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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 417–426, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-417-2020 © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. On the role of operational dynamics in biogeochemical efficiency of a soil aquifer treatment system Shany Ben Moshe1, Noam Weisbrod2, Felix Barquero3, Jana Sallwey3, Ofri Orgad2, and Alex Furman1 1Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Haifa 32000, Israel 2The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 8499000, Israel 3Institute for Groundwater Management, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany Correspondence: Shany Ben Moshe ([email protected]) Received: 17 July 2019 – Discussion started: 23 September 2019 Revised: 25 November 2019 – Accepted: 18 December 2019 – Published: 28 January 2020 Abstract. Sustainable irrigation with treated wastewater experimental ORP values in response to different DPs to (TWW) is a promising solution for water scarcity in arid field measurements obtained in one of the SAT ponds of the and semi-arid regions. Soil aquifer treatment (SAT) provides SHAFDAN, Israel, we found that despite the large-scale dif- a solution for both the need for tertiary treatment and sea- ferences between the experimental 1-D system and the field sonal storage of wastewater. Stresses over land use and the 3-D conditions, ORP trends in response to changes in DP, need to control the obtained water quality makes the opti- qualitatively match. We conclude that longer DP not only mization of SAT of great importance. This study looks into ensure oxidizing conditions close to the surface, but also en- the influence of SAT systems’ operational dynamics (i.e., large the active (oxidizing) region of the SAT. While those flooding and drying periods) as well as some aspects of results still need to be verified at full scale, they suggest that the inflow biochemical composition on their biogeochemical SAT can be treated as a pseudo-reactor that to a great ex- state and the ultimate outflow quality. A series of four long- tent could be manipulated hydraulically to achieve the de- column experiments was conducted, aiming to examine the sired water quality while increasing the recharge volumes. effect of different flooding/drying period ratios on dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) and outflow composition. Flooding periods were kept constant at 60 min for all experiments while drying periods 1 Introduction (DPs) were 2.5 and 4 times the duration of the flooding pe- riods. Our results show that the longer DPs had a significant Water shortages in arid and semi-arid regions lead to great advantage over the shorter periods in terms of DO concentra- difficulties sustaining local agriculture which have many eco- tions and ORP in the upper parts of the column as well as in nomic, social and environmental implications (García-Tejero the deeper parts, which indicates that larger volumes of the et al., 2014). The use of treated wastewater (TWW) for ir- profile were able to maintain aerobic conditions. DO concen- rigation is widely accepted as a mean to reduce agricul- trations in the deeper parts of the column stabilized at ∼ 3– tural water scarcity (Negewo et al., 2011). While biologi- 4 mg L−1 for the longer DPs compared to ∼ 1–2 mg L−1 for cal treatments like activated sludge are highly efficient in the shorter DPs. This advantage was also evident in outflow terms of pollutant removal, the TWW they generate usually composition that showed significantly lower concentrations does not meet regulatory standards for unrestricted crop ir- C rigation (Tanji, 1997) or poses a sustainability question re- of NH4 -N, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total Kjel- dahl nitrogen (TKN) for the longer DPs (∼ 0:03, ∼ 1:65 and garding their practice (Assouline et al., 2016). For exam- ∼ 0:62 mg L−1 respectively) compared to the shorter DPs ple, in the Israeli Dan region wastewater treatment plant (the (∼ 0:5, ∼ 4:4 and ∼ 3:8 mg L−1, respectively). Comparing SHAFDAN site), following the activated sludge secondary treatment, TWW have low to moderate organic loads. Dis- Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 418 S. Ben Moshe et al.: Operational dynamics in SAT ∼ −1 C solved organic carbon (DOC) is 10:8 mg L , NH4 -N is (2018) studied nitrogen behavior under the SHAFDAN’s in- ∼ 4:2 mg L−1 and organic nitrogen is ∼ 1:25 mg L−1 (Icek- filtration ponds through 40 years of operation. In their study, C son et al., 2011). However, for the TWW to meet regula- concentrations of NH4 , total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN; The tory standards for unlimited irrigation, further water quality total concentration of organic nitrogen and NHC) and oxi- − − 4 enhancement is required (Shuval et al., 1986). Soil aquifer dized nitrogen species (NO2 , NO3 , NO) were monitored, treatment (SAT) may be the supplementary treatment com- using data from two observation wells, screening different ponent for conventional (secondary) WW treatment, needed depths of the vadose zone. They found that removal of up to meet regulations and sustainability. These systems involve to ∼ 75 % of the total nitrogen occurred in the upper parts clusters of infiltration ponds through which TWW is infil- of the soil profile (up to ∼ 70 cm below the ground surface) trated through the vadose zone, into the aquifer in cycles while the deeper parts had a smaller contribution. This obser- of flooding and drying. This form of operation (i.e., flood- vation led them to the conclusion that inflow concentrations ing and drying cycles) is important for both sustaining in- of more than 8.3 mg L−1 of NHC-N will result in a decrease 4 C filtration rates (Ganot et al., 2017) and rates of microbially in reclaimed water quality due to NH4 and organic nitrogen driven oxidation and reduction processes. In the ponds and leakage into the aquifer. subsequently in the unsaturated zone, residual dissolved or- Previous research regarding oxygen behavior in the va- ganic carbon (DOC) and other nutrients (like organic and dose zone during wetting and drying cycles (Kim et al., 2004; inorganic nitrogen species) are involved in biogeochemical Dutta et al., 2015) emphasize the role of the site’s operational processes (such as adsorption to the soil minerals, consump- dynamics in the reclaimed water quality. During flooding pe- tion by bacteria, etc.) which result in a further decrease in the riods (FPs), water content (WC) in the soil profile below the TWW’s organic load and overall improved chemical compo- infiltration pond gradually increases (Arye et al., 2011), lim- sition (Bouwer, 1991; Amy and Drewes, 2007). iting the scope of diffusive and advective aeration, which In Israel, ∼ 150 million m3 of wastewater (WW) are is crucial for the replacement of the DO used by bacteria. treated each year in the SHAFDAN facility (Icekson et al., Hence, DPs play a major role in the overall biogeochemi- 2011). After the SAT process, the TWW is transported to the cal dynamics of SAT systems (Miller et al., 2006). Looking south of Israel and is used by farmers for crop irrigation (Ide- at oxygen dynamics during wetting and drying cycles in a lovitch et al., 2003). With the constant rise in population, the 1 m sand column, Dutta et al.(2015) found that DO concen- site is often not able to treat all the WW it receives, which re- trations dropped exponentially in response to each flooding sults in conventionally treated WW being discarded into local event. They also showed that oxygen partial pressure recov- streams and the Mediterranean Sea. Clearly, the SAT com- ered to its initial value upon the start of the DP. This obser- ponent is a bottleneck for full utilization of TWW. The SAT vation, however, may not hold true for greater depths. In a mechanism relies on the various biogeochemical processes field-scale study, Miller et al.(2006) described oxygen and that take place during TWW infiltration. These processes be- nitrogen species concentrations in a ∼ 2:7 m sandy loam soil gin even before the TWW reach the unsaturated zone. Goren profile during cycles of 4 d of wetting and 4 d of drying. They et al.(2014) described the variability in carbon and nitro- found that deeper than 0.6 m below the ground surface, aer- gen species through the hours of the day and in different ation was limited compared to the upper parts of the pro- seasons in a field study conducted at the SHAFDAN site. file and that deeper than 1.5 m, the vadose zone was mostly They found that the chemical composition of the TWW in anoxic throughout the wetting and drying cycles (Miller et the infiltration ponds responded to the day and night cycles. al., 2006). For example, during daytime, dissolved oxygen (DO) con- In this study we examine the effect of hydraulic opera- centrations increase due to photosynthesis, reaching a max- tion (i.e., wetting–drying periods) on a 6 m soil profile’s bio- imum in the late afternoon. As a result, TWW that are in- geochemical dynamics through a series of long-column ex- filtrated during the day are significantly more oxidized com- periments. We hypothesize that in vadose zones deeper than pared to TWW that is infiltrated during the night, affecting ∼ 1–1.5 m, oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) and DO dy- the redox state of the soil profile and thus this impact rates namics differ greatly compared to the shallow parts of a soil of oxidation reactions. Once the TWW reaches the unsatu- profile and are affected to a different extent by changes in hy- rated zone, oxygen concentrations become a limiting factor draulic management and inflow composition.