Many advances in the numerical modelling of three-dimensional groundwater flow and solute transport have been implemented in porous media structures that do not adequately represent deposits observed in the field. The main goal of this PhD project is to determine which characteristics of solute transport in heterogeneous media are lost by neglecting geological realism. This project focuses on hierarchical sedimentary deposits, units of which can be defined across multiple scales, with larger-scale units composed of assemblages of smaller-scale units. Methods and expertise from the fields of sedimentary geology and quantitative hydrogeology will be combined to achieve the research objectives.