Chiang Mai Journal of Science

       The Thai-German Research Project WaDIS focuses on the protection of groundwater resources in respect to the disposasl of solid waste. Main objective is the investigation of the subsoil of waste disposal sites with a special emphasis on the function of rock and sediments as geological barrier. A geological barrier is an important additional safety element besides man made barrier systems. There is a great demand for suitable methods and recommendations for the exploration and assessment of this barrier. They have to be attuned to the conditions of the region. The project will teset and adapt different methods and technologies for the investigation of the geological barrier and the groundwater system. In order to obtain examples for the applicationof geoscientific methods for site investigations, field work is being carried out at two abandoned and one prospective disposal site in northern Thailand (Chiang Mai) and the Khorat area. In cooperation with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), as well as companies and universities in Thailand, investigations using geophysical, geochemical, hydraulic and remote sensing methods were carried out. At the waste disposal site Mae Hia (south of Chiang Mai) wells have been drilled and a groundwater monitoring system has been set up, Water level observation, hydrochemical sampling and analyses of subsoil material is being performed, in order to establish a geological and subsequently a hydrodynamic model of the investigated area, which also accounts for transport mechnism.