Research Progress in Groundwater Contamination and Treatment

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 April 2025 | Viewed by 2321

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Athens, Greece
Interests: potentially toxic elements; water-rock/soil interaction; environmental geochemistry; stables isotopes tracing; hydrogeochemical processes

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Guest Editor
School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Athens, Greece
Interests: mine water; water-rock/soil Interaction; environmental hydrogeology; microplastics in water resources; hydrogeochemical processes

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Guest Editor
1. Department of Environment, Ionian University, 29100 Zakynthos, Greece
2. Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Maroussi, 15125 Athens, Greece
Interests: mineralogical characterization; clay, clay mineral, and other natural material applications in cosmetics, pharmaceutical, energy and the environment; nanocomposites’ synthesis and characterization; molecular simulations (quantum and classical) of clay minerals interacting with organic or inorganic materials
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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Interests: advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment; micro-pollutant removal from water and wastewater; innovative technologies for groundwater remediation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Globally, groundwater contamination poses significant environmental and public health concerns, thus necessitating ongoing research efforts to understand its causes, impacts, and effective remediation strategies. Research progress in groundwater contamination and treatment is driven by the imperative to safeguard and conserve this vital resource for current and future generations. Researchers strive to ensure the sustainable use and protection of groundwater resources through advancements in understanding contamination processes, the development of innovative treatment technologies, and the enhancement of monitoring and management strategies. This Special Issue (SI) seeks to investigate current research advancements in distinguishing the sources and pathways of groundwater contamination, as well as to delve into remediation techniques and strategies, with a focus on evaluating the effectiveness and feasibility of various treatment methods.

The topics covered by this SI include, but they are not limited to, the following:

  • Sources and pathways of groundwater contamination;
  • Occurrence, mobilization, fate, and transport of contaminants/pollutants (e.g., potentially toxic elements—PTEs—etc.) in groundwater;
  • Micro- and nano-plastics as emerging contaminants in groundwater resources;
  • Innovative monitoring techniques;
  • Monitoring and occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs);
  • Techniques/methodologies for tracing sources of groundwater contamination/pollution;
  • Recent developments, breakthroughs, and challenges in groundwater treatment technologies;
  • Remediation technologies and strategies;
  • Scientometric analysis in the progress of groundwater research.

We encourage the submission of research articles, reviews, case studies, and technical notes that will advance knowledge in the field of environmental science, with a particular focus on research progress in groundwater contamination and treatment. By disseminating cutting-edge research findings and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, our goal is to enhance the foundation of collective knowledge and support well-informed decision-making regarding the protection and management of groundwater resources.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Panagiotis Papazotos
Dr. Eleni Vasileiou
Dr. Eleni Gianni
Dr. Simeone Chianese
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Environments is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • potentially toxic elements
  • contaminants of emerging concern
  • environmental tracers
  • remediation
  • groundwater quality
  • contamination
  • monitoring

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 8452 KiB  
Article
Pipeline-Related Residential Benzene Exposure and Groundwater Natural Attenuation Capacity in the Eastern Niger Delta, Nigeria
by Dogo Lawrence Aleku, Harald Biester and Thomas Pichler
Environments 2024, 11(10), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11100221 - 11 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 951
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the presence of benzene in the ground and drinking water in the eastern Niger Delta, where multiple oil and gas production facilities are present. Samples from drinking water wells were collected for measurements of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, [...] Read more.
This study was conducted to investigate the presence of benzene in the ground and drinking water in the eastern Niger Delta, where multiple oil and gas production facilities are present. Samples from drinking water wells were collected for measurements of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). Additionally, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration was determined for the first time to establish the groundwater’s total hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon load. The groundwater BTEX and benzene levels were up to 3904 µg/L and 3500 µg/L, respectively. DOC concentrations were up to 49 mg/L. The highest benzene concentrations were detected in wells near an underground petroleum pipeline. However, the concentrations decreased with distance from the pipeline to levels less than 0.1 µg/L. Despite benzene contamination, the aquifer has shown promising aerobic attenuation potential, having up to a 7.5 (95%) mg/L DO level and 2.11 mg/L BTEX biodegradation capacity for DO. However, the high groundwater temperature of up to 32.5 °C may weaken attenuation. The benzene and BTEX point attenuation rates ranged from 0.128 to 0.693 day−1 and 0.086 to 0.556 day−1, respectively. Hence, by natural attenuation alone, up to 66.5 and 85 years would be required to reach Nigeria’s groundwater benzene and BTEX remediation goals, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress in Groundwater Contamination and Treatment)
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