In:
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, Copernicus GmbH, Vol. 22, No. 12 ( 2018-12-10), p. 6371-6381
Abstract:
Abstract. This paper presents the analysis of caffeine and carbamazepine
transport in the subsurface as a result of wastewater release in the Sorek
creek over the outcrops of the carbonate, Yarkon-Taninim, aquifer in Israel.
Both caffeine and carbamazepine were used as indicators of sewage
contamination in the subsurface. While carbamazepine is considered
conservative, caffeine is subject to sorption and degradation. The objective
of the study was to quantify differences in their transport under similar
conditions in the karst aquifer. Water flow and pollutant transport in a
“vadose zone–aquifer” system were simulated by a quasi-3-D dual
permeability numerical model. The results of this study show that each of
these two pollutants can be considered effective tracers for characterization
and assessment of aquifer contamination. Carbamazepine was found to be more
suitable for assessing the contamination boundaries, while caffeine can be
used as a contaminant tracer only briefly after contamination occurs. In
instances where there are low concentrations of carbamazepine which appear as
background contamination in an aquifer, caffeine might serve as a better
marker for detecting new contamination events, given its temporal nature. The
estimated caffeine degradation rate and the distribution coefficient of a
linear sorption isotherm were 0.091 d−1 and
0.1 L kg−1, respectively, which imply a
high attenuation capacity. The results of the simulation indicate that by the
end of the year most of the carbamazepine mass (approximately 95 %)
remained in the matrix of the vadose zone, while all of the caffeine was
completely degraded a few months after the sewage was discharged.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1607-7938
DOI:
10.5194/hess-22-6371-2018
Language:
English
Publisher:
Copernicus GmbH
Publication Date:
2018
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2100610-6
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