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Sustainable drinking water quality improvement by managed aquifer recharge in Tuusula region, Finland

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Abstract

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is used for drinking water quality improvement in Finland. Finnish lakes are typically humic-containing natural organic matter (NOM). A typical MAR plant includes infiltration of lake or river water into an unconfined esker aquifer and withdrawal of water from wells, a few hundred meters downstream. The infiltrated water should have a residence time of at least around 1 month before withdrawal to provide time for processes needed to break down or remove NOM. Since 1979, Tuusula Region Water Utility (TRWU) has produced drinking water from lake water using managed aquifer recharge. TRWU operates two MAR plants which do not use precipitation and disinfection chemicals. Raw water is infiltrated without any pretreatment. TRWU has experience from basin, sprinkling, and well infiltration. NOM is reduced from 7.7 to 2.1–2.6 mgTOC/l before abstraction of the water from wells. Abstracted water is post-treated by limestone filtration and disinfected by ultra-violet radiation before pumping for distribution. A specific feature of the MAR process is the delayed influence of the raw water temperature on the abstracted water temperature. Design and operational experiences of the MAR plants are presented and discussed. Special emphasis is given for NOM reduction, temperature effects, comparison of infiltration techniques, and costs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tuusula Region Water Utility, Kirkkotie 49, 04310, Tuusula, Finland

    Unto Tanttu

  2. Tavase Ltd., Hatanpään valtatie 26, 33100, Tampere, Finland

    Petri Jokela

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  1. Unto Tanttu
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  2. Petri Jokela
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Correspondence to Unto Tanttu.

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This article is part of the special issue on Managed Aquifer Recharge.

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Tanttu, U., Jokela, P. Sustainable drinking water quality improvement by managed aquifer recharge in Tuusula region, Finland. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 4, 225–235 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-017-0198-0

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