groundwater resources based on
hydrogeologic parameters.

 Provides an approach to evaluate an area based on

known conditions without the need for extensive, site
specific pollution data.
 Overview of DRASTIC
◦ Simplified GW vulnerability model
◦ Qualitative
◦ Produces a relative-risk scale
◦ Applicable over large areas
◦ Used as a screening tool
◦ Results guide land development & resource
protection
◦ For small, specific sites, more detailed assessment
needed
 DRASTIC Makes Four Assumptions:
1. Contamination is introduced at the ground surface
2. Contamination is flushed into the groundwater by
precipitation
3. Contamination has the mobility of water
4. Area being evaluated is 100-acres or larger
 If these assumptions are not met, then DRASTIC is not
the appropriate methodology
Seven hydrogeologic factors used. They form the
acronym DRASTIC
D – Depth to Water
R – Net Recharge
A – Aquifer Media
S – Soil Media
T – Topography
I – Impact of Vadose Zone Media
C – Hydraulic Conductivity of Aquifer
1) Depth to Groundwater : (D)
•Depth to water that mean the depth from ground
surface to the water table level.

•Deeper water table simply mean lesser chance for

contamination.

•Depth to water is important primarily because it

determines the depth of material through which a
contaminant must travel before reaching the
groundwater aquifer.
 Net recharge represents the amount of water per
unit area of land which penetrates the ground
surface and reaches the water table.

 This recharge water is thus available to transport a

contaminant vertically to the water table and
horizontally within the aquifer.
 It refers to the saturated zone material properties,
which controls the pollutant attenuation processes.
 Aquifer media refers to the consolidated or
unconsolidated rock which serves as an aquifer.
 The flow system within the aquifer is affected by the
aquifer medium. The route and path length which a
contaminant must follow are governed by the flow
system within the aquifer.
 Soil media refers to that uppermost portion of the
vadose zone characterized by significant biological
activity.

 Soil has a significant impact on the amount of

recharge which can infiltrate into the ground and
hence on the ability of a contaminant to move
vertically into the vadose zone.
 The presence of fine-textured materials such as silts
and clays can decrease relative soil permeabilities
and restrict contaminant migration.

 For certain land surface practices, such as

agricultural applications of pesticides, soil may have
the primary influence on pollution potential.
 Topography refers to slope or steepness of the surface
of the earth.

 Areas with low slope tend to retain water for longer,

this allows a greater infiltration of recharge of water
and a greater potential for contaminant migration.
 Impact of the vadose zone (the unsaturated zone
material) controls the passage and attenuation of the
contaminated material to the saturated zone.
 The vadose zone is defined as that zone above the
water table which is unsaturated or discontinuously
saturated.
 The type of vadose zone media determines the
attenuation characteristics of the material below the
typical soil horizon and above the water table.
 Hydraulic conductivity refers to the ability of the
aquifer materials to transmit water, which in turn,
controls the rate at which ground water will flow under
a given hydraulic gradient.

 An aquifer with high conductivity is vulnerable to

substantial contamination.

 The rate at which the ground water flows also controls

the rate at which a contaminant moves away from the
point at which it enters the aquifer.
 Significance of each factor in contaminant transport
varies
 Relative weight is assigned to each factor
Feature Weight
Depth to Water 5
◦ Scale of 1 to 5 Net Recharge 4
Aquifer Media 3
◦ 1 is least important factor Soil Media 2

◦ 5 is most important factor

Topography 1
Impact of Vadose Zone Media 5
Hydraulic Conductivity of Aquifer 3

 Each factor also has a rating applied according to a

category or range of values.
 Once ratings and weights have been applied, they
are multiplied and added

 DRASTIC equation:
DrDw + RrRw + ArAw + SrSw + TrTw + IrIw + CrCw = Pollution Potential
r = rating
w = weight

 Results are symbolized on a map overlaying study

area
Weight 5
Weight 4
Weight 3
Weight 2
Weight 1
Weight 5
Weight 3
 Degree of Vulnerability
Vulnerability Index
< 80 Very Low
80 – 120 Low
120 – 160 Moderate
160 – 200 High
> 200 Very High
 Example of how ratings and weights are applied
 Will use D Factor (Depth to Water) as example
 D receives a weight of 5
◦ It is very significant in potential impact to GW
 Based on actual depth to groundwater, D also
receives a rating.
 If depth to water was 10 ft then D rating would be 9
DrDw = 9 x 5 = 45

 If depth to water was 100 ft, then D rating would be 2

DrDw = 2 x 5 = 10

 This process is repeated for each of the factors

Objective: Groundwater vulnerability assessment of Bhiwadi area of
Alwar district, Rajasthan by using GIS- based DRASTIC model.

 Bhiwadi is located at Tehsil Tijara, District Alwar, Rajasthan. The

geographical location of the Bhiwadi lies between 28.21°N, 76.87°E.
 The topography elevation ranges from 127 to 671 m. The natural
drainage is from south west to north east.
 The town is spread over nearly 5,300 acres, and houses around
2,700 big, medium and small-scale industries. Industries range from
steel mills, furnaces to automobile and electronics manufacturing.
 Effluent discharge from these industries are the major source of
GW pollution in the study area.
Study Area Map: Part of Rajasthan and Haryana
Methodology :
 The different data used to build DRASTIC model are
arranged in a geospatial database using spatial analyst
extension of ArcGIS software.
 The seven thematic layers are prepared as raster grid
of cell size 30 m.
 The final vulnerability maps of the study area are
calculated using raster calculator in spatial analyst tool.
 The DRASTIC rating from each input layer is multiplied
by the weight for that layer and summed to determine
the DRASTIC index.
Depth to water table rating map of study area
Hydraulic conductivity rating map of study area
 The Vulnerability map for the study area indicates
area with low to high vulnerability to groundwater
contamination. It is clear from the map that:
◦ Bhiwadi region is under less to moderate
vulnerability zone.
◦ The areas adjoining Bhiwadi region such as
Khushkhera (Alwar) and Dharuhera of Rewari
district (Haryana) are under Vulnerable Zone.
•DRASTIC model is an effective tool to identify the area
which are more vulnerable to GW pollution.
•With the help of GIS software once the different data
layers are prepared and overlaid the water vulnerable
zones can easily be identified
•Pollution potential map, can be used as a screening
tool to see whether a particular area is more or less
vulnerable to GW pollution
•It can help the planners and policy makers while
selecting the areas for waste disposal and industrial
sites.
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Assessment Model”, Int. J. of Civil and Env. Engg. 1(2), pp. 21-30.
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16 September 2012, Tulcea – Romania.
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model combining DRASTIC with extensive agricultural land use in Israel’s Sharon region.” Journal of
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