Common Instructions
These are the terms and instructions clients, councils and legal teams commonly use for this work in Australian practice.
- Groundwater investigation
- Groundwater remediation
- Groundwater treatment
- Hydrogeological investigation
Reviewer
Reviewed by Michael Nicholls, Principal Environmental Scientist (CEnvP #0831, Site Contamination Specialist SC40037).
Last reviewed 16 June 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, remediation and treatment for sites where migration risk matters.
iEnvi delivers groundwater investigation, hydrogeological interpretation, plume assessment, PFAS response, groundwater remediation and groundwater treatment support where site decisions depend on understanding what contamination is doing below ground.
Groundwater remediation
Groundwater treatment
PFAS groundwater assessment
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.
Groundwater remediation and groundwater treatment options.
Investigation tells you what is there. Remediation and treatment address whether the plume can be managed, reduced or left under long-term control. The right response depends on receptors, beneficial use, programme constraints and what closure actually requires—not every plume needs pump-and-treat.
Source removal, pump-and-treat and in-situ treatment
Where migration risk or receptor sensitivity demands action, options may include source excavation, pump-and-treat, air sparging, chemical treatment or other in-situ methods. Scope should be tied to validation criteria and realistic performance expectations.
Monitored natural attenuation and long-term controls
On some sites the defensible position is monitored natural attenuation, institutional controls or staged management rather than immediate full-scale treatment. That still requires sound hydrogeological evidence and clear reporting logic.
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.