Date of Award

Spring 2021

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2021.

Department

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

First Advisor

Aria Amirbahman

Abstract

The California water crisis has left over one-million residents without potable water. This crisis is due to a multitude of issues: climate change, drought, groundwater overdraft and groundwater contamination. This technical report reviews solutions to the implications of groundwater well contamination. Pollutants contaminate aquifers, affecting small rural communities; one such location is East Orosi, Tulare County, California, a community of 700 people. The community’s only water source is a nitrate-contaminated well. Contamination can be lethal, and a solution to provide the region with potable water is necessary. This technical report summarizes a broad scope of solutions that East Orosi can choose from to address their water crisis: an immediate water relief plan, a new groundwater well, a pipeline diverting clean water into the existing East Orosi water distribution system, and a water treatment plant. A preliminary cost analysis and general scope for each solution has been detailed. A comparison of each proposed solution has found that the most suitable design is the construction of a new groundwater well to reach a lower, uncontaminated aquifer. The team recommends East Orosi’s community conduct a hydrogeologic analysis of the local aquifers to determine if there is sufficient potable water before pursuing the construction of a new well.

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