SPONSOR:
National Institute for Water Resources, Water Resources Research Institute Program
PROJECT PERIOD:
3/1/2012 - 2/28/2013
ABSTRACT:
Riverbank filtration (RBF) represents a natural filtration technique that has been used for providing drinking water for more than a century in Europe and half a century in the United States. RBF uses the riverbed and the underlying aquifer as natural filters to remove pollutants present in the surface water. Straining, colloidal filtration, sorption and microbial degradation contribute to the removal and attenuation of these contaminants. In this study, we investigated by using two side-by-side slab and computer simulations the fate and transport of different pharmaceutically active chemicals under different environmental conditions occurring at the RBF site. Also, the findings were extrapolated to sea water filtration typically used as pre-treatment for membrane filtration.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR