Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
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Author
Escolà Casas, Mònica
Matamoros, Víctor
Publication date
2022-12-07ISSN
0045-6535
Abstract
About 13% and 7% of monitored groundwater stations in Europe exceed the permitted levels of nitrates (50 mg NO3− L−1) or pesticides (0.1 μg L−1), respectively. Although slow sand filtration can remove nitrates via denitrification when oxygen is limited, it requires an organic carbon source. The present study evaluates the performance of the use of wood pellets and granulated cork as carbon sources in bench-scale biofilters operated under water-saturated and water-unsaturated conditions for more than 400 days. The biofilters were monitored for nitrate (200 mg L−1) and pesticide (mecoprop, diuron, atrazine, and bromacil, each at a concentration of 5 μg L−1) attenuation, as well as for the formation of nitrite and pesticide transformation products. Microbiological characterization of each biofilter was also performed. The water-saturated wood biofilter achieved the best nitrate removal (>99%), while the cork biofilters lost all denitrification power over time (from 38% to no removal). The unsaturated biofilter columns were not effective for removing nitrates (20–30% removal). As for pesticides, all the biofilters achieved high removal rates of mecoprop and diuron (>99% and >75%, respectively). Atrazine removal was better in the wood-pellet biofilters than the cork ones (68–96% vs. 31–38%). Bromacil was only removed in the water-unsaturated cork biofilter (67%). However, a bromacil transformation product was formed there. The water-saturated wood biofilter contained the highest number of denitrifying microorganisms, with Methyloversatilis as the characteristic genus. Microbial composition could explain the high removal of pesticides and nitrates achieved in the wood-pellet biofilter. Overall, the results indicate that wood-pellet biofilters operated under water-saturated conditions are a good solution for treating groundwater contaminated with nitrates and pesticides.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Accepted version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
504 - Threats to the environment
Pages
34
Publisher
Elsevier
Is part of
Chemosphere
Citation
Escolà Casas, Mònica, Miriam Guivernau, Marc Viñas, Belén Fernández, Rafaela Cáceres, Carme Biel, and Víctor Matamoros. 2023. "Use Of Wood And Cork In Biofilters For The Simultaneous Removal Of Nitrates And Pesticides From Groundwater". Chemosphere 313: 137502. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137502.
Grant agreement number
EC/LIFE/LIFE18 ENV-ES-000199/EU/Green solutions for treating groundwater pollution to meet drinking water directive standards/LIFE SPOT
EC/H2020/801370/EU/Beatriu de Pinos-3 Postdoctoral Programme/BP3
MICIU/Programa Estatal de fomento de la investigación científica y técnica de excelencia/CEX2018-000794-S/ES/ /
Program
Sostenibilitat en Biosistemes
Protecció Vegetal Sostenible
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2549]
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/