Laboratory-based research projects will be aimed at investigating the fundamental flow and transport processes controlling groundwater vulnerability. These experiments will focus on the vulnerability issues of, and use aquifer materials from, the case study aquifers. Experiments will take place on scales from mm to metres and involve batch, column and larger sandpack set-ups, and experiments in porous and fractured rock cores. The experiments will be designed to look at the effects of aquifer heterogeneity and the influence of sorption, reaction, degradation, dissolution and precipitation, and microbial activity on contaminant residence times and transport. In these experiments state-of-the-art monitoring techniques will be used including new on-line sensors techniques (electrochemical, chromatographic methods), and X-ray and NMR imaging methods. The lead partners will be Weizmann, Edinburgh and Barcelona.

Laboratory-based projects

• Reactive transport involving dissolution/precipitation and sorption (ER, Israel): Prof. Brian Berkowitz, Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel (brian.berkowitz@weizmann.ac.il)

• Microbial controls on fluid flow and contaminant speciation in dual porosity media (PhD position, UK): Dr. Steve Elphick, School of Geoscience, University of Edinburgh, UK (Stephen.Elphick@ed.ac.uk)

• In-situ and real-time monitoring of fluid flow and contaminant speciation during biogeochemical and reactive flow experimentation (ER, UK): Dr. Steve Elphick, School of Geoscience, University of Edinburgh, UK (Stephen.Elphick@ed.ac.uk)

• Groundwater vulnerability in coastal aquifers (ESR, Spain): Prof. Jesus Carrera, Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain (jcarrera@ija.csic.es),

• Characterization of emerging pollutant degradation processes in soil and aquifers (ESR, Spain): Prof. Jesus Carrera, Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain (jcarrera@ija.csic.es)