Soil and Groundwater Remediation: Linking Contaminant Dynamics to Water Quality Recovery

Soil and groundwater contamination poses persistent threats to water resources, ecosystem functioning, and human health. Contaminants released by industrial, agricultural, mining, and urban activities can migrate through connected soil, groundwater, and surface water systems. Although diverse remediation technologies are available, treatment performance under controlled conditions does not necessarily translate into sustained water quality recovery. Remediation can alter contaminant speciation, mobility, and bioavailability, while transformation products, secondary pollution, and subsequent remobilization may affect long-term outcomes. Hydrological connectivity, environmental heterogeneity, and biogeochemical reactions further complicate these responses. Understanding how remediation modifies contaminant dynamics, and how these changes influence water quality and environmental risks, is therefore essential for connecting mechanistic research with effective management of contaminated environments.This Research Topic aims to bring together studies that connect soil and groundwater remediation with the processes governing contaminant fate, transport, and water quality recovery. It seeks to clarify how remediation interventions alter contaminant retention, release, transformation, and biological uptake, and whether these changes translate into sustained reductions in contaminant fluxes and environmental risks.We welcome research on biological, physicochemical, and integrated remediation approaches, including bioremediation, phytoremediation, sorption and immobilization, electrochemical treatment, and advanced oxidation. Particular interest lies in studies integrating process-based investigations with monitoring, in situ characterization, reactive transport modeling, or risk assessment. Contributions addressing treatment durability, transformation products, secondary pollution, and contaminant rebound are encouraged. Both laboratory studies under environmentally relevant conditions and pilot- or field-scale investigations are welcome, especially where they explain the mechanisms and conditions controlling remediation effectiveness. Together, these contributions will support the development and evaluation of sustainable remediation strategies with demonstrable benefits for water quality. Contributions should establish a clear connection between remediation, contaminant dynamics, and water quality or water-related environmental risks. Soil-focused studies should explain their relevance to contaminant leaching, groundwater protection, or connected aquatic systems. Topics of interest include:• Contaminant fate, bioavailability, and reactive transport during remediation;• Biological, physicochemical, and integrated remediation approaches and their implications for water quality;• Biogeochemical controls on remediation at soil–water and groundwater–surface water interfaces;• Monitoring, in situ sensing, chemical imaging, and modeling of remediation performance and contaminant fluxes;• Transformation products, secondary pollution, remobilization, and long-term treatment outcomes;• Pilot- and field-scale validation, sustainability assessment, and risk-based evaluation of remediation strategies.Original Research, Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Perspectives, and Methods articles are welcome. Topic editors: JONATHAN MARCELO SUAZO HERNANDEZ, Dong-Xing Guan, Pamela Margarita Sepúlveda Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86494/soil-and-groundwater-remediation-linking-contaminant-dynamics-to-water-quality-recovery