Abstract
Infiltration techniques for managed aquifer recharge (MAR), such as soil aquifer treatment (SAT) can facilitate low-cost water recycling and supplement groundwater resources. However there are still challenges in sustaining adequate infiltration rates in the presence of lower permeability sediments, especially when wastewater containing suspended solids and nutrients is used to recharge the aquifer. To gain a better insight into reductions in infiltration rates during MAR, a field investigation was carried out via soil aquifer treatment (SAT) using recharge basins located within a mixture of fine and coarse grained riverine deposits in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. A total of 2.6 Mm3 was delivered via five SAT basins over six years; this evaluation focused on three years of operation (2011–2014), recharging 1.5 Mm3 treated wastewater via an expanded recharge area of approximately 38,400 m2. Average infiltration rates per basin varied from 0.1 to 1 m/day due to heterogeneous soil characteristics and variability in recharge water quality. A treatment upgrade to include sand filtration and UV disinfection (in 2013) prior to recharge improved the average infiltration rate per basin by 40% to 100%.
Highlights
Infiltration techniques such as soil aquifer treatment (SAT) are attractive options in supporting irrigation as they are nominally lower in cost than well injection schemes [1] and they can take advantage of the potential for natural treatment through the unsaturated zone [2]
As typical for recycled water, the recharge water for SAT was higher in nutrients than the ambient groundwater in the alluvial aquifer (Table 1), it was fresher with EC at an average of 1800 μS/cm (DAF and DAFF) compared with an average 2400 μS/cm in the ambient groundwater
Has recommended targets of
Summary
Infiltration techniques such as soil aquifer treatment (SAT) are attractive options in supporting irrigation as they are nominally lower in cost than well injection schemes [1] and they can take advantage of the potential for natural treatment through the unsaturated zone [2]. Australia has tremendous potential to increase the amount of water that is recycled via managed aquifer recharge (MAR), as a large proportion of the Australian landscape is covered in favorable sedimentary deposits of sand, gravel and limestone. Parsons et al [3] reported on uncertainty regarding the feasibility of MAR schemes, owing largely to a lack of documented demonstration sites, as a key limitation to the use of MAR for water recycling in Australia. Uncertainty arises from challenges in the implementation of MAR in the presence of lower permeability sediments, such as silt and clay, and/or due to clogging processes, both of which inhibits infiltration rate. Clogging and its management remains a key operational challenge for all MAR schemes [4,5]. Houston et al [6] defined
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