Character of Organic Matter in Soil-Aquifer Treatment Systems
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 11
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the character and fate of bulk organics in reclaimed water used for groundwater recharge via soil-aquifer treatment (SAT). The study design followed a watershed guided approach considering hydraulically corresponding samples of drinking water sources, SAT-applied wastewater effluents, and subsequent post-SAT samples representing a series of different travel times in the subsurface. Water samples were fractionated into hydrophobic acids, transphilic acids, and hydrophilic carbon using a XAD resin-based protocol. Extensive characterization of organic carbon in the different samples was performed using state-of-the-art analytical techniques including excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography, carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy , Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and elemental analysis. During SAT, transphilic and hydrophilic organic matter were preferentially removed. The results generally demonstrated that naturally derived (NOM) and effluent-derived organic matter after SAT overlap extensively in molecular weight distribution, amount and distribution of hydrophobic and hydrophilic carbon fractions, and chemical characteristics based on elemental analysis and and FTIR spectroscopy. However, the residual portion of the dissolved organic carbon contained both effluent-derived organic matter and NOM.
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Acknowledgments
The writers acknowledge Dr. Peter Fox for his discussions and suggestions contributing to this paper. The writers acknowledge the following graduate students for their contributions to this study: Martin Sprinzl, Tanja Rauch, Annette Köhler, Anke Söllner, Wen Chen, and David Foss. The writers thank the participating utilities for their outstanding technical support. Principal funding for this project was provided by the City of Mesa, the City of Phoenix, the City of Scottsdale, the City of Tempe, the City of Glendale, Tucson Water, County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, the AWWA Research Foundation (AwwaRF), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The funding agencies assume no responsibility for the content of the research reported in this publication or for the opinions or statements of fact expressed.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 11 • November 2006
Pages: 1447 - 1458
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 31, 2005
Accepted: Dec 25, 2005
Published online: Nov 1, 2006
Published in print: Nov 2006
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