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Ecotoxicity Assessment of Artificial Groundwater Recharge with Reclaimed Water: A Pilot-Scale Study

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Abstract

A demonstration of artificial groundwater recharge with tertiary effluent was evaluated using a set of bioassays (acute toxicity to Daphnia, genotoxicity, estrogenic and antiestrogenic toxicity). Around 95 % genotoxicity and 53 % antiestrogenicity were removed from the feed water by ozonation, whereas significant reduction of acute toxicity to Daphnia magna was achieved during a 3 days vadose soil treatment. The toxicity was further removed to the same level as the local groundwater during a 20 days aquifer soil treatment. The pilot study has shown that ozonation and soil treatments can improve the quality of municipal wastewater treatment plant effluents for possible groundwater recharge purposes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51078211 and 51208279) and the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20110002120020). The authors would like to thank Prof. Hu Hong-ying and Dr. Qian-yuan Wu for their support in the bioassays.

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  1. Laboratory of Environmental Technology, Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Xue Zhang & Xuan Zhao

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  1. Xue Zhang
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  2. Xuan Zhao
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Correspondence to Xuan Zhao.

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Zhang, X., Zhao, X. Ecotoxicity Assessment of Artificial Groundwater Recharge with Reclaimed Water: A Pilot-Scale Study. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 91, 499–502 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-013-1109-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-013-1109-1

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