K. Badvi - Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Urmia University

Ground water resources are always vulnerable for chemical and viral contaminations. In majority of the cities in Iran drinking water are being supplied through the groundwater resources using some wells. On the other hand, inside or outside the cities, the solid and liquid wastes which contain chemical and viral contaminants are being discharged on the ground and they threaten the quality of the soil and ground water resources. One of the effective methods for quality control of the cities’ drinking water wells is the delineation of the wellhead protection areas. In this paper, a summary of different types and characteristics of the viruses in ground water are presented. The VIRALT computer code for delineation of the wellhead protection areas for viral contaminants is described. Using some typical examples the method of calculations by VIRALT are presented and discussed using some examples. The examples include the virus transport from a leaky septic tank, from a leaky sewer pipe, from a leaky sewer pipe including two pumping wells, and from a sewer well towards a pumping water supply well.

VIRALT Code, Virus, Ground water, Wellhead, Protection Area