MASS TRANSFER AND TRANSPORT OF CONTAMINANTS IN SURFACE RUNOFF

Abstract

Experiments were conducted in a fiume to examine transfer of solute between surface runoff and soil-profile pore water. The bottom of the flume ( 10 ft long by 1 ft wide by 1 ft deep) was made impervious by use of a steel base plate that allowed no infiltration. The experiments were conducted in two ways: 1) A solution of CaBr2 (Br =120 mg/l) was introduced as surface flow into the ffume wherein the resident soil water was saturated with a CaCI2 solution; 2) The reverse of #1 , with CaBr2 as the resident solution and CaCI2 as the surface-runoff solution. Measurement of Bromide concentrations in the soil water at different depths and time intervals allowea analysis of mass transfer between surface flow and soilprofile pore water, which was significant during the time-scale of the experiments.