Assessing Risk of Injection of Reclaimed Water into the Biscayne Aquifer for Aquifer Recharge Purposes

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DOI: 10.4236/gep.2019.77013    533 Downloads   1,172 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

The recharge of non-potable water into a drinking water aquifer is one means to overcome decreasing groundwater supplies and maintain availability of these resources for current and future generations. However, health concerns exist regarding the use of waters of “impaired quality” such as reclaimed wastewater for aquifer recharge. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential risk to drinking water from the use of reclaimed water for recharge purposes using computational modeling with MODFLOW and MT3D groundwater transport simulation based on an actual situation using rotavirus as a surrogate. The results from the simulation showed that after seven months, the risk of contamination based on concentration contours from the injection well to the production wells was stabilized below 10-6.

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Bloetscher, F. , Meeroff, D. and Phonpornwithoon, P. (2019) Assessing Risk of Injection of Reclaimed Water into the Biscayne Aquifer for Aquifer Recharge Purposes. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 7, 184-201. doi: 10.4236/gep.2019.77013.

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