Subsurface Treatment for Arsenic Removal

80 Pages·2008·5.97 MB·English

by  Gregory P. Miller

Arsenic Water Technology Partnership

Subsurface Treatment for Arsenic Removal:
Phase II Investigation

Subsurface Treatment for Arsenic Removal
Phase II Investigation

Prepared by:
Gregory P. Miller
Subsurface Technologies, Inc.
40 Stone Castle Rd.
Rock Tavern, NY 12575

Jointly Sponsored by:
Awwa Research Foundation
6666 West Quincy Avenue, Denver CO 80235-3098

and

U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C. 20585-1290

Published by:

WERC, a Consortium for Awwa Research Foundation
Environmental Education and
Technology Development at
New Mexico State University

About the Awwa Research Foundation

The Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF) is a member-supported, international,
nonprofit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies, and
other professionals to provide safe and affordable drinking water to consumers.
The Foundation’s mission is to advance the science of water to improve the quality of
life. To achieve this mission, the Foundation sponsors studies on all aspects of drinking water,
including supply and resources, treatment, monitoring and analysis, distribution, management,
and health effects. Funding for research is provided primarily by subscription payments from
approximately 1,000 utilities, consulting firms, and manufacturers in North America and abroad.
Additional funding comes from collaborative partnerships with other national and international
organizations, allowing for resources to be leveraged, expertise to be shared, and broad-based
knowledge to be developed and disseminated. Government funding serves as a third source of
research dollars.
From its headquarters in Denver, Colorado, the Foundation’s staff directs and supports
the efforts of more than 800 volunteers who serve on the board of trustees and various
committees. These volunteers represent many facets of the water industry, and contribute their
expertise to select and monitor research studies that benefit the entire drinking water community.
The results of research are disseminated through a number of channels, including reports,
the Web site, conferences, and periodicals.
For subscribers, the Foundation serves as a cooperative program in which water suppliers
unite to pool their resources. By applying Foundation research findings, these water suppliers
can save substantial costs and stay on the leading edge of drinking water science and technology.
Since its inception, AwwaRF has supplied the water community with more than $300 million in
applied research.
More information about the Foundation and how to become a subscriber is available on
the Web at www.awwarf.org.

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DISCLAIMER

This study was jointly funded by the Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF) and the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) under Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER63619 through the Arsenic Water
Technology Partnership. The comments and views detailed herein may not necessarily reflect
the views of the Awwa Research Foundation, its officers, directors, affiliates or agents, or the
views of the U.S. Federal Government and the Arsenic Water Technology Partnership. The
mention of trade names for commercial products does not represent or imply the approval or
endorsement of AwwaRF or DOE. This report is presented solely for informational purposes.
The SBIR data are furnished with SBIR rights under EPA contract number 68-D-02-099.
For a period of four years after acceptance of all items to be delivered under this contract, the
Government agrees to use these data for Government purposes only, and they shall not be
disclosed outside the Government (including disclosure for procurement purposes) during such
period without permission of the Contractor, except that, subject to the foregoing use and
disclosure prohibitions, such data may be disclosed for use by support Contractors. After the
aforesaid four-year period, the Government has a royalty-free license to use, and to authorize
others to use on its behalf, these data for Government purposes, but it relieved of all disclosure
prohibitions and assumes no liability for unauthorized use of these data by third parties. This
notice shall be affixed to any reproductions of these data, in whole or in part.

Copyright 2008
By Awwa Research Foundation
and Arsenic Water Technology Partnership

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the U.S.A.

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CONTENTS
DISCLAIMER...............................................................................................................................vi
CONTENTS..................................................................................................................................vii
TABLES........................................................................................................................................ix
FIGURES.......................................................................................................................................xi
FOREWORD................................................................................................................................xii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................................xiii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..........................................................................................................xv

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................17
Overview...................................................................................................................................17
Arsenic Sorption on Iron Oxides and Oxide-hydroxides..........................................................17
In Situ Groundwater Treatment................................................................................................18
Project Objectives.....................................................................................................................19

CHAPTER 2 Methods and Materials...........................................................................................21
Phase II Project Locations........................................................................................................21
SAFL.....................................................................................................................................21
SAMDWCA Well #4............................................................................................................25
Drilling Operations...................................................................................................................26
Core Sample Testing Program..................................................................................................27
Core Hydrologic Properties Testing.....................................................................................29
Core Geochemical Testing Analytical Methods...................................................................29
Partial Extractions.................................................................................................................32
X-ray Diffraction..................................................................................................................33
Scanning Electron Microscopy.............................................................................................34
BET Surface Area Measurement..........................................................................................34
Microbiological Testing Program.............................................................................................34
STAR System Data Collection.................................................................................................36
Water Level Monitoring and Well Response Testing at STAR...........................................36
Water Quality Monitoring at STAR.....................................................................................36
SAMDWCA Well #4 STAR Precipitates.............................................................................37

CHAPTER 3 Data and Observations............................................................................................39
Hydrologic Testing Program.....................................................................................................39
Core Sample Hydrologic Properties.....................................................................................39
Aquifer Response to Pumping Events - SAFL.....................................................................42
Aquifer Response to Pumping Events - STAR.....................................................................43
Microbiological Testing Program.............................................................................................44
Geochemical Testing Program..................................................................................................48
Field Observations................................................................................................................48
BET Surface Area Measurement..........................................................................................48
Electron Microscopy.............................................................................................................62
Water Quality Evaluation and Comparison - STAR and SAFL...............................................66
CHAPTER 4 Summary and Conclusions.....................................................................................68

CHAPTER 5 RECOMMENDATIONS TO UTILITIES.............................................................70

CHAPTER 6 FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS.............................................................................72

REFERENCES AND CITATIONS..............................................................................................74

ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................................78

APPENDIX A CD-ROM OF SUPPORTING DATA.................................................................80

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TABLES
Table 2.1 Hydrologic properties analysis list...............................................................................30

Table 2.2 Analytical methods and detection limits in water and extracts...................................31

Table 2.3 Partial extraction methods for SAFL core samples.....................................................32

Table 3.1 Core sample hydrologic properties data......................................................................40

Table 3.2 Core sample hydrologic properties statistics...............................................................40

Table 3.3 Core sample PPCC and Wilcoxon statistical testing results........................................42

Table 3.4 Biomass determinations for core samples...................................................................44

Table 3.5 Identification of dominant aquifer sediment microorganisms based on small subunit
rRNA gene sequence analyses..............................................................................................46

Table 3.6 BET surface area of grain size fractions......................................................................49

Table 3.7 Correlation coefficients of CBD extraction to AAOD and Method 3051....................52

Table 3.8 Central tendency of control sample As and Fe values..................................................52

Table 3.9 Correlation coefficients of Method 3051 and AAOD and extraction methods...........53

Table 3.10 X-ray diffraction mineral identification ordered by core sample..............................60

Table 3.11 Detected iron and manganese oxides and oxide-hydroxides.....................................61

Table 3.12 Well #3 and #4 water quality comparison.................................................................66

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