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The movement or migration of contaminants through the soil is of interest in the prediction of contaminant impact from sources such as landfills and spills. There are three main mechanisms for contaminant transport, these are advection, diffusion, and dispersion. In many applications the movement of contaminants will be primarily in one direction, and can be predicted using the one-dimensional dispersion-advection equation for a layered deposit [Rowe and Booker, 1985, 1991b; Rowe et al, 1994].

 

POLLUTEv8 is a computer program that implements a solution to the one-dimensional dispersion-advection equation for a layered deposit of finite or infinite extent [Rowe & Booker, 1991b]. Using this solution POLLUTEv7 calculates the concentrations of a contaminant at user specified times and depths.

 

Unlike finite element and finite difference formulations, POLLUTEv8 does not require the use of a “timemarching” procedure. POLLUTEv8 uses a finite-layer formulation that provides numerically accurate results for a given idealization while requiring relatively little computational and data entry effort. Thus, in its basic mode of operation the concentration of contaminant can be directly determined at any specified time without calculating the concentration at earlier times.