Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #153456
Title: PERSISTENCE OF PHARMACEUTICALS, PATHOGENS, AND OTHER ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS WHEN WASTEWATER IS USED FOR GROUND-WATER RECHARGE

Author
item CORDY, GAIL - USGS,TUCSON, AZ
item Duran, Norma
item BOUWER, HERMAN - CONSULTANT, PHX, AZ
item RICE, ROBERT - CONSULTANT, PHX, AZ
item KOLPIN, DANA - USGS, IOWA CITY, IA
item FURGLONG, EDWARD - USGS, LAKEWOOD, CO
item ZAUGG, STEVEN - USGS, LAKEWOOD, CO
item MEYER, MICHAEL - USGS, OCALA, FL
item BARBER, LARRY - USGS, OCALA, FL

Submitted to: Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Water Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2003
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Recent studies have shown that pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater compounds (OWCs; Kolpin et al., 2002), as well as bacterial, viral, and protozoan pathogens (Toze, 1999), can survive conventional wastewater treatment and persist in the environment. In light of these studies, the use of treated effluent for irrigation and ground-water recharge in Arizona raises questions about the potential for ground-water contamination. The U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a soil-column experiment during the summer of 2001 to determine if wastewater contaminants persist in the soil and reach the ground water under a set of likely recharge conditions. An 8-foot long, 1-foot diameter vertical steel column was packed with desert soils that had never been irrigated or farmed. Secondarily treated effluent from a 14-million gallons per day municipal wastewater-treatment plant near Phoenix was applied at the top of the column (column inflow) to simulate ground-water recharge. Effluent from the same wastewater-treatment plant had been used to recharge the soil column several months prior to this experiment, but no samples were collected, and the column was allowed to dry out before this experiment began. The column inflow was sampled on the first day of the experiment (T0=May 29, 2001). After at least two pore volumes of effluent had passed through the soil column, the drainage at the base of the column was sampled on the last day of the experiment (Bend=June 20, 2001). The column inflow also was sampled on the last day of the experiment (Tend=June 20, 2001). Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed samples for pharmaceuticals including human and veterinary antibiotics and human drugs, hormone and steroidal compounds, and other OWCs using methods developed by the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program (Kolpin et al., 2002). Researchers at the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory analyzed microbial contaminants (pathogens) using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Thirty-four OWCs were detected in column inflow samples collected at the beginning of the experiment (T0). Twenty-six of the 34 compounds were detected at concentrations of less than 1 microgram per liter ('g/L). Concentrations were estimated for 20 of the 34 compounds because their concentrations were less than the method-reporting limit or lowest calibration standard, or because recovery in lab spikes was less than 60 percent. Compounds present at concentrations greater than 1 'g/L included an insect repellant, two detergent metabolites, a stimulant (caffeine), a fragrance, a plasticizer, and two fecal indicators. Of the bacterial pathogens tested, Salmonella and Legionella were identified in the column inflow at T0. A comparison of the compounds detected in the column inflow at T0 and Tend indicates that 26 of the original 34 compounds remained at detectable concentrations in the column inflow at Tend. Analyses of the samples showed that total and fecal coliform bacteria were still viable in column inflow at Tend. In addition, real-time polymerase chain reaction results indicated that Legionella, but not Salmonella, persisted in the column inflow at Tend. Thirteen OWCs were detected in the column drainage samples at Bend. Compounds detected included two antibiotics, an antiepileptic drug, two fire retardants, an insecticide, a nicotine metabolite, an insect repellant, a fixative for perfumes and soaps, an anticorrosive, a solvent, a liniment, and an indicator of diesel or kerosene. Most of the OWCs detected in the column drainage were at concentrations that were less than those in the column inflow at T0, indicating some loss (adsorption or degradation) during recharge. With the exception of the insect repellant, all compounds detected in the column drainage were at concentrations of less than 1 ug/L. Conce