Abstract
Wastewater sanitation using infiltration seepage belongs to the attached growth treatment line for pollutant waste. In a specific geographical context, and for a population of approximately 500 to 1000 population equivalent, it seems to be a good choice. Despite its rustic reputation, it is a considerably complex treatment line. The aim of this study is to contribute—using numerical simulation—to the understanding of the physical and biochemical phenomena which develop inside an infiltration seepage bed. The aspects which are essential to bacterial activity—the hydrodynamics of the porous medium, the development of the active biomass, transport of substrate, oxygen transfer and consumption—are dealt with. The splitting operator technique is used; its advantage is the separate solution of the convection, dispersion and kinetics equations; each with appropriate numerical techniques. By testing a methodical verification of the model, based on the analytical solutions, we learn that the hydrodynamic dispersion and the rate of degradation have opposite effects on the efficiency in decreasing the pollution loads. Moreover, a significant result which is obtained is the evaluation of the oxygenation capacities in relation to some of the treatment line's key parameters. Finally, we carried out by experiments a successful calibration of the flow model.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson, B. and Davies I. J.: 1974, ‘The averall rate of substrate uptake (reaction) by microbial films, I, A biological rate equation’, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng. 52, 248–259.
Bancolé, A., Brissaud, F. and Gnagne, T.: 2003, ‘Oxidation processes and clogging in intermittent unsaturated infiltration’, Water Science and Technology 48(11–12), 139–146 © IWA Publishing 2003.
Broadbridge, P. and White, I.: 1988, ‘Constant rate rainfall infiltration a versatile nonlinear model 1’, Analytic Solution. Water Resources Research 24(1), 145–154.
Capdeville, B.R., Belkhadir, and Roques, H.: 1988, ‘Etude descriptive fondamentale et Modélisation de la croissance d'un film Biologique-II nouveau concept de modelisation de la croissance d'un film biologique’, Wat. Res. 22(1), 71–77.
Carrayrou, J.: 2001, ‘Modélisation du transport de solutés réactifs en Milieu poreux Saturés’, Thèse de doctorat en Mécanique. Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg, Strasbourg I, 248 p [in French].
Carsel, R. F. and Parrish, R. S.: 1988, ‘Developing joint probability distributions of soil water retention characteristics’, Water Resour. Res. 24, 755–769.
Chen-Benito, C.: 1999, ‘Numerical simulation of biofilm growth in porous media’, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 103, 55–66.
Cooper, P.: 2005, ‘The performance of vertical flow constructed wetland systems with special reference to the significance of oxygen transfer and hydraulic loading rates’, Water Science Technicole 51(9), 81–90.
Currie, J. A.: 1960, ‘Gaseous diffusion in the aeration of aggregated soils’, Soil Science 92, 40–45.
Daus, A. D. and Frind, E. O.: 1985, ‘An alternating Galerkin technique for simulation of contaminant transport in complex groundwater system’, Water Resources Research 21(5), 653–664.
Deb, A. K.: 1969, ‘Theory of sand filtration’, J. Sanit. Eng. Div. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng. 95(SA3), 399–422.
Fabritz, J., 1995, ‘A two dimensional numerical model for simulating the movement and biodegradation of contaminants in saturated aquifer’, Thesis, the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Fetter, C. W.: 1993, Contaminant hydrogeology macmillan publishing company, New York, USA.
Headley, T. R., Davison, L. and Yeomans, A.: 2004, ‘Removal of ammonium-N from landfill leachate by vertical flow wetland: A pilot study. 9th international Confernce on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control. Avignon (France) 26–30th Sept 2004.
Frind, E. O.: 1982, ‘The principal direction technique: A new approach to groundwater contaminant transport modeling’, Finite Element in Water Ressources. K.O. Holz et al. (eds), Springer Verlag, Berlin: 13–23, 13–41.
Frind, E. O. and Germain, D.: 1986, ‘Simulation of contaminant plumes with large dispersive contrast: Evaluation of alternating direction Galerkin models’, Water Resources Research 22(13), 1857–1873.
Hermanowicz Slawomir, W.: 1997, Biofilm structure: An interplay of models and experiments. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720–1710.
Insel, G. Ö., Karahan Gül, D., Orhon, P. A., Vanrolleghem, M. and Henze.: 2002, ‘Important limitations in the modeling of activated sludge—Biased calibration of the hydrolysis process’, Water Sci. Tech. 45(12), 23–36.
Kayser, K. and Kunst, S.: 2005. ‘Processes in vertical-flow reeds beds—nitrification, oxygen transfer and soil clogging’, Water Sci. Tech. 51(9), 177–184.
Kinzelbach, Wolfgang, Schäfer and Wolfgang: 1991, ‘Numerical modeling of natural and enhanced denitrification processes in aquifers’, Water Resources Research 27(6), 1123–1135.
Kruh, G. and Segall, E.: 1981, ‘Nitrogen dynamics in soil’, In Frissel M. J., Van Veen J. A. (eds.): Simulation of Nitrogen behaviour of soil-plant systems, pp. 126–144. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation. Pudoc, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Langergraber, G.: 2003, ‘Simulation of subsurface flow constructed wetlands—Results and further research needs’, Water Sci. Tech. 48(5), 157–166.
Lehmann, F.: 1996, Hydrodynamique en milieux poreux hétérogènes non saturés: Identification des paramètres par approche inverse. Thèse de doctorat en Mécanique. Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg, Strasbourg I, 191 p. [in French].
MacQuarrie, K. T., Sudicky, E. A. and Frind, E. O.: 1990, ‘Simulation of Biodegradable Organic Compounds in Groundwater, 1, Numerical Formulation’ in Principal Directions’, Water Resources Research 26(2), 207–222.
Molz, F. J., Widdowson, M. A. and Benefield, L. D.: 1986. ‘Simulation of Microbial Growth Dynamics Coupled to Nutrient and Oxygen Transport’ in Porous Media’, Water Resources Research 22(8), 1207–1216.
Morgenroth, E. and Wilderer, P. A.: 2000, ‘Influence of Detachement Mechanisms on Competition in Biofilms’, Wat. Res. 34(2), 417–426.
Mualem, Y.: 1976a, ‘A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media’, Water Resour. Res. 12, 513–522.
Odencrantz, 1991, ‘Modeling The Biodegradation Kinetics of Dissolved Organic Contaminants’ in a Heterogeneous Two-dimensional Aquifer, PhD. Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA.
Poulsen Tjalfe., G.: 1991, ‘Behavior of Organic Pollutants’ in Unsaturated Soil, Ms. Thesis, Environnmental Engineering Laboratory, University of Aalborg, Denmark.
Raugh, W., Vanhooren, H. and Vanrolleghem, P.: 1999, ‘A simplified mixed-culture biofilm model’, Wat. Res. 33(9), 2148–2162.
Richards, L. A.: 1931, ‘Capillary conduction of liquids through porous mediums’, Physics 1, 318–333.
Rifai, H. S. and Bedient, P. B.: 1990, ‘Comparison of biodegradation kinetics with an instantaneous Reaction Model for Groundwater’, Water Resources, Research 26(4), 637–646.
Rittmann, B. E., 1982, ‘The effect of shear stress on biofilm loss rate’, Biotechnol.Bioeng. 24, 501–506.
Schwarz Benjamin, C. E., Joseph, S., Devinny Joseph, S. and Tsotsis Theodore, T.: 2001, ‘A Biofilter Network Model – Importance of the pore structure and other large-scale heterogeneities’, Chemical Engeering Science 56, 475–483.
Schwager, A. and Boller, M.: 1997, ‘Transport phenomena in intermittent filters’, Water Sci. Tech. 35(6), 13–20.
Taylor Stewart, W. and Jaffe Peter, R.: 1990, ‘Substrate and Biomass Transport in Porous Medium’, Water Resources Research 26(9), 2181–2194.
Tiwari, S. K. and Bowers, K. L.: 2001, Modeling Biofilm Growth for Porous Media Applications Mathematical and Computer Modelling 33, 299–319.
van Genuchten, M. Th.: 1980, ‘A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils’, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 892–898.
van Genuchten, M. Th., Leij, F. J. and Yates, S. R.: 1991, The RETC Code for Quantifying the Hydraulic Functions of Unsaturated Soils, U.S. Salinity Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Riverside, California 92501.
Vasel Jean, Luc.: 2003, ‘Aération Naturelle dans les Procédés d'épuration à Biomasse fixée et les écosystèmes aquatiques’ Dans: Transferts Gaz-liquide dans les procédés de traitement des eaux et des effluents gazeux © Lavoisier, 2003 ISBN: 2-7430-0605-6, pages 445–482. [in French].
Viotti, P., Eramo, B., Boni, M. R., Carucci, A., Leccese, M. and Sbaffoni.: 2002, ‘Development and calibration of a mathematical model for the simulation of the biofiltration process’, Advances in Environmental Research 7, 11–33.
Warrick, A. W., Lomen, D. O. and Islas, A., 1990, ‘An analytical solution to Richards equation for a draining soil profile’, Water Resources Research 26(2), 253–258.
Wanko, A., Mose, R. and Lienard, A.: 2004, ‘Distribution des temps de séjour en infiltration percolation: Performance de deux types de sable’, Techniques Sciences Méthodes 4, 63–71.
Wanko, A., Mose, R. and Beck, C.: 2005, ‘Biological Processing Capacities and Biomass Growth’ In Waste Water Treatment By Infiltration On Two Kind Of Sand’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollution (Accepted 17 April 2005).
Wheeler, M. F. and Dawson, C. N.: 1987, An Operator-Splitting Method for Advection- Diffusion-Reaction Problems. Departement of Mathematical Sciences, Technical Report 87-9, Rice University. Houston, Texas, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wanko, A., Mose, R., Carrayrou, J. et al. Simulation of Biodegradation in Infiltration Seepage— Model Development and Hydrodynamic Calibration. Water Air Soil Pollut 177, 19–43 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-005-9046-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-005-9046-1