A model-based analysis of the reactive transport behaviour of 37 trace organic compounds during field-scale bank filtration

Sanz-Prat, Alicia; Greskowiak, Janek; Burke, Victoria; Villarreyes, C. A. Rivera; Krause, Julia; Monninkhoff, Bertram; Sperlich, Alexander; Schimmelpfennig, Sebastian; Duennbier, Uwe; Massmann, Gudrun

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2020.115523

Cited by 25 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…In particular, the significance of a conductive streambed for water quality and aquatic habitats in urban stream management plans is more and more acknowledged 10 , 11 . Micropollutant removal in sediment–water interfaces has been investigated in a number of recent studies, in particular with regards to bank-filtration scenarios 12 – 14 and along vertical flowpaths in losing streams 15 , 16 . Transformation processes of many micropollutants in sediments have been found to be promoted in such transition regions due to their specific redox-sensitivity and their dependency on the diversity of the microbial activities and communities involved 15 , 17 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformation of organic micropollutants along hyporheic flow in bedforms of river-simulating flumes

Jaeger

Posselt

Schaper

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Urban streams receive increasing loads of organic micropollutants from treated wastewaters. A comprehensive understanding of the in-stream fate of micropollutants is thus of high interest for water quality management. Bedforms induce pumping effects considerably contributing to whole stream hyporheic exchange and are hotspots of biogeochemical turnover processes. However, little is known about the transformation of micropollutants in such structures. In the present study, we set up recirculating flumes to examine the transformation of a set of micropollutants along single flowpaths in two triangular bedforms. We sampled porewater from four locations in the bedforms over 78 days and analysed the resulting concentration curves using the results of a hydrodynamic model in combination with a reactive transport model accounting for advection, dispersion, first-order removal and retardation. The four porewater sampling locations were positioned on individual flowpaths with median solute travel times ranging from 11.5 to 43.3 h as shown in a hydrodynamic model previously. Highest stability was estimated for hydrochlorothiazide on all flowpaths. Lowest detectable half-lives were estimated for sotalol (0.7 h) and sitagliptin (0.2 h) along the shortest flowpath. Also, venlafaxine, acesulfame, bezafibrate, irbesartan, valsartan, ibuprofen and naproxen displayed lower half-lives at shorter flowpaths in the first bedform. However, the behavior of many compounds in the second bedform deviated from expectations, where particularly transformation products, e.g. valsartan acid, showed high concentrations. Flowpath-specific behavior as observed for metformin or flume-specific behavior as observed for metoprolol acid, for instance, was attributed to potential small-scale or flume-scale heterogeneity of microbial community compositions, respectively. The results of the study indicate that the shallow hyporheic flow field and the small-scale heterogeneity of the microbial community are major controlling factors for the transformation of relevant micropollutants in river sediments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformation of organic micropollutants along hyporheic flow in bedforms of river-simulating flumes

Jaeger

Posselt

Schaper

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…The dilution rates of STWWs vary, depending on operational conditions (infiltration pond feeding), on proximity to the coast (mixing with saltwater) in the area near Blainville harbour, and on the inflow of Goulot river water. Strong SAT dynamics can modify-at hydrosystem and annual scales-the reactivity of TrOCs, obtained from a local-scale study, based on first-order degradation coefficients (µ) and delay coefficients (R) [14,60,62].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the scale of an SAT, the spatialisation and dynamics of TrOC reactivity, in perpetual feedback with those of water flows, must be considered for more precisely predicting the degradation of TrOCs in such systems. The empirical formalisms established in the current literature on their degradation and sorption provide an initial characterisation of such reactivity, but are not necessarily adapted to the aquifer scale [59,60].…”

Section: Effects Of Sat Variations On the Fate Of Trocs At The Hydros...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Annual Dynamics of a Coastal Groundwater System with Soil-Aquifer Treatment and Its Impact on the Fate of Trace Organic Compounds

Guillemoto

Picot-Colbeaux

Valdes

et al. 2023

Water

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The combination of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has clear advantages for the future sustainable quality and quantity management of groundwater, especially when using treated wastewater. We built a Marthe flow and transport model of an MAR–SAT system located in a near-shore sand aquifer, for quantifying the influence of environmental factors (climate, tides, and operational conditions) on the coastal hydrosystem with regard to the fate of trace organic compounds (TrOCs). The simulations show the impact of these factors on flow rates and dilution, and thus, on the potential reactivity of TrOCs. The dilution of secondary treated wastewater (STWW) is variable, depending on the operations (feeding from infiltration ponds) and on shore proximity (dilution by saltwater). We show that, close to the ponds and during infiltration, the attenuation of TrOC concentrations can be explained by reactivity. At the natural outlet of the aquifer, the simulated average residence times ranged from about 70 to 500 days, depending upon seasonal dynamics. It is important to study TrOCs at site scale in order to anticipate the effect of natural variations on the SAT and on the fate of TrOCs.

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“…As ACE is highly hydrophilic, following its release from WWTPs into streams it spreads easily through the aquatic environment and is therefore frequently detected in surface water, groundwater, and even drinking water (Buerge et al, 2009;Gan et al, 2013;Scheurer et al, 2011Scheurer et al, , 2009. ACE has been globally measured in wastewater effluents, with concentrations ranging from below the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 2500 μg•L −1 (e.g., Arbeláez et al, 2015;Belton et al, 2020;Buerge et al, 2009;Gan et al, 2013;Kokotou and Thomaidis, 2013;Lee et al, 2015;Loos et al, 2013;Ordóñez et al, 2012;Sanz-Prat et al, Non-peer reviewed EarthArXiv preprint 4 2020; Scheurer et al, 2009;Van Stempvoort et al, 2020). Average ACE concentrations of 2.9 μg•L −1 (<LOQ to 53.7 μg• L −1 ) in surface water and 0.653 μg• L −1 (<LOQ to 9.7 μg• L −1 ) in groundwater have been reported in Europe, America, and Asia (Belton et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The persistence of ACE after human ingestion and municipal wastewater treatment (Buerge et al, 2009;Gan et al, 2013;Jekel et al, 2015;Oppenheimer et al, 2011;Scheurer et al, 2009;Soh et al, 2011;Subedi and Kannan, 2014;Tran et al, 2015) makes it an excellent tracer of: wastewater input into environmental waters (Ishii et al, 2021;Lange et al, 2012;Scheurer et al, 2011Scheurer et al, , 2009Sérodes et al, 2021;Van Stempvoort et al, 2013, 2011b, septic wastewater plume migration in aquifers (Robertson et al, 2013;Snider et al, 2017;Spoelstra et al, 2020;Van Stempvoort et al, 2011a;Wolf et al, 2012), and riverbank filtration (Datel and Hrabankova, 2020;Engelhardt et al, 2014aEngelhardt et al, , 2014bEngelhardt et al, , 2013Roy and Bickerton, 2010;Sanz-Prat et al, 2020). In fact, ACE meets most of the requirements of an ideal wastewater tracer (Dickenson et al, 2011;Gasser et al, 2010;Oppenheimer et al, 2011) as: i) it is found in most wastewater sources globally, ii) it is present in wastewater at concentrations well above the LOQ (≈0.01 μg•L −1 ) (Buerge et al, 2009), iii) once in the aquifer, it travels in the dissolved phase at the average groundwater velocity, with no losses by chemical or biological attenuation processes (Datel and Hrabankova, 2020;Hwang et al, 2019;Roy and Bickerton, 2010), iv) it is either absent or it is present at concentrations orders of magnitude lower in natural groundwater, given its anthropogenic o...…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal biodegradation of the artificial sweetener acesulfame enhances its use as a transient wastewater tracer

Marazuela¹,

Formentin²,

Erlmeier³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The persistence of the artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium (ACE) in wastewater treatment and subsequently in the aquatic environment has made it a widely used marker of wastewater in both surface water and groundwater. However, the recently observed biodegradation of ACE during wastewater treatment has questioned the validity of this application. In this study, we assessed the use of ACE not only as a marker of wastewater, but also as a transient wastewater tracer that allows both the calculation of mixing ratios and travel times through the aquifer as well as the calibration of transient groundwater flow and mass transport models. Our analysis was based on the data obtained in a nearly 8-year river water and groundwater sampling campaign along a confirmed wastewater-receiving riverbank filtration site located close to a drinking water supply system. We confirm that temperature controls ACE concentrations and thus their seasonal oscillation. River water data showed that ACE loads decreased from 1,500-4,000 μg·s−1 from December to June (cold season; T<10°C) to 0-500 μg·s−1 from July to November (warm season; T>10°C). This seasonal oscillation was transferred to the aquifer and preserved >3 km through the aquifer, with ACE concentrations oscillating between values below the detection limit in the warm season to 0.15 μg·L−1 in the cold season. The seasonal variation in ACE degradation during wastewater treatment enables the sweetener’s use as a transient tracer of wastewater inflows and riverbank filtration. In addition, the arrival time of the ACE concentration peak can be used to estimate groundwater flow velocity and mixing ratios, thereby demonstrating its potential in the calibration of groundwater numerical models.

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A model-based analysis of the reactive transport behaviour of 37 trace organic compounds during field-scale bank filtration

Cited by 25 publications

References 64 publications

Transformation of organic micropollutants along hyporheic flow in bedforms of river-simulating flumes

Transformation of organic micropollutants along hyporheic flow in bedforms of river-simulating flumes

Multi-Annual Dynamics of a Coastal Groundwater System with Soil-Aquifer Treatment and Its Impact on the Fate of Trace Organic Compounds

Seasonal biodegradation of the artificial sweetener acesulfame enhances its use as a transient wastewater tracer

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