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Ammonium (NH4 +) is a major constituent of many contaminated groundwaters, but its movement through aquifers is complex and poorly documented. In this study, processes affecting NH4 + movement in a treated wastewater plume were studied by a combination of techniques including large-scale monitoring of NH4 + distribution; isotopic analyses of coexisting aqueous NH4 +, NO3 −, N2, and sorbed NH4 +; and in situ natural gradient 15NH4 + tracer tests with numerical simulations of 15NH4 +, 15NO3 −, and 15N2 breakthrough data. Combined results indicate that the main mass of NH4 + was moving downgradient at a rate about 0.25 times the groundwater velocity. Retardation factors and groundwater ages indicate that much of the...
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Ammonium (NH4 +) is a major constituent of many contaminated groundwaters, but its movement through aquifers is complex and poorly documented. In this study, processes affecting NH4 + movement in a treated wastewater plume were studied by a combination of techniques including large-scale monitoring of NH4 + distribution; isotopic analyses of coexisting aqueous NH4 +, NO3 −, N2, and sorbed NH4 +; and in situ natural gradient 15NH4 + tracer tests with numerical simulations of 15NH4 +, 15NO3 −, and 15N2 breakthrough data. Combined results indicate that the main mass of NH4 + was moving downgradient at a rate about 0.25 times the groundwater velocity. Retardation factors and groundwater ages indicate that much of the...
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Groundwater nitrification is a poorly characterized process affecting the speciation and transport of nitrogen. Cores from two sites in a plume of contamination were examined using culture-based and molecular techniques targeting nitrification processes. The first site, located beneath a sewage effluent infiltration bed, received treated effluent containing O2 (> 300 µM) and NH4+ (51–800 µM). The second site was 2.5 km down-gradient near the leading edge of the ammonium zone within the contaminant plume and featured vertical gradients of O2, NH4+, and NO3− (0–300, 0–500, and 100–200 µM with depth, respectively). Ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizers enumerated by the culture-based MPN method were low in abundance at both...
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Nitrate removal by hydrogen-coupled denitrification was examined using flow-through, packed-bed bioreactors to develop a small-scale, cost effective system for treating nitrate-contaminated drinking-water supplies. Nitrate removal was accomplished using a Rhodocyclus sp., strain HOD 5, isolated from a sole-source drinking-water aquifer. The autotrophic capacity of the purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium made it particularly adept for this purpose. Initial tests used a commercial bioreactor filled with glass beads and countercurrent, non-sterile flow of an autotrophic, air-saturated, growth medium and hydrogen gas. Complete removal of 2 mM nitrate was achieved for more than 300 days of operation at a 2-h retention...
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