ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses traditional treatment technologies currently available and widely used for water, wastewater, thermal pollution, underground storage tanks (USTs), and groundwater pollution problems. Problems with cleanup include difficulty in identifying the type of subsurface environment, locating potential contamination sources, defining potential contaminant transport pathways, determining contaminant extent and concentration, and implementing an effective remedial process. Treatment of drinking water to remove contaminants is one of the oldest forms of public health protection. Preliminary treatment removes materials such as, wood, rocks, and other forms of debris, that could damage treatment plant equipment or that would occupy treatment capacity without being affected by treatment. Two technologies are currently used to limit the migration of floating gasoline across the water table and to recover free product from the water table: the trench method and the pumping well method. Cleanup technologies commonly used for groundwater containing organic contamination include air stripping and activated carbon.
