6 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Chemically Enhanced Treatment Wetland to Improve Water Quality and Mitigate Land Subsidence in the Sacramento‒San Joaquin Delta: Cost and Design Considerations
Water quality impairment and land surface subsidence threaten the viability of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta), a critical component of California’s water conveyance system. Current-day irrigation drainage through Delta island peat soils affects drinking water treatment and is linked to mercury transport, potentially posing both ecological and public health concerns. To cost-effectively treat agricultural drainage water from subsided Delta islands to reduce the export of drinking Water Quality Constituents of Concern and mitigate land subsidence through accretion, we studied hybrid coagulation-treatment wetland systems, termed Chemically Enhanced Treatment Wetlands (CETWs). We provide cost estimates and design recommendations to aid broader implementation of this technology. Over a 20-year horizon using a Total Annualized Cost analysis, we estimate treatment costs of 747 per acre-foot (ac‑ft) water treated, and 70 per kg dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removed, depending upon source water DOC concentrations for a small 3-acre CETW system. For larger CETW systems scaled for island sizes of 3,500 to 14,000 acres, costs decrease to 239 per ac-ft water treated, and 14 per kg DOC removed. We estimated the footprints of CETW systems to be approximately 3% of the area being treated for 4-day hydraulic retention time (HRT) systems, but they would decrease to less than 1% for 1-day HRT systems. CETWs ultimately address several of the Delta’s key internal issues while keeping water treatment costs competitive with other currently available treatment technologies at similar scales on a per-carbon-removed basis. CETWs offer a reliable system to reduce out-going DOC and mercury loads, and they provide the additional benefit of sediment accretion. System costs and treatment efficacy depend significantly on inflow source water conditions, land availability, and other practical matters. To keep costs low and removal efficacy high, wetland design features will need site-specific evaluation
Assessing exposure in epidemiologic studies to disinfection by-products in drinking water: report from an international workshop.
The inability to accurately assess exposure has been one of the major shortcomings of epidemiologic studies of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water. A number of contributing factors include a) limited information on the identity, occurrence, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics of the many DBPs that can be formed from chlorine, chloramine, ozone, and chlorine dioxide disinfection; b) the complex chemical interrelationships between DBPs and other parameters within a municipal water distribution system; and c) difficulties obtaining accurate and reliable information on personal activity and water consumption patterns. In May 2000, an international workshop was held to bring together various disciplines to develop better approaches for measuring DBP exposure for epidemiologic studies. The workshop reached consensus about the clear need to involve relevant disciplines (e.g., chemists, engineers, toxicologists, biostatisticians and epidemiologists) as partners in developing epidemiologic studies of DBPs in drinking water. The workshop concluded that greater collaboration of epidemiologists with water utilities and regulators should be encouraged in order to make regulatory monitoring data more useful for epidemiologic studies. Similarly, exposure classification categories in epidemiologic studies should be chosen to make results useful for regulatory or policy decision making
Recommended from our members
Chemically Enhanced Treatment Wetland to Improve Water Quality and Mitigate Land Subsidence in the Sacramento‒San Joaquin Delta: Cost and Design Considerations
Water quality impairment and land surface subsidence threaten the viability of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta), a critical component of California’s water conveyance system. Current-day irrigation drainage through Delta island peat soils affects drinking water treatment and is linked to mercury transport, potentially posing both ecological and public health concerns. To cost-effectively treat agricultural drainage water from subsided Delta islands to reduce the export of drinking Water Quality Constituents of Concern and mitigate land subsidence through accretion, we studied hybrid coagulation-treatment wetland systems, termed Chemically Enhanced Treatment Wetlands (CETWs). We provide cost estimates and design recommendations to aid broader implementation of this technology. Over a 20-year horizon using a Total Annualized Cost analysis, we estimate treatment costs of 747 per acre-foot (ac‑ft) water treated, and 70 per kg dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removed, depending upon source water DOC concentrations for a small 3-acre CETW system. For larger CETW systems scaled for island sizes of 3,500 to 14,000 acres, costs decrease to 239 per ac-ft water treated, and 14 per kg DOC removed. We estimated the footprints of CETW systems to be approximately 3% of the area being treated for 4-day hydraulic retention time (HRT) systems, but they would decrease to less than 1% for 1-day HRT systems. CETWs ultimately address several of the Delta’s key internal issues while keeping water treatment costs competitive with other currently available treatment technologies at similar scales on a per-carbon-removed basis. CETWs offer a reliable system to reduce out-going DOC and mercury loads, and they provide the additional benefit of sediment accretion. System costs and treatment efficacy depend significantly on inflow source water conditions, land availability, and other practical matters. To keep costs low and removal efficacy high, wetland design features will need site-specific evaluation
Implications of Using On-Farm Flood Flow Capture To Recharge Groundwater and Mitigate Flood Risks Along the Kings River, CA
The agriculturally productive San
Joaquin Valley faces two severe
hydrologic issues: persistent groundwater overdraft and flooding risks.
Capturing flood flows for groundwater recharge could help address
both of these issues, yet flood flow frequency, duration, and magnitude
vary greatly as upstream reservoir releases are affected by snowpack,
precipitation type, reservoir volume, and flood risks. This variability
makes dedicated, engineered recharge approaches expensive. Our work
evaluates leveraging private farmlands in the Kings River Basin to
capture flood flows for direct and <i>in lieu</i> recharge,
calculates on-farm infiltration rates, assesses logistics, and considers
potential water quality issues. The Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) soil series suggested that a cementing layer would
hinder recharge. The standard practice of deep ripping fractured the
layer, resulting in infiltration rates averaging 2.5 in d<sup>–1</sup> (6 cm d<sup>–1</sup>) throughout the farm. Based on these
rates 10 acres are needed to infiltrate 1 cfs (100 m<sup>3</sup> h<sup>–1</sup>) of flood flows. Our conceptual model predicts that
salinity and nitrate pulses flush initially to the groundwater but
that groundwater quality improves in the long term due to pristine
flood flows low in salts or nitrate. Flood flow capture, when integrated
with irrigation, is more cost-effective than groundwater pumping
Experimental Dosing of Wetlands with Coagulants Removes Mercury from Surface Water and Decreases Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish
Mercury
pollution is widespread globally, and strategies for managing
mercury contamination in aquatic environments are necessary. We tested
whether coagulation with metal-based salts could remove mercury from
wetland surface waters and decrease mercury bioaccumulation in fish.
In a complete randomized block design, we constructed nine experimental
wetlands in California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta,
stocked them with mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), and then continuously applied agricultural drainage water that
was either untreated (control), or treated with polyaluminum chloride
or ferric sulfate coagulants. Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations
in surface waters were decreased by 62% and 63% in polyaluminum chloride
treated wetlands and 50% and 76% in ferric sulfate treated wetlands
compared to control wetlands. Specifically, following coagulation,
mercury was transferred from the filtered fraction of water into the
particulate fraction of water which then settled within the wetland.
Mosquitofish mercury concentrations were decreased by 35% in ferric
sulfate treated wetlands compared to control wetlands. There was no
reduction in mosquitofish mercury concentrations within the polyaluminum
chloride treated wetlands, which may have been caused by production
of bioavailable methylmercury within those wetlands. Coagulation may
be an effective management strategy for reducing mercury contamination
within wetlands, but further studies should explore potential effects
on wetland ecosystems