Abstract
Many areas throughout U.S. and Europe have experienced problems with increased nitrate contamination of groundwater supplies. The concern over nitrate contamination stems from the fact that nitrates have been associated with the genesis of infant methemoglobinemia and linked to the possible formation of nitrosoamines and nitrosoamides which are known etiologic agents for human gastric cancer. This paper describes research which was directed toward the development of risk management techniques for nitrate-contaminated groundwater supplies. To reduce nitrate risk from groundwater supplies, several strategies can be developed based on an acceptable level of human health risk, the reasonableness of nitrate control cost, and the technical feasibility of nitrate control methods. However, the objectives of the risk reduction and cost are in conflict with each other, and the objectives may be of varying degrees of importance. In addition, each phase of the risk and cost analysis, and the evaluation of technical feasibility are associated with imprecision. In this paper, a multicriterion decision-making methodology is presented to assist decision makers in determining, with imprecise information, a nitrate risk management strategy that best satisfies the objectives of input variables (reducing the risk and cost, and assuring the technical feasibility).
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Dahab, M.F., Lee, Y.W. (1991). Risk Management for Nitrate-Contaminated Groundwater Under Imprecise Conditions. In: Ganoulis, J. (eds) Water Resources Engineering Risk Assessment. NATO ASI Series, vol 29. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76971-9_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76971-9_20
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Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76973-3
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