Bulk organic matter and nitrogen removal from reclaimed water during groundwater recharge by enhanced direct...

Water shortages lead to increasing attention to artificial groundwater recharge by reclaimed water. A new kind of approach, enhanced direct injection-well recharge (EnDir) consisting of short- and long-term soil treatment, is considered to be suitable for large cities in China. In this paper, EnDir was simulated by soil columns in the laboratory with the secondary effluent as raw water that was ozonated before EnDir. Laboratory-scale experiments demonstrate that the short-term part of EnDir can remove 47 to 60% dissolved organic carbon (DOC), convert 5 mg/L of ammonia-nitrogen to equivalent nitrate-nitrogen, and offer preferred removal of non-UV-absorbing organics. Soluble microbial byproducts and fulvic-acid-like materials can be ozonated and then partially biodegraded. The residuals of organic matter as a refractory fraction are biodegraded continuously during the long-term part. The DOC value of 1.8 to 2.5 mg/L can be reached, and 40% of organic matter with molecular weight less than 500 Da can be removed after full-term EnDir.