Reactive transport modeling requires input from numerous fields, including hydrology, geochemistry and biogeochemistry, microbiology, soil physics, and fluid dynamics. The numerical formulation and solution of reactive transport problems can be especially difficult due to errors arising in the coupling process, beyond those inherent to the individual processes. Valocchi and Malmstead (1992), for example, reported on the potential errors arising from the operator splitting technique.
Even in the absence of numerical difficulties, the general lack of knowledge available to practitioners creates uncertainty. Field sites are typically heterogeneous, both physically and chemically, and sampling is often sparse. The prevailing assumption of Fickian dispersion is often inadequate. Equilibrium constants and kinetic rate laws for relevant reactions are often poorly known. The complexity of many processes requires expertise in one or more of the aforementioned fields. Many processes, such as long-term nuclear waste storage, cannot be experimentally verified; reactive transport problems can only attempt to predict such long-term behavior. The current descriptions of multi-phase flow and mechanical deformation processes are still being developed.