Experimental and numerical analysis of solute transport through saturated porous media

The problem of solute transport through saturated porous media is considered in this thesis. The end application of this study is to evaluate the option of spray irrigation as a means of disposing reverse osmosis effluent. Reverse osmosis effluent was sprayed on an experimental field composed of typical area soil. The changes in groundwater quality were monitored at intervals of ten to twenty days. Applying the experimentally obtained data to a basic numerical model, which uses the convection-diffusion equation, the key parameter of the soil, D* the diffusion coefficient, is obtained for the Myakka sand. While the numerical model can predict the qualitative behavior of hardness and conductivity, hysteresis is observed for the response of the total organic carbon (TOC) content. Further studies are needed to understand and model the inherent capacitance of the soil for hardness and the observed hysteresis in TOC response.