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Use of pilot-scale geomedia-amended biofiltration system for removal of polar trace organic and inorganic contaminants from stormwater runoff
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Use of pilot-scale geomedia-amended biofiltration system for removal of polar trace organic and inorganic contaminants from stormwater runoff

Marc Teixidó, Joseph A. Charbonnet, Gregory H. LeFevre, Richard G. Luthy and David L. Sedlak
Water research (Oxford), Vol.226, pp.119246-119246
11/01/2022
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119246
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.119246View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

•A pilot-scale engineered stormwater treatment-train system was aged for 8 months.•Metals and trace organic contaminants were removed effectively for 4 months.•Dissolved organic carbon leached by the woodchip bioreactor decreased trace organic removal.•Breakthrough of the polar organic contaminants is expected in about 12 years. Stormwater runoff capture and groundwater recharge can provide a sustainable means of augmenting the local water resources in water-stressed cities while simultaneously mitigating flood risk, provided that these processes do not compromise groundwater quality. We developed and tested for one year an innovative pilot-scale stormwater treatment train that employs cost-effective engineered geomedia in a continuous-flow unit-process system to remove contaminants from urban runoff during aquifer recharge. The system consisted of an iron-enhanced sand filter for phosphate removal, a woodchip bioreactor for nitrate removal coupled to an aeration step, and columns packed with different configurations of biochar- and manganese oxide-containing sand to remove trace metals and persistent, mobile, and toxic trace organic contaminants. During conditioning with authentic stormwater runoff over an extended period (8 months), the woodchip bioreactor removed 98% of the influent nitrate (9 g-N m−3 d−1), while phosphate broke through the iron-enhanced sand filter. During the challenge test (4 months), geomedia removed more than 80% of the mass of metals and trace organic compounds. Column hydraulic performance was stable during the entire study, and the weathered biochar and manganese oxide were effective at removing trace organic contaminants and metals, respectively. Under conditions likely encountered in the field, sustained nutrient removal is probable, but polar organic compounds such as 2,4-D could breakthrough after about a decade for conditions at the study site. [Display omitted]
Biochar Biofilter Manganese oxide Stormwater treatment Trace metals Trace organic contaminants Urban runoff

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