Ground-water contamination with volatile organic compounds is a significant national and international problem. Waters containing these contaminants are typically pumped from contaminated aquifers and treated by air stripping or sorption onto activated carbon. These methods are costly, do not destroy the contaminants, may require pumping and disposal of large water volumes, and do not effectively remove contaminants sorbed to the aquifer material.Accordingly, there has been a great deal of interest in alternative treatment strategies, such as enhanced in-situ remediation. Our research group in collaboration with the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Center for Microbial Ecology designed and installed a cost-effective biocurtain that is currently being used to remove carbon tetrachloride from an aquifer in Schoolcraft, Michigan. Novel aspects of the design are the use of closely-spaced wells to recirculate solutes through a biocurtain, well screens spanning the vertical extent of contamination, and a semi-passive mode of operation, with only six hours of low-level pumping per week.
Related Publications:
Zhao, X, RB Wallace, DW Hyndman, M Dybas, and TC Voice, (2005), Heterogeneity of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Sorption Properties in a Sandy Aquifer, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 78(4):327-42
Phanikumar, MS, DW Hyndman, X Zhao, and M Dybas, (2005), A Three-Dimensional Model of Microbial Transport and Biodegradation at the Schoolcraft, Michigan Site, Water Resources Research, 41, W05011
Biteman, SE, DW Hyndman, MS Phanikumar, and GS Weissmann, (2004), Integration of Sedimentologic and Hydrogeologic Properties for Improved Transport Simulations, In Aquifer Characterization, JS Bridge and DW Hyndman eds, SEPM Special Publication 80
Phanikumar, MS, and DW Hyndman, (2003), Interactions Between Sorption and Biodegradation: Exploring bioavailability and pulsed nutrient injection, Water Resources Research, 39 (5), 1122
Dybas, MJ, DW Hyndman, R Heine, J Tiedje, K Linning, D Wiggert, T Voice, X Zhao, L Dybas, and CS Criddle, (2002), Development, Operation, and Long-Term Performance of a Full-Scale Biocurtain Utilizing Bioaugmentation, Environmental Science and Technology, (36), 3635-3644
Phanikumar, MS, DW Hyndman, and CS Criddle, (2002), Biocurtain Design Using Reactive Transport Models, Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation, 22, no 3, 113-123
Phanikumar, MS, DW Hyndman, D Wiggert, MJ Dybas, ME Witt, and CS Criddle, (2002), Simulation of Microbial Transport and Carbon Tetrachloride Biodegradation in Intermittently-fed Aquifer Columns, Water Resources Research, 38 (4), 4-1 to 4-13
Hyndman, DW, MJ Dybas, L Forney, R Heine, T Mayotte, MS Phanikumar, G Tatara, J Tiedje, T Voice, R Wallace, D Wiggert, X Zhao and CS Criddle, (2000), Hydraulic Characterization and Design of a Full-Scale Biocurtain, Ground Water, 38(3), pp 462-474
