SIMULATION OF ATRAZINE AND METABOLITE TRANSPORT AND FATE IN A SANDY-TILL AQUIFER

In a 2.5-yr field study we determined the distribution of atrazine and its metabolites in a sandy-till aquifer overlying Cambrian sandstone in a dairy farming area. Flow paths are predominantly downward at piezometer nests where vertical hydraulic gradients dominate. Atrazine and desethylated atrazine concentrations along those flow paths generally decrease with increasing estimated groundwater travel time to the monitoring points. A one-dimensional contaminant transport model is developed in FORTRAN incorporating major chemical processes and dispersion along simulated flow paths. Separate simulations of atrazine and desethylated atrazine transport to individual piezometers are made, each with an appropriate average groundwater velocity. Regression equations are developed, based on an extensive literature review, to estimate acceptable sorption and dispersivity coefficients for the transport model. The one-dimensional simulations are calibrated using the field concentration-travel time relationships for atrazine and desethylated atrazine. The calibration procedure provides estimates of atrazine and desethylated atrazine degradation rates in groundwater corresponding to half-lives of 3470 and 2770 days, respectively. Although uncertain, the estimates provide evidence of much slower degradation in the aquifer than indicated by laboratory experiments. Using the calibrated transport parameter values, simulations of long-term steady-state leaching to the water table demonstrate that even with such slow degradation rates, steady-state concentrations at most piezometers are reached within similar to 20 yr. Concentrations in the underlying sandstone aquifer are therefore not expected to increase substantially over time due to continued atrazine use. However, the slow degradation rates mean that even with the most optimistic condition, i.e. all input to the aquifer ceases in response to a cessation of atrazine application, it may take more than a decade for concentrations deeper in the aquifer to drop to half of what they were during the period of atrazine use.