DOC and UVA attenuation with soil aquifer treatment in the saturated zone of an artificial coastal sandfill

Abstract

Results from a direct recharge experiment conducted in the field to investigate DOC and UVA254 attenuation rates during the direct injection of UF treated wastewater into a artificial coastal sandfill are presented in this paper. Approximately 500 m3 of ultra-filtered wastewater was injected into the saturated zone, over a period of 9 days. The movement of the plume was tracked over 80 days, during which time samples were obtained from multilevel samplers installed in transects across the drift axis of the plume. An analysis of fluorescein in the samples obtained during the drift of the UF plume showed that DOC and UVA were attenuated beyond rates predicted by conservative mixing, by up to a maximum of 45%. A degradation coefficient of 0.0175 day−1 was found to be applicable for DOC degradation. After a drift period of 80 days, DOC and UVA reduced to approximately 4.5 mg/l and 0.100 cm−1, respectively, from initial values of 8.06 mg/l and 0.199 cm−1.