Exercises:

Answers for Example Problems on Slides of “Fate and Transport Basic Concepts”
1. h = 14 cm
2. Sink strength of DOM = 1.6 mg/m3-day
3. Cation = 1.2 x10-4 eq/litre ; Anion = 1.1 x10-4 eq/litre; Electro-neutrality condition
is not satisfied indicating that the analysis is either not complete or have some
errors.
4. 0.09 ppm CH3OH
5. TCA: 460 ppb

6. A fuel tank in a pick-up truck has a filler pipe 2 ft in length with a diameter of 1.5
in. Estimate the amount of fuel lost (a) by molecular diffusion (if the gas cap is left
off for a day) and (b) by advective “pumping” through a tank vent, when
atmospheric pressure decreases from 30.0 to 29.5 inches of mercury (in. Hg).
Use an approximate diffusion coefficient of 0.1 cm2/sec. Assume the fuel is
octane (C8H18) with a vapor pressure of 0.015 atm at the ambient temperature of
700F (210C). The 70-liter tank is half full. [(a) 0.11g/day; (b) 0.041g]

7. If the salt concentration in a river is 20 mg/liter and the average river velocity is
100 cm/sec, what is the average flux density F of salt in the downstream
direction? [2mg/cm2-sec]

8. Gasoline-contaminated groundwater has flowed under a residential dwelling from

a nearby gasoline station. Two meters beneath the 100 m2 dirt floor of the
residential basement, the concentration of hydrocarbon vapors in the soil air is 25
ppm on a mass/mass basis. Estimate the flux density of gasoline vapor and the
daily rate of vapor transport into the basement by molecular diffusion. Assume
an approximate diffusion coefficient of 10-2cm2/sec for gasoline vapor in the soil
(this value is corrected for the presence of soil grains, Also assume the
basement is well ventilated, so that the gasoline vapor concentration in the
basement is much less than 25 ppm. Air density is approximately 1.2 g/1000 cm3
at 1 atm pressure and 200C. [Ans: 0.13g/day]

9. A sealed radioactive source used for physics demonstrations contained 10

microcuries (mCi) of 60Co (cobalt-60) in 1970. Given a half-life of 1900 days for
60Co, what will be the source strength in 2023? [Ans: 8.6 x 10-3 µCi]

10. Consider an unsaturated soil (i.e., a soil that contains both air and water in the
pores between soil grains). Suppose the concentration of dissolved oxygen in
soil water at equilibrium with soil air is 100 µ mol/liter (µM). Given a
dimensionless Henry’s law constant of 26 for oxygen at 20 oC, what is the
corresponding oxygen concentration in soil air? What is the Henry’s law constant
in units of (atm-m3/mol) at 20oC? [Ans: 0.63]
11. What is the flux density of:
a. Organic nitrogen (org-N) in a wastewater infiltration basin, if the org-N
concentration is 10 mg/liter and water seeps into the soil at a rate of 2 cm/hr?
[Ans: 5.6 x10-9 g Org-N/(cm2 sec)]
b. Salt in a horizontal tube 10 cm in length connecting a tank of seawater
(salinity = 30 g/liter) and a tank of freshwater (salinity = 0), assuming no
advection occurs? [Ans: 3x10-8 g/(cm2 sec)]
c. CO2 in an automobile exhaust pipe, where gas velocity is 30 cm/sec and CO2
concentration is 0.05 g/liter? [Ans: 1.5 x10-3 g/(cm2 sec)]

12. Small fish in an m-cresol contaminated lake acquire an m-cresol concentration of

0.1 ppm in their fatty tissue. If their fatty tissue behaves similarly to octanol with
respect to m-cresol partitioning, what is the probable approximate concentration
of m-cresol in the lake water? [Ans: 10-3 mg/L]

13. The dissolved concentration of trichloroethylene (C2Cl3H, abbreviated TCE) in a

lake is 1 ppb. Given a dimensionless Henry’s law constant, H, of 0.4 for TCE,
and a measured gas exchange coefficient of 3x10-3 cm/sec for propane (C3H8) in
water, what is the flux density of TCE from the lake? [Ans: 1.7 x10-6 µg/cm2 sec]

14. Benzene is spilled onto a lake from an overturned tanker truck. Given a 3 m/sec
wind speed at a 10-m height, what will be the flux density from the slick? [Ans:
360µg/(cm2 sec)]

15. A disgruntled postal worker dumps a liquid culture of Anthrax into a river 900 m
upstream of the intake pipe for the municipal water works; 1011 organisms are
introduced into the river which has a cross-section of 0.6 m2.
a. If the river velocity is 40 cm/sec and the longitudinal dispersion coefficient is
0.1 m2/sec, what is the maximum concentration expected at the plant? [Ans:
3.1 x109 organisms/m3]
b. How spread out (in the direction of flow) is the cloud of organisms at the time
the peak concentration occurs at the intake pipe? Use two standard
deviations on either side of the peak to characterize spread. [Ans: Std dev =
21m]
c. How does the answer to (a) change if the organisms have a 10-hr half-life in
the river? [Ans: 3.0 x109 organisms/m3