The investigation of groundwater transport in a geological formation: West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Date
2023
Authors
Vava, Bomkazi
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Groundwater is a source of fresh water for many people who live in communities with little surface water around the world. The major sectors of groundwater use are municipal; rural; agricultural irrigation; agricultural-livestock watering; industry and mining. The amount and quality of groundwater have nevertheless decreased because of anthropogenic activities, global climate change, and poor groundwater management. The use of fertilizers and pesticides, urban development, the dumping of household waste on the land, municipal waste discharge and laboratory waste disposal, the aquifer close to contaminated streams, mining operations, and the discharge of effluents with high concentrations of industrial chemicals and sludge on the land pose a concern on groundwater. Due to the migration of solutions from leachate to the soil, dumpsites are also regarded as important sources of groundwater pollution. Pollution from naturally existing toxins, such as arsenic or fluoride, should not be overlooked. Historically, contaminated drinking water has been known to be capable of transmitting dangerous chemicals and deadly diseases. In this thesis, we have considered contamination from cemeteries because they also contribute to contaminating groundwater, which spreads infectious diseases and dangerous substances. Many lives are lost because of the spread of some infectious diseases, resulting in a large number of burials that could pollute groundwater. The Johannesburg West Park Cemetery was selected as our case study location. We gathered a variety of data regarding the cemetery expect for water samples as the boreholes were dry. The collected data were subjected to numerous analyses, and a detailed presentation of the geological structure under the cemetery was made. A high rate of burials was seen between 2020 and 2022, primarily because of the spread of COVID-19. We presented evidence to support our claim that the crossover seen during the decay process cannot be replicated by the decay model with the classical derivative. To simulate the transition from fast decay to slow decay, a fractional model was utilized using a Mittag-Leffler function as the solution. The acquired results assisted us in choosing an appropriate mathematical formulation of the advection-dispersion equation, which was also numerically examined. Under certain hypotheses, we ran some numerical simulations utilizing the mass released within the geological formation as the beginning concentration. The cemetery's boreholes should be checked monthly to improve the environment, and additional boreholes should be dug to figure out the type of aquifer beneath the cemetery and the direction of flow since these details aren't currently known. This will help to ensure that the cemetery does not contaminate the environment, or the water supplies nearby.
Description
Dissertation (M.Sc.(Geohydrology))--University of the Free State, 2023