Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater

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 pres...

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Authors: Escolà Casas, Mònica, Guivernau, Miriam, Viñas, Marc, Fernández, Belén, Cáceres, Rafaela, Biel, Carmen, Matamoros, Víctor
Format: article
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
Repository:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.irta.cat:20.500.12327/2106
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/2106
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137502
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:504
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spelling Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwaterEscolà Casas, MònicaGuivernau, MiriamViñas, MarcFernández, BelénCáceres, RafaelaBiel, CarmenMatamoros, Víctor504About 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.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionElsevierProducció AnimalProducció VegetalSostenibilitat en BiosistemesProtecció Vegetal Sostenible202320242022info:eu-repo/semantics/article34application/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/2106https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137502reponame:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archiveinstname:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)InglésChemosphereEC/LIFE/LIFE18 ENV-ES-000199/EU/Green solutions for treating groundwater pollution to meet drinking water directive standards/LIFE SPOTEC/H2020/801370/EU/Beatriu de Pinos-3 Postdoctoral Programme/BP3MICIU/Programa Estatal de fomento de la investigación científica y técnica de excelencia/CEX2018-000794-S/ES/ /Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.irta.cat:20.500.12327/21062026-06-16T08:51:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
title Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
spellingShingle Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
Escolà Casas, Mònica
504
title_short Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
title_full Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
title_fullStr Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
title_full_unstemmed Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
title_sort Use of wood and cork in biofilters for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and pesticides from groundwater
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Escolà Casas, Mònica
Guivernau, Miriam
Viñas, Marc
Fernández, Belén
Cáceres, Rafaela
Biel, Carmen
Matamoros, Víctor
author Escolà Casas, Mònica
author_facet Escolà Casas, Mònica
Guivernau, Miriam
Viñas, Marc
Fernández, Belén
Cáceres, Rafaela
Biel, Carmen
Matamoros, Víctor
author_role author
author2 Guivernau, Miriam
Viñas, Marc
Fernández, Belén
Cáceres, Rafaela
Biel, Carmen
Matamoros, Víctor
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Producció Animal
Producció Vegetal
Sostenibilitat en Biosistemes
Protecció Vegetal Sostenible
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 504
topic 504
description 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.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
2023
2024
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/2106
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137502
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/2106
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137502
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Chemosphere
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/ /
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 34
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
instname:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
instname_str Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
reponame_str IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
collection IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,301629

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