Assessment of well vulnerability for groundwater source protection based on a solute transport model: a case study from Jilin City, northeast ChinaEvaluation de la vulnérabilité d’un puits pour la protection d’un captage d’eau souterraine basée sur un modèle de transport de soluté: étude de cas au niveau de la ville de Jilin, Nord-Est de la ChineEvaluación de la vulnerabilidad de pozos para la protección de fuentes de agua subterránea basada en un modelo de transporte de soluto: un caso de estudio de Jilin City, noreste de China基于溶质运移模型的地下水水源地保护目标下的井脆弱性评估:以中国东北吉林市为例Avaliação da vulnerabilidade do poço para a proteção da origem de água subterrânea com base num modelo de transporte de soluto: um estudo de caso da Cidade de Jilin, nordeste da China

Well vulnerability assessment is essential for groundwater source protection. A quantitative approach to assess well vulnerability in a well capture zone is presented, based on forward solute transport modeling. This method was applied to three groundwater source areas (Jiuzhan, Hadawan and Songyuanhada) in Jilin City, northeast China. The ratio of the maximum contaminant concentration at the well to the released concentration at the contamination source (cmax/c0) was determined as the well vulnerability indicator. The results indicated that well vulnerability was higher close to the pumping well. The well vulnerability in each groundwater source area was low. Compared with the other two source areas, the cone of depression at Jiuzhan resulted in higher spatial variability of cmax/c0 and lower minimum cmax/c0 by three orders of magnitude. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis indicated that the denitrification rate in the aquifer was the most sensitive with respect to well vulnerability. A process to derive a NO3−N concentration at the pumping well is presented, based on determining the maximum nitrate loading limit to satisfy China’s drinking-water quality standards. Finally, the advantages, disadvantages and prospects for improving the precision of this well vulnerability assessment approach are discussed.