Deborah Reed looks at Microbial Population Dynamics of groundwater in response to treated effluent from Infiltration Galleries.

New techniques such as Managed Aquifer Recharge are the future of water supply in some parts of the country. In Australia's West Deborah looks at the response in groundwater Microbial Population Dynamics to the treated effluent we introduce to their systems.

The research of Deborah Reed, a PhD student with CSIRO's Division of Land and Water, looks at the impact of treated effluent on the indigenous microbial populations of groundwater. Aiming to comprehensively study the environmental impacts of this method of water reuse, Deborah's research is pertinent to public concerns about environmental and health issues raised by water reuse, particularly associated with Managed Aquifer Recharge.

The main study focus is at Western Australia's Floreat Infiltration Gallery site. Here, treated effluent is pumped from the Subiaco wastewater treatment plant and infiltrated to the groundwater through the unsaturated zone. The aim is to determine what affect the changes in the chemistry of the groundwater has on the groundwater microbial population. It is envisaged that this may help in the prediction of pathogen decay rates; the degradation of problem organic compounds; and the removal of nutrients, in particular nitrogen from the recharged water.

Results analysed to-date show that there is a distance-based chemical gradient from the galleries which varies with time. Microbial populations also show to differ with distance and time from the galleries but appear to be more dynamic in nature than chemical variation. Most notably, the extraction bore and the background samples are clearly distinct from all other samples from the study site.

The challenge for Deborah now is to undertake further statistical analysis to link the chemical data to the microbial analysis to determine if microbial populations change groundwater chemistry or vice-a-versa. Her work will further evaluate which particular chemicals and microbial populations are significantly correlated, which may prove these indicators can be used in a predictive manner for evaluation of infiltration galleries.

It is anticipated that the tools and methods developed in this project will not only be useful for further water reuse studies but also for a studies in a range of other aquatic and terrestrial environments.

Contact: Ms Deborah Reed: 08 9333 6241 Deborah.Reed@csiro.au











































 

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