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

CONCLUSIONS
groundwater and surface water residence times within the groundwater/surface water
interface should also form part of this study.
5. Investigation should be made to further confirm that the most significant groundwater
contribution to the surface water contaminant flux in Birmingham, comes from diffuse
urban pollution rather than a few specific plumes which may be located and remediated.
Some of the known plumes could be fully characterised in order to determine their full
extent and to quantify their contaminant flux to the surface water. The fluoride plume
detected in the current survey could be effectively delineated using a temporary drive-
point piezometer and a specific ion probe. Instrumentation could be developed to measure
directly, seepage and water quality in the Tame environment, both from the riverbed and
through the river banks which may be very significant areas of discharge.
6. An ecological assessment of the riverbed could undertaken in relation to the specific
plume studies and in other areas where water quality is known to vary between opposing
banks.
7. The age and origin of the groundwater discharging across the riverbed could be
investigated to determine whether deeper and cleaner groundwater is mixing with, and
diluting, shallow contaminated groundwater. Predictions of the future variations in the
quality of the discharging groundwater could be incorporated in the study. This would be
accomplished by using deep multilevel piezometers adjacent to the river, detailed lateral
multilevel sampling across the riverbed and through the use of isotope dating.
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