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Title: ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF GROUNDWATER: SYSTEMS AND GUIDELINES

Author
item Bouwer, Herman

Submitted to: Water Management Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: As populations continue to increase, planned reuse of water becomes increasingly necessary. To enhance safety and public acceptance of using treated sewage in public water supplies, the effluent from sewage treatment plants can first be used for artificial recharge of groundwater, using "natural" soil processes to further clean the effluent water. These processes include physical, chemical and biological reactions that provide "soil-aquifer treatment" or "geopurification." Many field and laboratory studies have been performed to show the efficiency of these processes and the enhanced aesthetics of water reuse that they produce. Soil-aquifer treatment is low-tech, cost-effective, and will be of value wherever water shortages require planned water reuse. An additional benefit is the opportunity of seasonal or longer term underground storage of the effluent to overcome differences between effluent supplies and water demands. Those eto benefit from this work are water planners, consultants, regulators, water districts, and muncipalities.

Technical Abstract: Shortages of water and lack of suitable disposal routes for sewage effluent have led to the development of techniques for the artificial recharge of groundwater using sewage effluent. Recently, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences has given cautious approval for the potable use of water from aquifers recharged with sewage effluent. This result builds on many years of research and study that are reviewed here. The paper describes various methods for artificial recharge: surface infiltration basins, aquifer wells, vadose zone wells or trenches, and constructed aquifers. Pretreatment and clogging concerns for these methods are discussed. The further treatment of sewage effluent in soils (via Soil Aquifer Treatment, or SAT) is shown with a case study from Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. Concerns regarding potable reuse of water after SAT are also included.