A layer of fine-grained soils, referred to as an aquitard, separates the perched aquifer from the Ogallala Aquifer, which is the primary source for drinking water in the Texas panhandle. This aquitard helps keep the perched aquifer from reaching the Ogallala Aquifer. No contamination has been found in the groundwater monitoring wells installed in the Ogallala Aquifer. Pantex's groundwater treatment system Pantex installed a groundwater treatment system in 1995 as part of a treatability study to test perched aquifer treatment options. The treatment system pulls water from the perched aquifer and filters it through two 10-thousand gallon tanks filled with granulated activated carbon.
Treated water is reinjected into the aquifer.
Reinjecting treated water into the aquifer helps move untreated water toward the recovery wells and through the treatment facility. Thirty-one million gallons have been treated since the facility began operation in 1996 and approximately 60,000 gallons are treated daily. More than 330 pounds of high explosives contaminants and nearly 35 pounds of chromium have been removed. The research is exciting in that it indicates that it will be possible to develop low-cost remediation technologies for unsaturated zones. In addition to the weapons sites, the research has implications for the plating and tanning industries.