SEDL / STP / STP963-EB / STP44858S

Adsorption of Selected Organic Contaminants onto Possible Well Casing Materials

JN, Jones
Chemist, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, R. S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory, Ada, OK

GD, Miller
Assistant director and research program coordinator, Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center, State Water Survey Division of Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Champaign, IL

Pages: 14    Published: Jan 1988

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Abstract

In order to assess and monitor the impact of man's activities on ground-water quality, the nature, concentration, and behavior of pollutants in the subsurface must be determined. To do this, it is necessary to collect representative samples of water from the subsurface environment. Ideally, the material chosen as a well casing for monitoring wells should not add or remove constituents from the ground-water sample collected.

The objective of this study was to determine if specific trace organics adsorb and subsequently leach from various well casing materials upon exposure to those specific pollutants for specified periods of time. The types of well casings studied included thermoplastics, stainless steel and fluoroplastics. Of the pollutants studied, only 4-nitrophenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol showed appreciable adsorption for all well casing materials. Subsequent leaching of pollutants was not observed in any measurable quantities.