Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) operations have been designed to purposely inject or infiltrate rainwater, stormwater, reclaimed water, or water from other aquifers into a selected aquifer for storage, in situ treatment, and later recovery. However, the presence of microbial pathogens in source water and recovered drinking water poses a serious risk to human health. This presentation summarizes ongoing field, laboratory, and numerical modeling experiments that were designed to better assess, understand, and overcome microbial risks from MAR. In particular, factors and mechanisms that alter the risk of pathogen transport during MAR were systematically examined, including: field-scale variations in water velocity and water saturation, solution and solid phase chemistry, residence time, and temperature. Optimization of these MAR conditions can be used to improve the microbial quality of recovered water and minimize the risks to human health.

Fate of pathogens during managed aquifer recharge

2019 Fall National Meeting

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