Pump and treat methods may involve installing one or
more wells to extract the contaminated groundwater.
Groundwater is pumped from these “extraction wells”
to the ground surface, either directly into a treatment
system or into a holding tank until treatment can
begin. The treatment system may consist of a single
cleanup method, such as activated carbon or air
stripping, to clean the water. (See A Citizen’s Guide to
Activated Carbon [EPA 542-F-12-001] and A Citizen’s
Guide to Air Stripping [EPA 542-F-12-002].) However,
treatment often requires several cleanup methods if the
groundwater contains different types of contaminants
or high concentrations of a single contaminant. The
approach to treatment may be modified as contaminant
concentrations decrease.