Full-Scale Development and Testing of a System to Manage Pesticide-Contaminated Wastewater

Abstract

A previous report (Corwin, 1996; Yoder et al., 2001) described a literature and laboratory study examining options for disposing of wastewater contaminated with low concentrations of common pesticides. That report focused on the Soil-Based BioReactor (SBBR) as the best candidate for providing a highly effective means for wastewater disposal at low cost and with low management requirements. Much work had been done on such systems since the 1970s, but little had been done to optimize system management. That report then documented a soil column laboratory study, which indicated very good evaporation and pesticide dissipation results with a specific combination of soil, environmental conditions, and water application method. This study follows up on that report and is meant to address two questions: 1) Can the water evaporation and pesticide dissipation results of the first study be duplicated by a full-scale version?; and 2) Is there a reliable and inexpensive way of building such a full-scale soil bed and providing the controls for water application?