ABSTRACTHydrogeologists are being asked increasingly to analyze ground‐water contamination problems in a quantitative, rather than a descriptive way. Similarly, in providing input for the site selection and design of proposed waste‐disposal facilities, quantitative analyses help to optimize the interplay of environmental, practical, and economic factors that the hydrogeologist must contend with.This paper introduces a simple, analytical procedure for achieving this. Critical input data include the geohydrologic properties of the aquifer, the permeability and chemical characteristics of the waste materials, and the seepage velocity governing the rate of migration of the leachate plume within the aquifer. The geohydrologic setting assumed and inferred by way of example, typifies that of most disposal scenarios, an anisotropic unconsolidated aquifer.The analytical methodology outlined employs an extension of flow‐net theory to determine seepage velocity and a derivation of the chemical mass transport equation to predict the attenuation of leachate constituents in the ground‐water regime. The mathematical expressions derived take into account both transient and steady‐state development of the plume, but are based on sufficiently simplifying assumptions to facilitate convenient manipulation on a scientific calculator. The solutions obtained, although approximate, compare favorably with more costly computer‐generated results. A comparison of results is presented. User application relates to the solution of first‐order problems and in cases where a more sophisticated analysis is required, provides input for selecting the appropri