Abstract
In order to select efficient media and find the optimum operation conditions for contaminant removal in soil aquifer treatment (SAT), column experiments with three different media were carried out under two different dry-wet ratio conditions. Phreeqc and Hydrus-1D were used to simulate the hydrogeochemical interactions. The results based on dissolution kinetics and cation exchange showed that the water-rock interaction in the columns led to the increase of Ca2+ and decrease of K+ in reclaimed water. The transfers of Ca2+ by cation exchange and calcite dissolution were 0.16–0.24 mmol/L and 0.13–0.22 mmol/L, respectively. The adsorption distribution coefficients (Kd) of NH4-N in columns ranged from 0.02 to 4 cm3/g. Higher Kd values were obtained in the columns of finer particle size or with the addition of biochar. The nitrification rates of NH4-N ranged from 0.08 to 0.4 day−1, but the denitrification rates of NO3-N were low (0–0.005 day−1). This indicated that NO3-N removal in the columns was insignificant. The increase of the drying period from 1 to 3 days promoted the microbial-mediated nitrification that transforms NH4-N to NO3-N. Our results indicated that the sand with a 15-cm biochar layer on the top reduced saturated hydraulic conductivity and was suitable for NH4-N removal. A low dry-wet ratio (i.e., 2:2 days) could be selected to prevent the transformation of NH4-N to NO3-N. The findings are helpful to assess hydrochemical characteristic change in SAT and provide a basis for the selection of a reasonable dry-wet ratio.
Highlights
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Hydrogeochemical processes were studied by 2-m column experiments and modeling.
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Dissolution kinetics of minerals was considered in reclaimed water chemical change.
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Cation exchange and dissolution/precipitation were quantified by inverse modeling.
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Water flux simulation showed that biochar reduced saturated hydraulic conductivity.
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Biochar addition significantly enhanced NH4+ removal in soil aquifer treatment.
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Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This research was performed in China University of Geosciences (Beijing). The authors would like to appreciate all the support received from the institution.
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This work was financially supported by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2018ZX07109-004-1).
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Heng Gao: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing, and visualization. Hang Tan: conceptualization, methodology, and investigation. Lecheng Zhu: methodology and investigation. Yu Ren: methodology and investigation. Erping Bi: supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.
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Gao, H., Tan, H., Zhu, L. et al. Effects of Operating and Media Conditions on the Change of Reclaimed Water Quality in Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) System: Experimental and Simulation Study. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 93 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06122-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06122-0