Practical tool for understanding complex process
The Matrix Diffusion Toolkit, developed for the Department of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), is a free software tool that can assist site personnel to effectively and efficiently estimate what effects matrix diffusion will have at their site, and transfer the results to stakeholders. Matrix diffusion describes the process where compounds that have diffused into low-permeability zones such as silt and clay layers in the subsurface serve as indirect, low-level sources of contamination to transmissive zones over time. This process has the potential to sustain dissolved contaminant concentrations in groundwater after the source is removed or after remediation removes or isolates contamination from transmissive compartments.