综述了有机化合物对美国地下水污染的发生、行为和处理。作者描述了地下环境中有机溶质的行为，考虑了吸附、分散、平流和降解的影响。给出了饱和多孔介质中一维单相流的简单情况下的计算实例。还考虑了有机污染物特性对水处理的一些影响。讨论的化合物包括:脂肪醇；烷烃和烯烃；芳烃；卤化脂肪族化合物；卤代芳烃；酚类和取代酚类； 羧酸；和含氮化合物。包括32个参考文献、表格和图表。

Contamination of groundwaters in the United States by organic compounds is reviewed in terms of its occurrence, behavior, and treatment. The authors describe the behavior of organic solutes in the subsurface environment, considering the effects of sorption, dispersion, advection, and degradation. Examples of calculations are presented for simple cases of one-dimensional, one-phase flow in a saturated porous medium. Also considered are some implications of the organic contaminants' characteristics for water treatment. Chemical compounds discussed include the following: aliphatic alcohols; alkanes and alkenes; aromatic hydrocarbons; halogenated aliphatics; halogenated aromatics; phenols and substituted phenols; carboxylic acids; and nitrogenous compounds. Includes 32 references, table, figures.