Common Instructions
These are the terms and instructions clients, councils and legal teams commonly use for this work in Australian practice.
- Groundwater investigation
- Hydrogeological investigation
- Groundwater assessment
- Groundwater remediation
Reviewer
Reviewed by Michael Nicholls, Principal Environmental Scientist (CEnvP #0831, Site Contamination Specialist SC40037).
Last reviewed 23 April 2026.
Primary Sources
These official references commonly inform the way this work is scoped, interpreted or defended.
Home / Capabilities / Groundwater Investigation
Groundwater / hydrogeology / PFAS
Groundwater investigation and hydrogeological advice for contaminated sites, PFAS and migration risk.
iEnvi delivers groundwater investigation, hydrogeological investigation and monitoring programmes where site risk depends on understanding plume behaviour, sensitive receptors, beneficial use, remediation response or the implications of contamination leaving the source area.
Hydrogeological investigation
PFAS groundwater assessment
Monitoring and plume delineation
This work is often triggered by off-site receptors, bores, waterways, dewatering, vapour pathways or regulator concern about plume movement.
The objective is not to over-complicate the model. It is to get enough clarity to support decisions on risk, remediation and monitoring.
Groundwater advice is linked back to the conceptual site model, source control, land use and closure strategy rather than treated as a separate exercise.
Where a groundwater investigation changes the decision path.
Groundwater data becomes decisive when contamination is near the water table, when PFAS or dissolved-phase impacts are plausible, when a dewatering or construction decision has to be made, or when stakeholders need to know whether a plume is stable, expanding or threatening a receptor.
Source and plume definition
Designing monitoring well networks, groundwater sampling rounds, gauging and data interpretation to understand source areas, gradients and plume extent.
Land use, dewatering and receptor decisions
Supporting redevelopment, council responses, waterway or bore risk reviews, and the interpretation needed when groundwater conditions affect approvals or construction.
Groundwater response and performance tracking
Using hydrogeological evidence to guide remediation selection, monitored natural attenuation, source control, staged response and validation logic.
What a hydrogeological investigation usually needs to cover.
The work is tailored to the site, but the important thing is that the programme produces evidence that can be interpreted in a way decision-makers can use.
Monitoring design and sampling
Monitoring well installation or review, groundwater level gauging, sampling, laboratory schedules and the practical sequencing required for reliable data.
Flow direction, beneficial use and plume logic
Hydrogeological interpretation has to connect the groundwater setting to contaminant mobility, receptors, discharge potential and the likely persistence of the issue.
Pathway-specific assessment
PFAS, petroleum, solvents and other dissolved contaminants are assessed against the actual groundwater use and receiving environment, not just generic headline values.
Advice that supports the next move
The final position should tell the client whether they need more monitoring, risk assessment, source control, active remediation, dewatering constraints or a regulator discussion.
Service stations, industrial land, redevelopment sites, PFAS-affected land, waste facilities, construction dewatering, auditor reviews and sites with off-site migration concern.
Groundwater investigation reports, monitoring event interpretation, plume assessment, hydrogeological advice, receptor commentary and remediation support.
This service commonly sits beside DSI, risk assessment, remediation and regulator response.
Use groundwater investigation when plume behaviour, receptors or remediation decisions cannot stay assumed.
iEnvi can scope a fit-for-purpose groundwater investigation around contamination status, PFAS issues, receptor sensitivity, redevelopment timing and the actual decisions that depend on the data.