Organic compounds commonly found in treated municipal wastewaters were measured as a function of distance/time of travel during recharge in Tucson, AZ. Concurrent measurements were also made of inorganic ions. Results were used to determine the degree to which natural processes such as adsorption and biochemical transformation can be correlated with inorganic ions to estimate the attenuation of trace contaminants that are recharged in conventionally treated wastewater effluent. Predicted and measured values were then compared to indicate the compound-dependent degree of natural attenuation with groundwater recharge. The most likely mechanism of attenuation for compounds with half-lives of hours to days (fluoxetine, triclosan, ibuprofen) was biodegradation, as indicated by correlations between fractional removal over a fixed interval of time/distance as determined by changes in inorganic ion contents. Compounds expected to be biorefractory (TCEP, carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole) were reduced in concentration by mechanisms other than adsorption during recharge. In those cases, however, removal was uncorrelated with compound fate parameters, and responsible mechanisms could not be reliably assigned.

Correlations of common inorganic compounds present in water with attenuation effects of selected trace organics following groundwater recharge

247th National Meeting (2014)

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