The experimental series on nitrate retention deals experimentally with the course and potential of chemolithotrophic denitrification in cores from the Lower Rhine Bay. In the summer of 2016, drilling cores were obtained in the vicinity of the Amern water treatment plant of NEW NiederrheinWasser GmbH for the construction of a groundwater observation well. These cores are used for column experiments under an oxygen-free atmosphere with artificial groundwater to examine the nitrite reduction and pyrite oxidation.

The GetIn-CICERO Competence Network establishes a joint research campus in Indonesia in cooperation of the Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering and the most prestigious university in the country, the Gadjah Mada University sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Coordinators of the research hub are Univ.-Prof. Dr. T.R. Rüde und Assoc. Prof. Dr. Doni Prakasa Eka Putra (UGM).

The dissertation topic deals with the properties of the Luxembourg sandstone aquifer. Investigations in field and laboraty tests are used to describe the chemical interaction of fractures and matrix with respect to the flow dynamics.

The Project deals with the measurement of natural radioactivity in air, ground- and mine water. For this purpose methods are evolved that help understanding the transport of radioactive particles from the rock into the mine water and from the mine water into the air.

The project aims at the development of a hydrogeological model of the Devonian karst aquifers of the eastern right-Rhine Rhenish Slate Mountains. The objective of the hydrogeological modeling is to make a contribution to an improved understanding of the regional overall system and to generate a sound basis of assessment for future issues.

Tetrachloroetehene (PER) is a VOC that is used as solvent for cleaning all kinds of surfaces and textiles. Because of, accidents on industrial sites and laundries using PER as well as through inappropriate use of it, many of those industrial sites are contaminated with the VOC and need remediation. As a consequence the groundwater is contaminated by the emission of PER into the environment. At many sites Pum&Treat (P&T) is the remediation method applied. Very often the efficiency of Pump&Treat remediations need long time and maybe will not be able to complete the remediation at all. To know if a remediation of contaminated hard rock aquifers could generally be successful in an acceptable time and cost frame, using P&T, we investigate the mobility of PER in the Kreuznach-Sandstone. The experiments of the project are executed on bore hole samples form the contaminated site.

On the Mexican Altiplano with its semi-arid to arid climate and due to its geological condition with igneous rocks and related sediments, which have elevated concentrations of uranium and arsenic, these two trace elements show a relationship, despite their generally different redox properties and transport behavior. Therefore, these elements can be mobilized into groundwater, which is the main source for water supply of the population in these areas. For that reason, this proposal will investigate in laboratorial studies the principle processes of enrichment and release with respect to rocks and sediments and the climate conditions of the Mexican Altiplano.

Uranium is – in addition to its radioactivity – a strong kidney toxicant and since 2011, a toxicologically justified regulatory limit for drinking water was established. In a study for the State Environmental Agency of Bavaria (LfU Bayern) in 2011 it was shown that local high uranium contents in groundwater in the Lech Valley originate from lowland fen soils. Uranium is released from these triggered by agricultural measures – peat decomposition by drainage and nitrate input.