Optimal Pollution Control and Pump-and-Fertilize Strategies in a Nitro-Polluted Aquifer, Using Genetic Algorithms and Modflow

Nitro-pollution in a confined aquifer may originate from its recharge area, e.g., agricultural sites, animal feedlots, septic tanks, and other waste disposal sites or from treated wastewater recharge wells. The latter case is studied. Existing water supply pumping wells should be protected for a given period. Instead of typically investigating optimal pump-and-treat or hydrodynamic pollution control management/remediation strategies, a novel combined pollution control and pump-and-fertilize (PAF) approach is proposed: protect existing wells with additional wells, considering pumped nitro-polluted groundwater as profitable reusable fertilizer rather than a pollutant to be remediated; convey pumped polluted water to an irrigation reservoir, considering nitrogen (N) uptake by irrigated crops in nearby farmlands and proportional decrease in fertilizer application, meaning profit. Optimization entails the operation of optimally located additional pumping wells with optimal flow rates, minimizing the sum of (i) annual pumping cost, (ii) pipe network (connecting additional wells and reservoir) amortization cost, and (iii) profit from retrieved N reuse. Modflow simulates a 3D flow field and advection-dispersion mass transport, while Genetic Algorithms (GAs) handle optimization. Various scenarios are simulated concerning crops' retrieved N root uptake percentage, fertilizer, and energy market prices. The paper provides a data-ready optimization/decision support tool that creates a pool of alternative (sub)optimal management solutions/strategies.