Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2022) 15: 1538

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10804-0

ORIGINAL PAPER

Groundwater contaminant transport modeling using Visual

MODFLOW: a case study of corporation sewage farm in South Madurai,
Tamil Nadu, India
Chandran Sundararaj1   · Kaarmegam Muthukaruppan2 · Dhanasekarapandian Mariappan3   ·
Kumar Veluswamy4 

Received: 22 February 2022 / Accepted: 2 September 2022 / Published online: 16 September 2022
© Saudi Society for Geosciences 2022

Abstract
The groundwater movement and pollutant transport model help study the movement of pollutants in the subsurface environ-
ment. The study area, Avaniyapuram sewage farm (ASF-156 ha), has been receiving wastewater for fodder grass and vegetable
cultivation for the past eight decades from Madurai city. The conceptual groundwater flow modeling was developed for ASF
and simulated for an area of 152 k­ m2 (10,000 m × 15,200 m) in the weathered portion of a three-layered unconfined aquifer
system using Visual MODFLOW v.4.2. Forty pumping wells and ten observation wells were considered for modeling. The
mass transport modeling was performed on contaminant plume for total dissolved solids (TDS) and nitrate (­ NO3) contaminant
plume, with three scenarios and runs for 5, 10, and 15 years for future prediction. The model was calibrated from 2014 to
2018 and validated with 2019 data using steady-state and transient flow conditions. The results showed that the ­NO3 plume
concentration was within the permissible limit (45 mg/l) up to 3 km in the study area. However, after 10 and 15 years, the
­NO3 plume extended up to 4.5 km northeast, and a maximum N ­ O3 concentration of 90 mg/l was observed. The simulation
also showed that the TDS plume concentration ranging from 500 to 1500 mg/l was seen in the study area’s southwest and
northwest direction. The TDS values were high in northeast and southeast zone wells, especially near ASF at a 2.5 km
circle. The TDS concentration of 3000 mg/l was predicted at 5.5 km in 15 years. Our study clearly showed that distance,
direction, and slope played a significant role in the groundwater pollution in and around the corporation sewage farm.

Keywords  Visual MODFLOW · TDS · NO3 · Avaniyapuram sewage farm

Introduction and Knop 2015; Khadri and Pande 2016). Rapidly increas-
ing urbanization will multiply the magnitude of problems,
Urban sprawl has increased over the last three decades and such as groundwater depletion, waterlogging, the vanishing
will continue in the developing countries with an increase of wetlands, water pollution, and increasing salinity levels,
in size and density (Cohen 2006; Seto et al. 2012; Turrini affecting the overall quality of urban life (Tian et al. 2011;
Suhag 2016). Decision-making on sustainable water resource
Responsible Editor Broder J. Merkel management requires knowledge about groundwater–surface
water interaction and its uses within the ecosystem (Abdulla
* Chandran Sundararaj and Al-Assa’d 2006; Zagonari 2010; Zhou and Li 2011).
schandran@tce.edu
Groundwater overexploitation and contaminants of emerging
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Thiagarajar College concern are a menace to ecological services, human health,
of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625015, India and sustainable socio-economic growth (Li 2020; Li and Wu
2
Centre for Water Resources, Anna University, Chennai, 2019). Numerical modeling is helpful for predicting, man-
Tamil Nadu, India aging groundwater resources, and recommending suitable
3
Public Works Department, Environmental Cell Subdivision, groundwater pollution remediation. Groundwater modeling
Tirunelveli, TN, India using MODFLOW can replicate the flow and transport pro-
4
Department of Agricultural Engineering, ACRI – TNAU, cesses with towering effectiveness (Bredehoeft and Kon-
Madurai, India ikow 2012; Chiang 2005; Singhal and Goyal 2011). Based

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on certain simplifying assumptions, including flow direction,
aquifer geometry, and bedrock heterogeneity or anisotropy,
groundwater models explain the water flow and contaminant
transport using numerical equations (Koda 2012; Lagudu
et al. 2013; Surinaidu et al. 2014; Rapantova et al. 2017).
Several researchers have used MODFLOW for groundwa-
ter modeling with various hydrogeological conditions and
executed groundwater contaminant transport modeling of
surface and subsurface water interaction (Ritter et al. 2002;
Panagopoulos 2012; Hogeboom et al. 2015; Saleem et al.
2018). The stages of contaminant transport modeling include
developing a conceptual model, model calibration and vali-
dation, sensitivity analysis, and potential prediction for the
future (Wagner 1992; Mohamed 2018).
Visual MODFLOW application started in 1994 with
various applications of this software to study and develop
contaminant transport modeling (Dufresne and Drake 1999;
Scanlon et al. 2003; Tait et al. 2004; Mondal and Singh
2005; Abdulla  and Al Assa’d 2006; Liu and Pan 2009;
Sarvarian et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2013; Parameswari and
Mudgal 2015; Baharuddin et al. 2016). Visual MODFLOW
is the most insightful and powerful graphical interface that
combines MODFLOW, MODPATH, and MT3D (modular
three-dimensional transport model) and helps in assembling
a data set graphically for a three-dimensional groundwater
flow and contaminant transport model (McDonald and Har-
baugh 1988; Zhou and Li 2011; Anon 2000; Selvakumar
et al. 2017). The run module within the Visual MODFLOW
helps the user modify the various MODFLOW, MODPATH,
and MT3D parameters and run the model. The output
module lets the user to exhibit all the simulation outputs
of MODFLOW, MODPATH, and MT3D (Hariharan and
Uma Shankar 2017; Mohamed 2018). Nevertheless, another
advantage of this software is that it is user-friendly; ensures
good generalization capability; elucidates binary output
files by creating color/contour maps; and helps in analyz-
ing and interpreting the model results. Furthermore, with
the versatility of the software, the user can evaluate vari-
ous scenarios that may occur in the future and understand
contaminant movement. With comprehensible visualization
methods, complex situations can be effectively simulated
and incite support to do more studies with the Visual MOD-
FLOW software.
Avaniyapuram sewage farm (ASF) has been functioning
since 1924, and it was constructed for sewage management
in South Madurai. Due to the continuous use of sewage in the
farm, which is rich in organic matters (CWR 2004), ground-
water is getting polluted in the nearby vicinity (Saravanan
et al. 2011; Natesan and Keerthy 2012; Prabhakaran et al.
2021), and there have been no simulation studies assessing
groundwater contamination levels. The present case study
aimed to assess groundwater contamination and predict
groundwater quality parameters, temporal variations, and
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Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
contamination levels. The specific objective of this study is
(1) to develop a conceptual model in and around the Avani-
yapuram sewage farm based on the borehole logs, periodic
monitoring of wastewater concentration, and periodic field
measurements of water level data, and (2) to perform a mass
transport modeling on contaminant plume for total dissolved
solids (TDS) and nitrate ­(NO3) with three scenarios.
The novelty of this study is to predict the TDS and ­NO3
plume concentration due to the reuse of sewage for agri-
culture which has been practiced near Madurai city for the
past 95 years and to predict the contaminant movement
for different management strategies of southern part of
Madurai, keeping the Avaniyapuram sewage farm (ASF) as
the epicenter.
Study area
The study area is near Madurai, in the southern part of Tamil
Nadu and one of the ancient cities of India and has one of
the oldest, systematic wastewater collection and disposal
systems in the world. The city is divided into the north
and south zones by the River Vaigai, which is a seasonal
river occasionally carrying fresh water, otherwise only city
wastewater. The sewerage system was initially established
as early as in 1924 in South Bank. The collected wastewa-
ter is pumped to Avaniyapuram, where a sewage farm was
established for the reuse of wastewater.
The sewage farm under this investigation (Fig.  1)
is located with the latitude 9°52′29″N and longitude
78°05′52″E. This study area was selected since the treated
and untreated sewage collected from the villages within a
5 km radius converge here. The wastewater irrigated area
is in the Ayan Pappakudi village (Saravanan et al. 2011;
Prabhakaran et al. 2021) functioning from 1924 with 156 ha.
The cultivable land is 88 ha (area of Guinea grass cultiva-
tion 75 ha and vegetables 13 ha), with an annual produc-
tion of Guinea grass at 7398.17 tons. The farm has two
lagoons with a capacity of 13.62 million l/d and a size of
95 m × 95 m × 2.5 m. This farm is an outlet for the waste-
water collected from the Madurai corporation south zone.
Madurai south zone comprises seven sub-pumping stations
and the main pumping station at Santhaipettai. These seven
sub-pumping stations are located at different places in the
city, and the sub-pumping stations collect the sewage gen-
erated in the fully and partially sewered wards. The waste-
water collected through oval-shaped conduit pipes in their
respective areas is pumped to the central pumping station,
which was provided with modern gadgets to discharge sew-
age efficiently. In addition to this collection, there are many
sewage-carrying ditches in the Madurai South Zone (Sup-
plementary Fig. 1).
Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
Fig. 1  Aerial view of Avani-
yapuram sewage farm
It is estimated that 50 million liters of untreated waste-
water per day is collected from Madurai city. A portion of
the sewage (around 50%) is sent to Avaniyapuram sewage
farm, 8 km away from the central pumping station. Due to
the pumping capacity’s inadequacy, the pumping station
cannot cope with the flow, and the rest of the sewage is let
into the ditches. The sewage farm also receives water from
Kalamkari, a sewage carrier from the city. The mean annual
average rainfall for 31 years was calculated as 832.76 mm.
Geographically, the study area is underlain with hard
rock strata and comprises six soil types, viz., (i) thin red
Page 3 of 15 1538
soil; (ii) deep red soil; (iii) red sterile soil; (iv) laterite soil;
(v) black soil; and (vi) red sandy soil. The Vellaikal village
on the northern side and a chain of tanks on the southern
side bound the study area. The western side is a continua-
tion of the foothills of the Thirupparankundram hills. The
sewage water, after irrigating the farm, can only flow east.
Furthermore, sewage effluent flows on shallow soil, as the
rock strata are within 3 m of the ground surface. The sewage
water flows south in the farm, and its return flow is collected
at the outlet of the French drain system, which is diverted
east. However, the quality of water wells could represent
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1538 Page 4 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538

sewage contamination caused by sewage flow from the city
and might not exclusively be because of sewage farming.
The shallowly buried pediments are distributed all around
the sewage farm.
Scenario III: continuing irrigation with treated wastewa-
ter and the tanks are renovated and filled up with rain water.
Model calibration

This task discusses modifying the model input parameters to

Methodology
matchup with the field conditions regarding observed head
and concentration. Model parameters were changed until the
Data collection
simulation results correlate with observed data within a pre-
established error range.
Data on borehole details, well details, hydraulic conduc-
The necessity to calibrate the model originates from the
tivity, porosity, lithology, storability, and transmissibility
uncertainty in parameter values because of assumptions and
values were collected from the Public Works Department
simplifications of conceptual and mathematical models.
(PWD), Central Groundwater Board (CGWB), and Madurai
Before using a model for any projections or decision valida-
Corporation. The time series rainfall and groundwater level
tion, it should be calibrated to demonstrate that it stimulates
data were obtained from 2000 to 2019 from PWD. The
the groundwater behavior acceptably. In MODFLOW, aqui-
toposheets of Madurai districts, Google Maps, and water-
fer properties, boundary conditions, recharge, and hydrau-
shed maps were used for preparing a base map. The maps
lic conductivity are the major parameters to be modified to
were scanned and given as input into the MapInfo software,
obtain a realistic fit with the monitored hydraulic head and
which was digitized into boundary, river, and well locations.
flow rate values at the outlet streams.
Land-use patterns, soil type, and geology of the study area
Both steady-state and transient state calibration was
layer were determined using remote sensing IRS, LISS III,
attempted in our study. The January 2014 water level was
with a 1:50,000 scale. The monthly rainfall data were col-
taken as the initial condition for the steady-state model cali-
lected from 2000 to 2019 from PWD to calculate annual
bration. Many test runs were conducted by changing the
recharge. The groundwater quality was analyzed for the
hydraulic conductivity values within some range until the
major ions, pH, EC, and TDS following standard methods
simulated vs. observed heads correlate well.
(APHA 1998).
Transient calibration was performed from 2014 to 2018.
The conceptual model was developed in and around
The steady-state model calibration values of boundary con-
ASF based on the borehole logs (Supplementary Fig. 2)
ditions, hydraulic conductivity, and water levels were set as
and a methodology flowchart (Fig. 2). GIS software, Map-
the initial state of condition for the transient model calibra-
Info, was used to develop the conceptual model and cre-
tion. The impact of wastewater irrigation from the sewage
ate grids, which was further imported into the numerical
farm into the groundwater was simulated using modular
model. A three-layer groundwater model covering 152 k­ m2
three-dimensional transport model (MT3D). As the farm and
(10,000 m × 15,200 m) was developed (Fig. 3), simulating
tanks are continuous sources of pollution, it was assumed
the groundwater flow and transport in the weathered parts of
that all pollutants at the farm remain at a constant concentra-
an unconfined aquifer system. A simulation was performed
tion. Therefore, the same values of specific storage, specific
on monthly time step periods using Visual MODFLOW v.
yield, time variable recharge, and pumping discharge were
4.2.
used for the transient simulation.
Mass transport modeling was conducted on contaminant
plumes for TDS and N ­ O3 since nitrate contamination is often
associated with domestic (septic) wastewater treatment and Model validation
disposal. To control contaminant plume (TDS and ­NO3)
movement in the wastewater irrigation region, appropriate The term model validation is an annex of the calibration
management techniques should be considered. The follow- process that must ensure that the calibrated model accurately
ing three scenarios were considered in this study after a evaluates all the variables that could influence simulation
detailed discussion with the farmers, corporation officials, results. While several approaches to validate a model exist,
and local government engineers. The prediction of contam- the most effective procedure is to only use a portion of the
inant plumes for the different management strategies was available record of the observed data for calibration (Abdulla
made for 5, 10, and 15 years from 2019. and Al-Assa’d 2006). Once the final parameter values are
Scenario I: continuing irrigation with the same wastewa- acquired through calibration, simulation is continued for the
ter and all other constraints as of 2019. remaining period of the observed data, and goodness-of-fit
Scenario II: continuing irrigation with fresh water and the between observed and simulated values is reevaluated. This
tanks are rehabilitated with fresh water. split-sample calibration/validation procedure is employed in

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Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
Fig. 2  Flow chart of groundwa-
ter flow and contaminant model
several groundwater flow and transport simulation investiga-
tions (Donigian 2002; Duda et al. 2012).
Results and discussions
The study region was conceptualized as a three-layer aqui-
fer system (Fig. 3) with a size of 10,000 m × 15,200 m.
Three layers were taken as unconfined aquifers, but
the aquifer properties were varied to represent the field
Page 5 of 15 1538
conditions. The information on different layers was used
to interpolate from point value to the spatial value for
the multilayer aquifer system. Table 1 shows the details.
The groundwater model analyzed different scenarios of
groundwater withdrawal rate, concentration rate, and
recharge conditions using both steady-state and transient
flow conditions. Supplementary Fig. 3a and 3b shows the
longitudinal and transverse direction cross-sections of the
model, respectively.
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1538 Page 6 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538

with a 150 m × 150 m grid. The study area benefits from

Fig. 3  Three-layer aquifer system of Avaniyapuram region
Pumping and observation wells
This study considered 40 representative pumping wells
to extract groundwater. Figure  4 shows the locations of
these pumping wells. These pumping wells supply the total
groundwater demand of the basin. The monthly pumping
rate is given as the input to all the pumping wells and could
vary from zone to zone. Ten observation wells were identi-
fied and taken as the regional groundwater model develop-
ment regarding the water level and concentration of water
quality parameters. Figure 5 shows the observation wells
locations.
Model construction and initial boundary condition
The digitized map of the area around ASF was selected
as input for numerical groundwater flow modeling. The
numerical model was discretized into 66 rows × 100 columns
the Vaigai River, and hence, the northeastern boundary was
fixed as the river flow boundary. The other sides of the study
were taken as a no-flow boundary because of inadequate
data availability and two hills north and west of the study
area. The aquifer condition of January 2014 was assumed as
the initial condition of the simulation. The study region was
hypothesized as three-layer strata. The top layer represents
shallow topsoil, the mid layer represents weathered rocks,
and the bottom layer represents rock with joints and frac-
tures. Different hydraulic conductivity, specific yield, and
specific storage were apportioned to each layer. The above
aquifer parameters were collected from CGWB and PWD
offices at Madurai (Table 2).
The primary and secondary data collected from PWD
from January 2014 to December 2018 were taken for model
calibration. Most wells in the study area are contaminated
with wastewater that is used to water crops. The pumping
rate was calculated as 16 M ­m3 per year after considering
number of wells and per day pumping in the study area.
A dispersion coefficient was used to assign the lateral and
longitudinal dispersion coefficients. The urban wastewater
was characterized, and the dispersion coefficient of these
characteristics with laterite soil was taken and provided for
model input (Freeze and Cherry 1979; Vasanthi et al. 2008).
Also, the lateral dispersion coefficient was taken as one-
tenth of the longitudinal dispersion.
Estimation of recharge
Generally, recharge depends on the rainfall duration and rate,
antecedent soil moisture conditions, soil type, upper bound-
ary conditions, and the water table depth (Kumar 1993;
NIH 2020). A report published by the CGWB revealed that
the natural recharge was assumed to be 20% of the annual
rainfall. MODFLOW can accommodate the estimated

Table 1  Details of the well logs and layer elevation (TWAD 2012)

S. No Well ID MModelX (m) MmodelY (m) Elevation (m) 1st layer bottom 2nd layer bottom 3rd layer bottom

1 21001D 4628 5650 129.6 127.6 109.6 81.6

2 21014D 92 9891 132.6 130.6 126.6 112.6
3 21005D 4024 31 129.4 127.4 123.4 73.4
4 82,013 10,897 6300 124.8 119.8 115.8 104.8
5 82,014 11,331 8544 125.0 122.0 119.0 105.0
6 82,015 9984 7770 124.9 122.9 117.9 104.9
7 82,016 15,015 5185 124.9 122.9 114.9 104.9
8 21009D 61 510 131.9 129.9 124.9 91.9
9 21004D 4651.5 0 129.5 127.5 126.5 81.5
10 21002D 132 1441 132.9 129.9 126.9 84.9

MModelX, X coordinate
MModelY, Y coordinate

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Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538 Page 7 of 15 1538

Fig. 4  Locations of pumping wells

Fig. 5  Locations of observation
wells

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1538 Page 8 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538

Table 2  Aquifer characteristics Layers Kx (m/s) Ky (m/s) Kz (m/s) Ss (l/m) Sy Effective Total porosity
in and around Avaniyapuram porosity
sewage farm (TWAD 2012)
I, top soil 3.2 × ­10−5 3.2 × ­10−5 1 × ­10−6 5 × ­10−4 1 × ­10−4 20% 32%
II, weathered rocks 1 × ­10−7 1 × ­10−7 1 × ­10−8 5 × ­10−5 1 × ­10−3 15% 22%
III, rock with joints 1 × ­10−6 1 × ­10−6 1 × ­10−7 5 × ­10−2 1 × ­10−2 20% 28%
and fractures

Kx, Ky, and Kz, hydraulic conductivity in X, Y, and Z direction

groundwater recharge rate using the recharge package. The
recharge values were fed into the top layer because actual
recharge goes through the ground surface.
Simulation results of groundwater model
The groundwater model area of 152 ­k m 2 was divided
into cells containing 100 columns and 66 rows. The
vertical discretization consisted of three layers of an
unconfined aquifer. The 2014 January water level and
water quality were identified as the initial head and con-
centration, respectively. This initial condition was veri-
fied using steady-state simulation, and each month esti-
mated groundwater recharge was quantified based on the
observed monthly rainfall. The pumping details of wells
in the study area from 2014 to 2018 were derived based
on irrigation and domestic demand (Grant Thornton India
2011). Aquifer parameters, such as hydraulic conductivity
and storage properties for each layer, were based on the
data collected from PWD and other governmental sources.
The termination criteria considered for residual error were
0.001.
On examining the steady-state calibration, there is a slight
deviation in the groundwater level (Hani et al. 2007). The
water level contours and velocity vectors show that the flow
was primarily toward the northeastern side of the study area
(Chandran et al. 2017). Based on the observed water level
measurements in 11 observational wells, calibration of the
transient flow model at a monthly time step with varying
recharge and pumping rates was attempted for 5 years (60
stress periods). Many trial runs were conducted by appro-
priately varying the hydraulic and storage coefficient values
until a reasonably good correlation between the simulated
and observed water levels was obtained.

Fig. 6  Calibration curve
between calculated and
observed heads

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Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
Figure 6 shows the scatter plot at the end of the transient
model calibration for observed and simulated water levels.
From this transient simulation, the residual mean head and
absolute residual mean head were 1.78 and 3.56 m, respectively.
Similarly, the normalized root mean square error was 28.26%.
A linear regression analysis of the simulated and observed
hydraulic head values for ten observational wells yielded a coef-
ficient correlation of 0.485. The good matching of computed
and observed water levels in the study area indicates that the
model realistically represents the true subsurface system.
Similarly, the residual mean concentration and absolute resid-
ual mean concentration were 111.58 and 164.03 mg/l, respec-
tively (Fig. 7). The normalized root indicates that the square
error was 6.39%. A linear regression analysis of the simulated
and observed concentration values yielded an R2 of 0.963, which
indicates that the model replicated the aquifer system well. Fig-
ure 8 shows the correlation between computed and observed
concentrations for TDS and ­NO3 water quality parameters.
Fig. 7  Calibration curve between calculated and observed concentrations
Page 9 of 15 1538
Supplementary Figs. 4 and 5 show the simulated water
level contours and the velocity vector profiles at the bot-
tom layer after the calibration period of December 2019.
The water table elevation was decreased from the south-
western (130 m) to the northeastern side (124 m) of the
model domain (Supplementary Fig. 6). The cells in the
most parts of the upper layer and small portions in the
middle aquifer dried up during the model run because
the water table level was lower than the bottom of the
upper and middle aquifers because of the thin topsoil in
the upper layer. Also, the dry cell indicates that the water
table was deeper than the bottom of the first layer. Higher
pumping rates and low water table might have induced dry
cells in the middle. The plume movement was from west
to east. It was inferred that the overall groundwater flow
gradient is easterly, whereas the contaminant particles fol-
lowed the same gradient, and the magnitude depends on
the distribution coefficient values.
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1538 Page 10 of 15 Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538

Fig. 8  Calibration curve between calculated and observed concentrations, a TDS and b ­NO3

Fig. 9  Validation graph for

observed and calculated
concentrations of water quality
parameters: a nitrate and b total
dissolved solids

Model prediction
Once the model was calibrated, validation was conducted
for future prediction, and 2019 was taken for the model
validation to validate the water quality parameters, such
as ­NO3 and TDS (Fig. 9). The standard deviation and cor-
relation coefficient between the observed and calculated
concentrations for all parameters were calculated and pre-
sented in Table 3.

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Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
Table 3  Standard deviation and S. No Parameters
correlation coefficient between
observed and calculated
concentrations 1 TDS
2 NO3
TDS, total dissolved solids
NO3, nitrate
A groundwater contaminant transport model is applied to
either conceptualize or understand the hydrological system
or predict the outcome of the system changes. The waste-
water is an added source of irrigation in this region, and the
farmers accept the practices that support their livelihood.
However, the water quality test results indicate that the
region is highly polluted for most parameters. If this practice
continues, the contaminant could spread further and contam-
inate the downstream areas. Once the groundwater aquifer is
contaminated, it is challenging to remediate. Under these cir-
cumstances, different management strategies were evolved to
minimize the environmental impacts of wastewater irrigation
in the study area. The agricultural activities were assumed
to be the same; hence, the head boundary conditions were
unchanged. However, the concentration values were changed
according to the different management strategies.
Scenario I: irrigation using the untreated urban
sewage in the farm and the tanks are filled
with wastewater
In this scenario (current situation in the study area), reus-
ing wastewater for irrigation has been practiced for the
last eight decades, and the same trend could be continued.
Therefore, Scenario I was framed, and the model was run to
simulate the plume’s movement. The analysis was conducted
by assuming the same head and concentration rate for the
remaining period of the model prediction. The concentration
plume values were predicted for the parameters N ­ O3 and
TDS for the next 5, 10, and 15 years.
Scenario II: continuing irrigation with fresh water
and the tanks are rehabilitated with fresh water
No further sewage irrigation is practiced in the study area,
and the existing tanks are renovated and filled with rainwa-
ter. In this scenario, the practice of untreated urban wastewa-
ter irrigation has significantly influenced the environment,
especially the groundwater system. An alternative manage-
ment strategy was attempted to remediate the contaminated
aquifer, and the model was run. The assumptions taken for
this scenario are (i) wastewater irrigation must be stopped,
and (ii) the tanks in the study area must be reclaimed and
used as freshwater recharge storage structures.
Page 11 of 15 1538
Standard deviation of Standard deviation of Correlation
observed conc. (mg/l) calculated conc. (mg/l) coefficient
1243.64 1263.27 0.97
23.99 28.90 0.99
Also, the pumping quantities and head boundary condi-
tions were the same as in Scenario I. However, the con-
centration in the entire region was taken as negligible. The
wastewater irrigation in the entire area was stopped, and
the tanks available in the study area were rejuvenated and
used as a storage structure for irrigation and recharge. The
concentration values were predicted for the parameters N­ O3
and TDS.
Scenario III: continuing irrigation with treated
wastewater and the tanks are renovated and filled
up with rain water
Treated sewage (according to the Bureau of Indian (BIS)
irrigation standards) is used for irrigation on farms, and the
study area with the existing tanks renovated and filled with
rainwater. In this scenario, the entire treated wastewater from
the sewage treatment plant is supplied for agriculture and
used for irrigation. The tanks in the study area function as
recharge structures using fresh rainwater.
The quality of the treated wastewater was assumed to be
equal to the irrigation water quality of BIS standards. The
pumping quantities and head boundary conditions were the
same as in Scenario I. However, the concentration in the
entire region was within the BIS standard. The irrigation
tanks available in the study area were rejuvenated and used
as storage structures for irrigation and recharge. The con-
centration values were predicted for the parameters N ­ O3 and
TDS for this scenario. The prediction was done for 15 years
from 2019 to 2034 for the above three scenarios.
Nitrate
The plume concentration was within the permissible limit
in the entire study area in Scenario I, except in Zone I of the
farm and up to 3 km east. The maximum concentration of
90 mg/l was noticed on the farm, and it increased further
after 10 and 15 years. In the 15th year, the concentration
of 55 mg/l reached 4.5 km along the plume northeasterly
(Fig. 10a). Paddy-growing farmers’ application of nitrogen
fertilizers could be the reason for this higher concentration.
Research studies by Eltarabily et al. (2017) and Bijay‑Singh
and Craswell (2021) corroborated our above inference.
13
1538 Page 12 of 15
a) Scenario I
b) Scenario II
c) Scenario III
Fig. 10   Predicted nitrate concentration for a) Scenario I, b) Scenario II, and c) Scenario III
The effect of recharge using freshwater was observed
in Zone I of the farm, and the concentration of nitrate had
reduced to a permissible limit in Scenario II (Fig. 10b). In
Scenario III, a higher nitrate accumulation was observed
for ~ 2.5 km in 5 years, ~ 3 km in 10 years, and ~ 3.5 km in
15 years. The rest of the regions in Zone I fell within the
permissible limit (Fig. 10c).
Total dissolved solids
In Scenario I, the study had a high total dissolved solid
(TDS) concentration around the farm. The concentration
exceeded the drinking water standards of 500 mg/l in part
of Zone I and part of Zone II. The plume concentration
13
Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
movement was higher in the eastern direction and low
near the sources. The concentration of 3000 mg/l reached
5.5 km at 15 years compared to 3.5 km at 5 years. Fig-
ure 11a shows the status of Scenario I.
In the case of Scenario II, a change in concentration was
observed around the sewage farm and in the study area,
except for some places. The concentration of 2000 mg/l
at 3 km (5 years) decreased to 1800 mg/l after 15 years
(Fig. 11b). The overall groundwater quality improved after
15 years, compared to Scenario I.
The area affected by TDS concentration decreased with
space and time (15 years) in Scenario III (Fig. 11c). The
decrease in TDS concentration might be due to the dilution
effect of treated wastewater along with recharge potential
of existing irrigation tanks filled with rainwater.
Arab J Geosci (2022) 15: 1538
a) Scenario I
b) Scenario II
c) Scenario III
Fig. 11   Predicted TDS concentration for a) Scenario I, b) Scenario II, and c) Scenario III
Conclusions
Groundwater modeling was performed using the finite dif-
ference method to simulate and forecast the contaminant
plume for different management strategies:
• Our calibrated model had a correlation coefficient of
0.861 for flow and of 0.963 for contaminant transport.
• Out of three managements (scenarios) considered for
the disposal system in the study area, the result of Sce-
nario I indicated that if this disposal system continues,
the contaminants will spread in 2.5 km radius (Zone
I) and reach the river within 15 years. Moreover, all
Page 13 of 15 1538
the parameters will increase concentration levels, and
remediation would be challenging.
• The result of Scenario II favored the reclamation of
this study area toward a normal level, which could be
achieved by stopping the wastewater disposal through
irrigation and renovating the tanks to hold fresh water for
recharge. All the parameters around the farm are within
the limits after 5 years, and this extends to the entire
study area in 15 years. But it has some difficulty in practi-
cal implementation. A new disposal site has to be identi-
fied in some parts of the city as well as a systematic treat-
ment should be implemented in the new site. Therefore,
suggestion of an alternate site may not be appropriate.
13
1538 Page 14 of 15
Instead, a proper disposal system may be developed as
suggested in Scenario III.
• Therefore, Scenario III was considered with wastewater
treated to the Bureau of Indian Standards and tanks filled
with fresh water for recharge. The TDS and ­NO3 are
within limits around the farm after 5 years. The decline
in concentrations was observed even at further distances
of the sewage farm after 10 and 15 years. However, the
reclamation rate was not as quick as that of Scenario
II, where freshwater was involved, whereas Scenario
III involved treated wastewater. The containment of the
plume and remediation of groundwater resources can be
achieved using the recharge potential of existing irriga-
tion tanks.
However, the proposed model has limitations like uniform
pumping, uniform recharge rate, and the same agricultural
operations. The professional understanding of the present-
day scenario and location-specific details must be combined
with this study’s conclusions to devise contaminant plume
monitoring strategies.
Supplementary information  The online version contains supplemen-
tary material available at https://d​ oi.o​ rg/1​ 0.1​ 007/s​ 12517-0​ 22-1​ 0804-0.
Acknowledgements  The authors are extremely appreciative to the
teaching and non-teaching faculty members of the Civil Engineering
Department, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai; Public
Works Department, Tamil Nadu; and Central Groundwater Board for
providing necessary support and data for the completion of this case
study research. We thank Enago (www.​enago.​com) for the English
language check.
Funding None.
Declarations  Hariharan V, Uma Shankar M (2017) 14th ICSET-2017. IOP Conf Ser:
Ethics approval  It is certified that the study complied with all ethical
standards.
Consent to participate  Not applicable.
Conflict of interest  The authors declare no competing interests.
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