The impact of urban groundwater upon surface water - eTheses ...

CONCLUSIONS
When dealing with stretches of river that may be at risk from the discharge of contaminated
groundwater, regulatory compliance points must be set. These should be specified as
maximum levels of both mass flux and concentration. The question is then to decide where
the compliance point should be set, within a monitoring piezometer on the riverbank, within
the riverbed (which may incorporate natural attenuation processes) or within the surface water
column after dilution has occurred?
Further research is required to develop the necessary knowledge and monitoring techniques to
allow effective implementation of the Water Framework Directive.
9.4 Further Work
Although suggestions for further work are centred upon the Birmingham Aquifer - River
Tame system, many of the suggestions could be undertaken in other groundwater/surface
water settings.
Further work on estimating the groundwater contribution from the Birmingham Aquifer to
contaminant flux in the surface water could include the following considerations.
1. Increasing the sample density of the riverbed piezometers to see if the estimated
geochemical mass flux from the groundwater changes significantly with the discovery of
further contaminant plumes. (The high concentration core of a plume may be very local
and easily missed.) Flux estimates calculated from the riverbed data could be compared
with those derived from further combined sampling and discharge measurements in order
to determine the most effective method of groundwater flux estimation. Flux estimates for
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