Modeling of Contaminant Transport In on-site waste Disposal Systems

One of the most common problems of septic systems is poor drainage in the field. Septic systems release number of organic contaminants that cause groundwater pollution, especially organic substances, nutrients and pathogenic microorganisms. However, there are mechanisms that operate between soil and contaminants, which can purify the septic tank effluent. Below the drainage field, soil is separated into two zones; unsaturated and saturated zone, which provide the water movement mainly in vertical and horizontal direction, respectively. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model and to define governing equations for the transport of septic tank effluent in the vadose zone. Using the concept of mass balance and chemical kinetic equations, the governing equations have been derived.