Transport of pharmaceutically active compounds in saturated laboratory columns

Occurrences of pharmaceutically active compounds in surface water and sewage water have been widely reported. Investigations show the presence of several classes of pharmaceuticals such as antirheumatics (e.g., diclofenac), analgesics (e.g., propyphenazone), and blood lipid regulators (clofibric acid), even in ground water. Compared to their occurrences in surface water, however, the reported incidences of drugs in ground water are much rarer. This may be due to the input, but also to transport processes and degradation in the aquifer. In field studies investigating ground water sampled at a bank infiltration site at Lake Tegel, Berlin, Germany, clofibric acid was found at concentrations up to 290 ng/L, and propyphenazone up to 250 ng/L, whereas concentrations of diclofenac were around the detection limit. The aim of this study was to investigate the ground water transport behavior of the pharmaceuticals clofibric acid, propyphenazone, and diclofenac with a laboratory soil column experiment. Results show that clofibric acid exhibits no degradation and almost no retardation (Rf = 1.1). Diclofenac (Rf = 2.0) and propyphenazone (Rf = 1.6) are retarded, whereas significant degradation was not observed for both pharmaceuticals under the prevailing conditions in the soil column. We conclude that the concentration distribution of the pharmaceuticals at the bank filtration site at Lake Tegel is controlled by sorption, desorption, and input variation, rather than by degradation.     

Using an inverse modelling approach with equifinality control to investigate the dominant controls on snowmelt nutrient export

There is great interest in modelling the export of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from agricultural fields because of ongoing challenges of eutrophication. However, the use of existing hydrochemistry models can be problematic in cold regions because models frequently employ incomplete or conceptually incorrect representations of the dominant cold regions hydrological processes and are overparameterized, often with insufficient data for validation. Here, a process‐based N model, WINTRA, which is coupled to a physically based cold regions hydrological model, was expanded to simulate P and account for overwinter soil nutrient biochemical cycling. An inverse modelling approach, using this model with consideration of parameter equifinality, was applied to an intensively monitored agricultural basin in Manitoba, Canada, to help identify the main climate, soil, and anthropogenic controls on nutrient export. Consistent with observations, the model results suggest that snow water equivalent, melt rate, snow cover depletion rate, and contributing area for run‐off generation determine the opportunity time and surface area for run‐off–soil interaction. These physical controls have not been addressed in existing models. Results also show that the time lag between the start of snowmelt and the arrival of peak nutrient concentration in run‐off increased with decreasing antecedent soil moisture content, highlighting potential implications of frozen soils on run‐off processes and hydrochemistry. The simulations showed TDP concentration peaks generally arriving earlier than NO₃ but also decreasing faster afterwards, which suggests a significant contribution of plant residue Total dissolved Phosphorus (TDP) to early snowmelt run‐off. Antecedent fall tillage and fertilizer application increased TDP concentrations in spring snowmelt run‐off but did not consistently affect NO₃ run‐off. In this case, the antecedent soil moisture content seemed to have had a dominant effect on overwinter soil N biogeochemical processes such as mineralization, which are often ignored in models. This work demonstrates both the need for better representation of cold regions processes in hydrochemical models and the model improvements that are possible if these are included.     

Modelling evaporation processes in soils from the Huasco salt flat basin,Chile

The need to understand and simulate hydrological phenomena and their interactions, and the impact of anthropogenic and climate changes on natural environments have promoted the study of evaporation from bare soils in arid climates. In closed Altiplano basins, such as those encountered in arid and hyper arid basins in northern Chile, evaporation from shallow groundwater is the main source of aquifer depletion, and thus, its study is crucial for water resources management. The objective of this work is to understand the mechanisms of evaporation in saline soils with shallow water tables, in order to better quantify evaporation fluxes and improve our understanding of the water balance in these regions. To achieve this objective, a model that couples fluid flow with heat transfer was developed and calibrated using column experiments with saline soils from the Huasco salt flat basin, Chile. The model enables determination of both liquid and water vapour fluxes, as well as the location of the evaporation front. Experimental results showed that salt transport inside the soil profile modified the water retention curve, highlighting the importance of including salt transport when modelling the evaporation processes in these soils. Indeed, model simulations only agreed with the experimental data when the effect of salt transport on water retention curves was taken into account. Model results also showed that the evaporation front is closer to the soil surface as the water table depth reduces. Therefore, the model allows determining the groundwater level depth that results in disconnection of liquid fluxes in the vadose zone. A sensitivity analysis allowed understanding the effect of water‐flux enhancements mechanisms on soil evaporation. The results presented in this study are important as they allow quantifying the evaporation that occurs in bare soils from Altiplano basins, which is typically the main water discharge in these closed basins. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transient Leakance and Infiltration Characteristics during Lake Bank Filtration

Infiltration capacity of bank filtration systems depends on water extraction and hydraulic resistance of the bed sediments. Lakebed hydraulics may be especially affected by clogging, which is dependent on settlement of fine particles, redox potential, and other factors. In the field, most of these processes are difficult to quantify, and thus, when calculating response to pumping the water flux across the sediment surface is assumed to be linearly dependent on the hydraulic gradient. However, this assumption was not adequate to describe conditions at a bank filtration site located at Lake Tegel, Berlin, Germany. Hence, we first assumed the leakage coefficient (or leakance) is spatially distributed and also temporally variant. Furthermore, observations show that the leakance is considerably higher in shallow than in deeper areas; hence, leakance was assumed to be dependent on the existence and thickness of an unsaturated zone below the lake. The proposed explanation of spatial and temporal variability in leakance involves a hypothesis for redox dependent and reversible biogeochemical clogging, supported by geochemical observations in surface water and ground water. Four leakance approaches are implemented in the ground water flow code MODFLOW2000 and calibrated by inverse modeling using the parameter estimation software PEST. These concepts are evaluated by examining the fit to the hydraulic heads, to infiltration measurements, transport modeling results, and considering the degrees of freedom due to the number of calibration parameters. The leakage concept based on the assumption of the influence of an unsaturated zone on clogging processes best explains the field data.     

A modelling framework to simulate field‐scale nitrate response and transport during snowmelt: The WINTRA model

Modelling nutrient transport during snowmelt in cold regions remains a major scientific challenge. A key limitation of existing nutrient models for application in cold regions is the inadequate representation of snowmelt, including hydrological and biogeochemical processes. This brief period can account for more than 80% of the total annual surface runoff in the Canadian Prairies and Northern Canada and processes such as atmospheric deposition, overwinter redistribution of snow, ion exclusion from snow crystals, frozen soils, and snow‐covered area depletion during melt influence the distribution and release of snow and soil nutrients, thus affecting the timing and magnitude of snowmelt runoff nutrient concentrations. Research in cold regions suggests that nitrate (NO₃) runoff at the field‐scale can be divided into 5 phases during snowmelt. In the first phase, water and ions originating from ion‐rich snow layers travel and diffuse through the snowpack. This process causes ion concentrations in runoff to gradually increase. The second phase occurs when this snow ion meltwater front has reached the bottom of the snowpack and forms runoff to the edge‐of‐the‐field. During the third and fourth phases, the main source of NO₃ transitions from the snowpack to the soil. Finally, the fifth and last phase occurs when the snow has completely melted, and the thawing soil becomes the main source of NO₃ to the stream. In this research, a process‐based model was developed to simulate hourly export based on this 5‐phase approach. Results from an application in the Red River Basin of southern Manitoba, Canada, shows that the model can adequately capture the dynamics and rapid changes of NO₃ concentrations during this period at relevant temporal resolutions. This is a significant achievement to advance the current nutrient modelling paradigm in cold climates, which is generally limited to satisfactory results at monthly or annual resolutions. The approach can inform catchment‐scale nutrient models to improve simulation of this critical snowmelt period.     

Quantitative analysis of riverbank groundwater flow for the Qinhuai River,China, and its influence factors

Interactions of surface water and groundwater (SW–GW) play an important role in the physical, chemical, and ecological processes of riparian zones. The main objective of this study was to describe the two‐dimensional characteristics of riverbank SW–GW interactions and to quantify their influence factors. The SW–GW exchange fluxes for six sections (S1 to S6) of the Qinhuai River, China, were estimated using a heat tracing method, and field hydrogeological and thermodynamic parameters were obtained via inverse modelling. Global sensitivity analysis was performed to compare the effects of layered heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity and river stage variation on SW–GW exchange. Under the condition of varied river stage, only the lateral exchange fluxes at S1 apparently decreased during the monitoring period, probably resulting from its relatively higher hydraulic conductivity. Meanwhile, the SW–GW exchanges for the other five sections were quite stable over time. The lateral exchange fluxes were higher than the vertical ones. The riverbank groundwater flow showed different spatial variation characteristics for the six sections, but most of the higher exchange fluxes occurred in the lower area of a section. The section with larger hydraulic conductivity has an apparent dynamic response to surface water and groundwater level differences, whereas lower permeabilities severely reduced the response of groundwater flow. The influence of boundary conditions on SW–GW interactions was restricted to a limited extent, and the impact extent will expand with the increase of peak water level and hydraulic conductivity. The SW–GW head difference was the main influence factors in SW–GW interactions, and the influence of both SW–GW head difference and hydraulic conductivity decreased with an increase of the distance from the surface water boundary. For each layer of riverbank sediment, its hydraulic conductivity had greater influence on its groundwater flow than the other layers, whereas it had negligible effects on its overlying/underlying layers. Consequently, the variations in river stage and hydraulic conductivity were the main factors influencing the spatial and temporal characteristics of riverbank groundwater flow, respectively.     

Capabilities and limitations of detailed hillslope hydrological modelling

Hillslope hydrological modelling is considered to be of great importance for the understanding and quantification of hydrological processes in hilly or mountainous landscapes. In recent years a few comprehensive hydrological models have been developed at the hillslope scale which have resulted in an advanced representation of hillslope hydrological processes (including their interactions), and in some operational applications, such as in runoff and erosion studies at the field scale or lateral flow simulation in environmental and geotechnical engineering. An overview of the objectives of hillslope hydrological modelling is given, followed by a brief introduction of an exemplary comprehensive hillslope model, which stimulates a series of hydrological processes such as interception, evapotranspiration, infiltration into the soil matrix and into macropores, lateral and vertical subsurface soil water flow both in the matrix and preferential flow paths, surface runoff and channel discharge. Several examples of this model are presented and discussed in order to determine the model's capabilities and limitations. Finally, conclusions about the limitations of detailed hillslope modelling are drawn and an outlook on the future prospects of hydrological models on the hillslope scale is given.The model presented performed reasonable calculations of Hortonian surface runoff and subsequent erosion processes, given detailed information of initial soil water content and soil hydraulic conditions. The vertical and lateral soil moisture dynamics were also represented quite well. However, the given examples of model applications show that quite detailed climatic and soil data are required to obtain satisfactory results. The limitations of detailed hillslope hydrological modelling arise from different points: difficulties in the representations of certain processes (e.g. surface crusting, unsaturated–saturated soil moisture flow, macropore flow), problems of small‐scale variability, a general scarcity of detailed soil data, incomplete process parametrization and problems with the interdependent linkage of several hillslopes and channel–hillslope interactions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study and mathematical modelling of soluble chemical transfer from unsaturated/saturated soil to surface runoff

A one‐dimensional, two‐layer solute transport model is developed to simulate chemical transport process in an initially unsaturated soil with ponding water on the soil surface before surface runoff starts. The developed mathematical model is tested against a laboratory experiment. The infiltration and diffusion processes are mathematically lumped together and described by incomplete mixing parameters. Based on mass conservation and water balance equations, the model is developed to describe solute transport in a two‐zone layer, a ponding runoff zone and a soil mixing zone. The two‐zone layer is treated as one system to avoid describing the complicated chemical transport processes near the soil surface in the mixing zone. The proposed model was analytically solved, and the solutions agreed well with the experimental data. The developed experimental method and mathematical model were used to study the effect of the soil initial moisture saturation on chemical concentration in surface runoff. The study results indicated that, when the soil was initially saturated, chemical concentration in surface runoff was significantly (two orders of magnitude) higher than that with initially unsaturated soil, while the initial chemical concentrations at the two cases were of the same magnitude. The soil mixing depth for the initially unsaturated soil was much larger than that for the initially saturated soil, and the incomplete runoff mixing parameter was larger for the initially unsaturated soil. The higher the infiltration rate of the soil, the greater the infiltration‐related incomplete mixing parameter. According to the quantitative analysis, the soil mixing depth was found to be sensitive for both initially unsaturated and saturated soils, and the incomplete runoff mixing parameter was sensitive for initially saturated soil but not for the initially unsaturated soil; the incomplete infiltration mixing parameter behaved just the opposite. Some suggestions are made for reducing chemical loss from runoff. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nitrate transport in the unsaturated zone: a case study of the riverbank filtration system Karany,Czech Republic

Nitrate transport in the unsaturated zone of a riverbank filtration (RBF) system in Karany, Czech Republic, was studied. Previous study of the system estimated RBF recharge as 60% riverbank filtrate and 40% local groundwater contaminated by nitrates. Nitrate concentrations observed in RBF recently cannot be explained by simple groundwater contamination and a new conception of groundwater recharge is suggested. A two‐component model based on water ¹⁸O data modelled recharge of local groundwater. One component of groundwater recharge is rainfall and irrigation water moving through the unsaturated zone of the Quaternary sediments in piston flow. The second component is groundwater from the Cretaceous deposits with a free water table. Both the components of groundwater recharge have different nitrate concentrations, and resulting contamination of groundwater depends on the participation of water from Quaternary and Cretaceous deposits. Nitrates' origins and their mixing in the subsurface were traced by ¹⁵N data. Nitrate transport from the unsaturated zone is important and time variable source of groundwater contamination. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulations demonstrating interaction between coarse and fine sediment loads in rain‐impacted flow

Rain‐impacted flows dominate sheet and interrill erosion and are important in eroding soil rich in nutrients and other chemicals which may have deleterious effects on water quality. Erosion in rain‐impacted flow is associated with raindrop detachment followed by transport either by the combination of flow velocity and raindrop impact (raindrop‐induced flow transport, RIFT) or the inherent capacity of the flow to transport detached material. Coarse particles tend to be transported by RIFT, while fine particles tend to be transported without any assistance from raindrop impact. Because the transport process associated with coarse particles is not 100 per cent efficient, it generates a layer of loose particles on the soil surface and this layer protects the underlying soil from detachment. Simulations were performed by modelling the uplift and downstream movement of both fine and coarse particles detached from the soil surface by individual raindrop impacts starting with a surface where no loose material was present. The simulations produced a flush of fine material followed by a decline in the discharge of fine material as the amount of loose material built up on the bed. The decline in the discharge of fine material was accompanied by an increase in the discharge of coarse material. The relative amounts of coarse and fine material discharged in the flow varied with flow velocity and cohesion in the surface of the soil matrix. The results indicate that the discharge of various sized sediments is highly dependent on local soil, rain and flow conditions and that extrapolating the results from one situation to another may not be appropriate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanisms of riverbank failure along the Arno River,central Italy

Riverbanks along the Arno River have been investigated with the aims of de?ning the main mechanisms of failure and retreat, their spatial distribution, and their causes. Geomorphological aspects were investigated by a reconnaissance of riverbank processes, for a number (26) of representative sites. Laboratory and in situ tests were then performed on a selected number of riverbanks (15). Based on the material characteristics, six main typologies of riverbanks have been de?ned, with homogeneous ?ne‐grained and composite banks representing the most frequent types. Slab‐type failures are the most frequent mechanism observed on ?ne‐grained banks, while cantilever failures prevail on composite banks. The role of river stage and related pore water pressure distributions in triggering the main observed mechanisms of failure has been investigated using two different types of stability analysis. The ?rst was conducted for 15 riverbanks, using the limit equilibrium method and considering simpli?ed hypotheses for pore water pressure distribution (annulment of negative pore pressures in the portion of the bank between low water stage and peak stage). Stability conditions and predicted mechanisms of failure are shown to be in reasonably good agreement with ?eld observations. Three riverbanks, representative of the main alluvial reaches of the river, were then selected for a more detailed bank stability analysis, consisting of: (a) de?nition of characteristic hydrographs of the reach with different return periods; (b) modelling of saturated and unsaturated ?ow using ?nite element seepage analysis; and (c) stability analysis with the limit equilibrium method, by adopting pore water pressure values derived from the seepage analysis. The results are compared to those obtained from the previous simpli?ed analysis, and are used to investigate the different responses, in terms of stability, to different hydrological and riverbank conditions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An examination of the steady‐state assumption in soil development models with application to landscape evolution

Soil depth and soil production are highly complicated phenomena, generated from a complex interaction of physical, biological and chemical processes. It has, nevertheless, become increasingly clear that soil formation rates are closely related to chemical weathering rates. Somewhat paradoxically, it is likewise becoming apparent that such biogeochemical reactions as slowly transform rock to soil are limited by physical processes, such as flowing water and the formation of fractures. We have formulated a theoretical approach that relates soil formation rates to chemical weathering rates, and those, likewise, to solute transport rates. For such a theoretical framework to be relevant, the solute transport rates cannot equal those of the flowing water, as is the case in Gaussian solute transport. Rather, solute transport must be slowed in accordance with heavy‐tailed solute arrival time distributions. The inference is that the traditional advection–dispersion equation formulation for solute transport is inadequate in the typically heterogeneous geological media that weather to form soils. Here we examine the implications of this soil production model on the assumption of the approach to steady state. Particularly at slow erosion rates we find that many soil columns are not in equilibrium. This tendency may be accentuated in dry climates. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PHT3D‐UZF: A Reactive Transport Model for Variably‐Saturated Porous Media

A modified version of the MODFLOW/MT3DMS‐based reactive transport model PHT3D was developed to extend current reactive transport capabilities to the variably‐saturated component of the subsurface system and incorporate diffusive reactive transport of gaseous species. Referred to as PHT3D‐UZF, this code incorporates flux terms calculated by MODFLOW's unsaturated‐zone flow (UZF1) package. A volume‐averaged approach similar to the method used in UZF‐MT3DMS was adopted. The PHREEQC‐based computation of chemical processes within PHT3D‐UZF in combination with the analytical solution method of UZF1 allows for comprehensive reactive transport investigations (i.e., biogeochemical transformations) that jointly involve saturated and unsaturated zone processes. Intended for regional‐scale applications, UZF1 simulates downward‐only flux within the unsaturated zone. The model was tested by comparing simulation results with those of existing numerical models. The comparison was performed for several benchmark problems that cover a range of important hydrological and reactive transport processes. A 2D simulation scenario was defined to illustrate the geochemical evolution following dewatering in a sandy acid sulfate soil environment. Other potential applications include the simulation of biogeochemical processes in variably‐saturated systems that track the transport and fate of agricultural pollutants, nutrients, natural and xenobiotic organic compounds and micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, as well as the evolution of isotope patterns.     

Identification of groundwater mean transit times of precipitation and riverbank infiltration by two‐component lumped parameter models

Groundwater transit time is an essential hydrologic metric for groundwater resources management. However, especially in tropical environments, studies on the transit time distribution (TTD) of groundwater infiltration and its corresponding mean transit time (mTT) have been extremely limited due to data sparsity. In this study, we primarily use stable isotopes to examine the TTDs and their mTTs of both vertical and horizontal infiltration at a riverbank infiltration area in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), representative of the tropical climate in Asian monsoon regions. Precipitation, river water, groundwater, and local ponding surface water were sampled for 3 to 9 years and analysed for stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ²H), providing a unique data set of stable isotope records for a tropical region. We quantified the contribution that the two sources contributed to the local shallow groundwater by a novel concept of two‐component lumped parameter models (LPMs) that are solved using δ¹⁸O records. The study illustrates that two‐component LPMs, in conjunction with hydrological and isotopic measurements, are able to identify subsurface flow conditions and water mixing at riverbank infiltration systems. However, the predictive skill and the reliability of the models decrease for locations farther from the river, where recharge by precipitation dominates, and a low‐permeable aquitard layer above the highly permeable aquifer is present. This specific setting impairs the identifiability of model parameters. For river infiltration, short mTTs (<40 weeks) were determined for sites closer to the river (<200 m), whereas for the precipitation infiltration, the mTTs were longer (>80 weeks) and independent of the distance to the river. The results not only enhance the understanding of the groundwater recharge dynamics in the VMD but also suggest that the highly complex mechanisms of surface–groundwater interaction can be conceptualized by exploiting two‐component LPMs in general. The model concept could thus be a powerful tool for better understanding both the hydrological functioning of mixing processes and the movement of different water components in riverbank infiltration systems.     

Quantification of vertical water fluxes in the vadose zone using particle‐size distribution and pedology‐based approaches to model soil heterogeneities

One‐dimensional flow simulations were conducted at four locations of the shallow alluvial aquifer of the upper Rhine River (at the Erstein polder) to quantify the time‐dependent moisture distribution, the water flux and the water volume infiltrated in the unsaturated zone as a function of soil heterogeneities during a five‐day‐long flooding event. Three methods of estimating the hydraulic parameters of soil in the vadose zone were tested. They are based on the following: (1) experimental data, (2) soil particle‐size distribution and (3) pedology information on soils. Water fluxes calculated from modelling approaches 2 and 3 were compared with those of the experiment‐based values and the effect of these differences on the arrival time and velocity of water at the water table were analysed. Major differences in water fluxes were found among the methods of estimating the hydrodynamic parameters. At the Terrace location, the groundwater recharge predicted using soil data from methods 1 and 2 are approximately 4500 and 2400 mm, respectively. Flow simulations using soil data and the experiment‐based method show the highest velocities of infiltrating water at the soil surface and largest volume of groundwater infiltration but result in the lowest centres of the moisture content mass. The results obtained using soil data based on the pedological method are similar to those calculated using soil parameters based on the particle‐size distribution of extracted soil samples. Water pressure profiles calculated on Terrace and Channel location, 3 and 7 days after the inundation event agreed reasonably well with those observed when using hydrodynamic parameters from the experiment‐based method. However, the flow model using the pedology‐based parameters largely underestimates the time needed to achieve hydrostatic conditions of the soil water profile once water flooding at the soil surface stops. This can be mainly attributed to the low values of estimated van Genuchten parameter α. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Redistribution and export of contaminated sediment within eastern Fukushima Prefecture due to typhoon flooding

Tropical cyclones expose river basins to heavy rainfall and flooding, and cause substantial soil erosion and sediment transport. There is heightened interest in the effects of typhoon floods on river basins in northeast Japan, as the migration of radiocaesium‐bearing soils contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident will affect future radiation levels. The five main catchments surrounding FDNPP are the Odaka, Ukedo, Maeda, Kuma and Tomioka basins, but little quantitative modelling has been undertaken to identify the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes across these basins. Here we address this issue and report catchment‐scale modelling of the five basins using the GETFLOWS simulation code. The three‐dimensional (3D) models of the basins incorporated details of the geology, soil type, land cover, and used data from meteorological records as inputs. The simulation results were checked against field monitoring data for water flow rates, suspended sediment concentrations and accumulated sediment erosion and deposition. The results show that the majority of annual sediment migration in the basins occurs over storm periods, thus making typhoons the main vectors for redistribution. The Ukedo and Tomioka basins are the most important basins in the region in terms of overall sediment transport, followed by the other three basins each with similar discharge amounts. Erosion is strongly correlated with the underlying geology and the surface topography in the study area. A low permeability Pliocene Dainenji formation in the coastal area causes high surface water flow rates and soil erosion. Conversely, erosion is lower in an area with high permeability granite basement rocks between the Hatagawa and Futaba faults in the centre of the study area. Land cover is also a factor controlling differences in erosion and transport rates between forested areas in the west of the study area and predominantly agricultural areas towards the east. The largest sediment depositions occur in the Ogaki and Takigawa Dams, at the confluence of the Takase and Ukedo Rivers, and at the Ukedo River mouth. Having clarified the sediment redistribution patterns and controlling processes, these results can assist the ongoing task of monitoring radioactive caesium redistribution within Fukushima Prefecture, and contribute to the design and implementation of measures to protect health and the environment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Field Studies on the Fate and Transport of Pharmaceutical Residues in Bank Filtration

Bank filtration and artificial ground water recharge are important, effective, and cheap techniques for surface water treatment and removal of microbes, as well as inorganic, and some organic, contaminants. Nevertheless, physical, chemical, and biological processes of the removal of impurities are not understood sufficiently. A research project titled Natural and Artificial Systems for Recharge and Infiltration attempts to provide more clarity in the processes affecting the removal of these contaminants. The project focuses on the fate and transport of selected emerging contaminants during bank filtration at two transects in Berlin, Germany. Several detections of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in ground water samples from bank filtration sites in Germany led to furthering research on the removal of these compounds during bank filtration. In this study, six PhACs including the analgesic drugs diclofenac and propyphenazone, the antiepileptic drugs carbamazepine and primidone, and the drug metabolites clofibric acid and 1-acetyl-1-methyl-2-dimethyl-oxamoyl-2-phenylhydrazide were found to leach from the contaminated streams and lakes into the ground water. These compounds were also detected at low concentrations in receiving public supply wells. Bank filtration either decreased the concentrations by dilution (e.g., for carbamazepine and primidone) and partial removal (e.g., for diclofenac), or totally removed PhACs (e.g., bezafibrate, indomethacine, antibiotics, and estrogens). Several PhACs, such as carbamazepine and especially primidone, were readily transported during bank filtration. They are thought to be good indicators for evaluating whether surface water is impacted by contamination from municipal sewage effluent or whether contamination associated with sewage effluent can be transported into ground water at ground water recharge sites.     

Evaluation of model complexity and space–time resolution on the prediction of long‐term soil salinity dynamics,western San Joaquin Valley,California

The numerical simulation of long‐term large‐scale (field to regional) variably saturated subsurface flow and transport remains a computational challenge, even with today's computing power. Therefore, it is appropriate to develop and use simplified models that focus on the main processes operating at the pertinent time and space scales, as long as the error introduced by the simpler model is small relative to the uncertainties associated with the spatial and temporal variation of boundary conditions and parameter values. This study investigates the effects of various model simplifications on the prediction of long‐term soil salinity and salt transport in irrigated soils. Average root‐zone salinity and cumulative annual drainage salt load were predicted for a 10‐year period using a one‐dimensional numerical flow and transport model (i.e. UNSATCHEM) that accounts for solute advection, dispersion and diffusion, and complex salt chemistry. The model uses daily values for rainfall, irrigation, and potential evapotranspiration rates. Model simulations consist of benchmark scenarios for different hypothetical cases that include shallow and deep water tables, different leaching fractions and soil gypsum content, and shallow groundwater salinity, with and without soil chemical reactions. These hypothetical benchmark simulations are compared with the results of various model simplifications that considered (i) annual average boundary conditions, (ii) coarser spatial discretization, and (iii) reducing the complexity of the salt‐soil reaction system. Based on the 10‐year simulation results, we conclude that salt transport modelling does not require daily boundary conditions, a fine spatial resolution, or complex salt chemistry. Instead, if the focus is on long‐term salinity, then a simplified modelling approach can be used, using annually averaged boundary conditions, a coarse spatial discretization, and inclusion of soil chemistry that only accounts for cation exchange and gypsum dissolution–precipitation. We also demonstrate that prediction errors due to these model simplifications may be small, when compared with effects of parameter uncertainty on model predictions. The proposed model simplifications lead to larger time steps and reduced computer simulation times by a factor of 1000. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.