Objectives

Isotope Hydrology Division works in the following main themes:

• Investigations in surface-water and groundwater: their origin, dynamics, interrelations;
• Problems and techniques for investigating sedimentation;
• Water resources issues: pollution, source and transport of contaminants;
• Determination of groundwater parameters by single-well dilution and multiple-well dilution technique using groundwater parameter testing instrument;
• Studying the recharge mechanism of groundwater dynamics and hydraulics and relationship between different aquifer systems through the application of isotope techniques; and
• Isotope data interpretation and evaluation methodologies: modelling approaches.

Activities

• Determination of the Relation of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity with the Variation of Filtration Velocity in the Laboratory Model (IA-04-AECD).
• Studies on Groundwater Resources in Bangladesh using Isotope Tracer Techniques
• Grain Size Analysis of the Coastal Bay Samples for a Relation between Grain Sizes and the Sample Depths
• Implementation of Annual Development Project “ Isotope Hydrology for Groundwater Resources Exploration “
• IAEA-TC research project “ Investigation of Coastal aquifer by Isotope Hydrology Techniques”(BGD/8/020)
• IAEA-RCA research project “ Assessment of fresh water quality by Isotope Hydrology and Chemical Techniques”(RAS/8/104)
• Studies on Investigation of Deep aquifer - under the framework of Bangladesh Water Supply Program Project (BWSPP) financed by World Bank.

Achievements

• Studies on Sand and Silt Movement in Chittagong Harbor by Radioactive Tracer Techniques (BGD/8/004)
• Geological Survey and Brief Study in the Shallow Water Areas of the Bay of Bengal.
• Studies on use of Isotope Techniques for Mitigating Arsenic contamination in Groundwater
• Studies on use of Isotopes in Dam safety and Dam sustainability
• Isotopic Sampling for Resource Assessment and Monitoring of Water Supply Resources for Dhaka City Project
• Sampling and Isotopic Analysis of Groundwater in Coastal belt - under the frame work of Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP) financed by World Bank.
• Studies on Groundwater Resources of Nawabganj Thana, Dhaka District
• Use of Isotope Techniques to Groundwater contamination studies in Urbanized and Industrial Areas

Major Facilities

• Groundwater Parameter Detection/Testing Instrument (Model FDC-250A) using the radioisotope tracer: Measuring device for flow direction and other groundwater parameters
• Isotope tracer injector and water borne detector; equipment for sediment studies
• Neutron probe and its accessories; measuring device for soil moisture and density,
• Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Analyzer, Flame Photometer, Microwave Digestion System (MDS), UV-VIS double beam Spectrophotometer, BOD & COD Analyzer for complete hydrochemical analyses
• Electro-Chemistry Analyzer; For measuring pH, DO, Electric Conductivity, Redox Potential and Temperature etc.

Perspective Plan

• Different industrial pollution through the application of single dilution and multiple Groundwater studies in the arsenic prone area and also in the area contaminated by dilution technique,
• Mathematical models for the interpretation of environmental radioisotopes in groundwater systems and predicting the contaminant transport in the aquifer.
• Modelling of flow dynamics in layered groundwater system – comparative evaluation of black box and numerical approaches. Simulation of groundwater age distributions.
• Studies of leakage through the dams and reservoirs by isotope techniques, and simulate the leakage flow, predicting the probable direction of leakage and evaluating the protection strategies by numerical modelling