“In situ” investigations to define the degradation of phenols in groundwater

Phenols are especially suitable for defining the mechanism of their degradation in groundwater. Phenols, for the most part, do not sorb on clastic aquifer material. This allows for a comparison of their relative concentrations in groundwater to the concentrations of a tracer, and leads to conclusions which can be drawn about the kinetics of phenol degradation. We have had an opportunity to monitor, in detail, the degradation of phenols at three locations. All three cases involved gravelly and sandy aquifers and aerobic conditions. A summary of the analytical methods applied, and basic results obtained is presented. This paper represents a short overview of the flow and results of the monitoring and five tests which were conducted at the three locations over several years. We believe that the results are representative of the behavior of phenols in aerobic intergranular aquifers.