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Geochemical changes during recharge with tertiary-treated wastewater at a coastal sandfill

journal contribution
posted on 2009-01-01, 00:00 authored by Lloyd ChuaLloyd Chua, E Lo, T Lim, A Robertson, E Shuy, S Tan
Results of experiments investigating geochemical changes during artificial recharge of treated wastewater at a coastal sandfill, reclaimed with sand dredged from the seabed, are reported in this paper. Laboratory batch experiments were conducted using secondary effluent (SE) and SE treated with an additional ultrafiltration process (UF), and wastewater treated by reverse osmosis (RO) process, mixed with surface sand obtained from the sandfill. Experiments with RO showed a net increase of 0.41 meq/L, 0.12 meq/L and 0.31 meq/L for Ca(2 + ), Mg(2 + ) and HCO(3) (-), respectively. UF and SE also exhibited net increase in Ca(2 + ), Mg(2 + ) and HCO(3) (-) indicating carbonate mineral dissolution. All three waters were found to be over-saturated with respect to calcite. Carbonate dissolution reactions were observed in the field experiments. However, the presence of imported clays from the borrow source gave rise to ion exchange reactions where Na(+) attached to the clay particles were exchanged for Ca(2 + ) and Mg(2 + ) inducing mineral dissolution, driven by sub-saturation conditions. This resulted in an increase in pH with maximum values in excess of 9.0. It was also found that the sodium adsorption ratio remained high (>10) even after the groundwater had been diluted sufficiently to freshwater levels (ionic strength, I <0.015) indicating a potential for the dispersion of clay particles. This could have a deleterious consequence on porosity and hydraulic conductivity.

History

Journal

Water science and technology

Volume

60

Issue

5

Pagination

1273 - 1281

Publisher

IWA Publishing

Location

London, Eng.

ISSN

0273-1223

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, IWA Publishing