The Citizen’s Guide Series

A Citizen’s Guide to

Pump and Treat

? ? EPA uses many methods to clean up pollution at Superfund and other sites. If you live, work, or go to school near

a Superfund site, you may want to learn more about these methods. Perhaps they are being used or are proposed

for use at your site. How do they work? Are they safe? This Citizen’s Guide is one in a series to help answer your

questions.

What is pump and treat?

Pump and treat is a common method for cleaning up groundwater. Pumps are used to bring

polluted groundwater to the surface where it can be cleaned up (treated) more easily.

Groundwater is the water that has collected underground in the spaces between dirt particles

and crack within rocks. Groundwater flows underground and may empty into rivers or lakes.

Many people rely on groundwater as the source of their daily water needs.

How does it work?

To remove polluted water from underground, an extraction system is built. This system

usually consists of one or more wells equipped with pumps. When the pumps are turned on,

polluted groundwater

groundwater

level

ground surface

extraction well

clean

water

holding

tank

water treatment

system

United States Office of Solid Waste and EPA 542-F-01-025

Environmental Protection Emergency Response December 2001

Agency (5102G) www.epa.gov/superfund/sites

www.cluin.org
How long will it take?

For more

information

write the Technology

Innovation Office at:

U.S. EPA (5102G)

1200 Pennsylvania Ave.,

NW

Washington, DC 20460

or call them at

(703) 603-9910.

Further information also

can be obtained at

www.cluin.org or

www.epa.gov/

superfund/sites.

they pull the polluted groundwater into the wells and up to the surface. At the surface, the water

goes into a holding tank and then on to a treatment system, where it is cleaned. There are a

number of treatment methods which can be used which either to destroy the polluting chemicals

or to remove them for proper disposal (see A Citizen’s Guide to Air Stripping [EPA 542-F01-016], A Citizen’s Guide to Activated Carbon Treatment [EPA 542-F-01-020], A

Citizen’s Guide to Bioremediation [EPA 542-F-01-001], and A Citizen’s Guide to Chemical Oxidation [EPA 542-F-01-013]). The cleaned water can then be put back into the ground,

into a public sewer, or into a pond.

In order for pump and treat to be effective, the source of the pollution must first be taken away

so that it will not continue to seep into the groundwater. For example, leaking oil drums or tanks

must be removed and the surrounding polluted soil must be cleaned up (see A Citizen’s Guide

to Excavation [EPA 542-F-01-023]).

Is pump and treat safe?

Pump and treat is quite safe when designed and operated properly. Since the polluted groundwater is pumped directly into holding tanks and from there into the treatment system, no one

comes in contact with any harmful chemicals. The harmful chemicals are destroyed or removed

and disposed of properly. The cleaned water is tested to make sure it is safe before it is put

back into the ground or into a sewer system. EPA tests the groundwater regularly during the

pump and treat process to make sure all of it is being collected and it is not spreading further.

Why use pump and treat?

Cleaning up polluted water while it is still underground is often very difficult and sometimes not

possible. Pump and treat is the best remedy in such cases. Pump and treat can also be used to

help keep polluted groundwater from spreading into nearby drinking water wells while other

kinds of cleanup actions are being taken. EPA has used pump and treat at over 500 Superfund

sites.

A pump and treat cleanup is a relatively slow process. It will

usually last at least five to ten years, but can last for decades. The

time it takes depends on:

• the type and amount of harmful chemicals present

• the size and depth of the polluted groundwater

• type of soil and rock rock in the area

NOTE: This fact sheet is intended solely as general guidance and information to the public. It is not intended, nor can it be relied

upon, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States, or to endorse the use of products or services

provided by specific vendors. The Agency also reserves the right to change this fact sheet at any time without public notice.