Evaluating Kinetic and Probabilistic Approaches for Describing Pathogen Variation during Riverbank Filtration

Evaluating kinetic and probabilistic approaches for describing pathogen variation in riverbank filtration (RBF) was conducted at a site at Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India. The total coliform (TC) was observed in the range of 1,600–110 counts per 100 mL of water sample in the Burhi Gandak River, and from four to two counts per 100 mL of water sample from a pumping well for longer than one year during 2010–11. As the polluted river water moves from river to the production well, the water quality is improved because of RBF. It was observed that the river water quality did not meet WHO and Bureau of Indian Standards of drinking water quality, especially in case of TC. Considering this, simplified models, such as deterministic and probabilistic approaches, have been applied and their utilities were tested at the Muzaffarpur RBF site. Using the resultant water quality from the river and the water quality from RBF, kinetic models as well as a semi-empirical probabilistic model were used to investigate the variation in the bacteriological quality of the river water. The kinetic coefficient and probability of clogging both varied with the natural logarithm of concentrations of TC in the river water. It was observed that the kinetic approach and the probabilistic approach both had potential for simulating the variation of pathogen in source water and riverbank filtrate at the RBF Muzaffarpur site.