Using microbiological tracers to assess the impact of winter land use restrictions on the quality of stream headwaters in a small catchment.

Diverse land use activities can elevate risk of microbiological contamination entering stream headwaters. Spatially distributed water quality monitoring carried out across a 17 km(2) agricultural catchment aimed to characterize microbiological contamination reaching surface water and investigate whether winter agricultural land use restrictions proved effective in addressing water quality degradation. Combined flow and concentration data revealed no significant difference in fecal indicator organism (FIO) fluxes in base flow samples collected during the open and prohibited periods for spreading organic fertilizer, while relative concentrations of Escherichia coli, fecal streptococci and sulfite reducing bacteria indicated consistently fresh fecal pollution reached aquatic receptors during both periods. Microbial source tracking, employing Bacteroides 16S rRNA gene markers, demonstrated a dominance of bovine fecal waste in river water samples upstream of a wastewater treatment plant discharge during open periods. This contrasted with responses during prohibited periods where human-derived signatures dominated. Differences in microbiological signature, when viewed with hydrological data, suggested that increasing groundwater levels restricted vertical infiltration of effluent from on-site wastewater treatment systems and diverted it to drains and surface water. Study results reflect seasonality of contaminant inputs, while suggesting winter land use restrictions can be effective in limiting impacts of agricultural wastes to base flow water quality.

Characterizing Aquifer Heterogeneity Using Bacterial and Bacteriophage Tracers.

Gravel aquifers act as important potable water sources in central western Europe, yet they are subject to numerous contamination pressures. Compositional and textural heterogeneity makes protection zone delineation around groundwater supplies in these units challenging; artificial tracer testing aids characterization. This paper reappraises previous tracer test results in light of new geological and microbiological data. Comparative passive gradient testing, using a fluorescent solute (Uranine), virus (H40/1 bacteriophage), and comparably sized bacterial tracers and , was used to investigate a calcareous gravel aquifer's ability to remove microbiological contaminants at a test site near Munich, Germany. Test results revealed relative recoveries could exceed those of H40/1 at monitoring wells, 10 m and 20 m from an injection well, by almost four times; recoveries varied by a factor of up to three between wells. Application of filtration theory suggested greater attenuation of H40/1 relative to similarly charged occurred due to differences in microorganism size, while estimated collision efficiencies appeared comparable. By contrast, more positively charged experienced greater attenuation at one monitoring point, while lower attenuation rates at the second location indicated the influence of geochemical heterogeneity. Test findings proved consistent with observations from nearby fresh outcrops that suggested thin open framework gravel beds dominated mass transport in the aquifer, while discrete intervals containing stained clasts reflect localized geochemical heterogeneity. Study results highlight the utility of reconciling outcrop observations with artificial tracer test responses, using microbiological tracers with well-defined properties, to characterize aquifer heterogeneity.

Bovine serum albumin adsorption to iron-oxide coated sands can change microsphere deposition mechanisms.

Particulate colloids often occur together with proteins in sewage-impacted water. Using Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) as a surrogate for protein in sewage, column experiments investigating the capacity of iron-oxide coated sands to remove latex microspheres from water revealed that microsphere attenuation mechanisms depended on antecedent BSA coverage. Dual pulse experiment (DPE) results suggested that where all BSA was adsorbed, subsequent multiple pore volume microsphere breakthrough curves reflected progressively reduced colloid deposition rates with increasing adsorbed BSA content. Modeling colloid responses suggested adsorption of 1 µg BSA generated the same response as blockage by between 7.1 × 10(8) and 2.3 × 10(9) deposited microspheres. By contrast, microsphere responses in DPEs where BSA coverage of the deposition sites approached/reached saturation revealed the coated sand maintained a finite capacity to attenuate microspheres, even when incapable of further BSA adsorption. Subsequent microsphere breakthrough curves demonstrated the matrix's colloid attenuation capacity progressively increased with continued microsphere deposition. Experimental findings suggested BSA adsorption on the sand surface approaching/reaching saturation generated attractive deposition sites for colloids, which became progressively more attractive with further colloid deposition (filter ripening). Results demonstrate that adsorption of a single type of protein may either enhance or inhibit colloid mobility in saturated porous media.

Characterisation of virus transport and attenuation in epikarst using short pulse and prolonged injection multi-tracer testing.

Attenuation processes controlling virus fate and transport in the vadose zone of karstified systems can strongly influence groundwater quality. This research compares the breakthrough of two bacteriophage tracers (H40/1 and T7), with contrasting properties, at subsurface monitoring points following application onto an overlying composite sequence of thin organic soil and weathered limestone (epikarst). Short pulse multi-tracer test results revealed that T7 (Source concentration, Co=1.8x10(6)pfu/mL) and H40/1 (Co=5.9x10(6)pfu/mL) could reach sampling points 10 m below ground less than 30 min after tracer application. Contrasting deposition rates, determined from simulated tracer responses, reflected the potential of the ground to differentially attenuate viruses. Prolonged application of both T7 (Co=2.3x10(4)pfu/mL) and H40/1 (Co=1.3x10(5)pfu/mL) over a five hour period during a subsequent test, in which ionic strength levels observed at monitoring points rose consistently, corresponded to a rapid rise in T7 levels, followed by a gradual decline before the end of tracer injection; this reflected reaction-limited deposition in the system. T7's response contrasted with that of H40/1, whose concentration remained constant over a three hour period before declining dramatically prior to the end of tracer injection. Subsequent application of lower ionic strength tracer-free flush water generated a rapid rise in H40/1 levels and a more gradual release of T7. Results highlight the benefits of employing prolonged injection multi-tracer tests for identifying processes not apparent from conventional short pulse tests. Study findings demonstrate that despite rapid transport rates, the epikarst is capable of physicochemical filtration of viruses and their remobilization, depending on virus type and hydrochemical conditions.

Investigation of virus attenuation mechanisms in a fluvioglacial sand using column experiments.

Virus inactivation and virus adsorption, resulting from interactions with minerals, constitute important aspects of an aquifers disinfection capacity. Investigations using a 20 cm column filled with medium-grained natural sands demonstrated that the sands can attenuate up to 62% of a pulse of viruses injected. Experiments using repeatedly washed sands had significantly lower attenuation capacity than fresh sands, due to removal of fine-grained (silt and clay-sized) coatings on grain surfaces. X-ray diffraction analyses of the sand, and the associated fine-grained coating indicated that no significant mineralogical differences existed between these two materials. The experimental data suggested that rougher surfaces/crystal edges in the grain coatings reduced repulsive forces between viruses and the sands permitting greater virus adsorption to the column matrix. Soaking all sands with Tryptone solution after testing released adsorbed viruses indicated that short-term viral inactivation due to interactions with the column matrix was a negligible part of the attenuation process.