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Results for “Journal of Water Process Engineering”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

PFAS remediation in a bioelectrochemical system inoculated with the west branch consortium (WBC-2)

Groundwater contamination by per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) poses a persistent environmental and public health concern. This study evaluates a two-chambered bioelectrochemical system (BES) inoculated with the West Branch Consortium (WBC-2) for PFAS remediation. Under an applied cathodic potential of −450 mV (versus Ag/AgCl), the BES with active WBC-2 achieved >99.0% perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) removal within 21 days in deionized water with culture medium and > 98.9% removal of PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) in contaminated groundwater after 102 days. Intermediate formation (e.g., PFOA, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS), perfluoropropionic acid (PFPrA), perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA)) and background-corrected fluoride release were consistent with PFOS transformation under anaerobic reducing conditions potentially involving defluorination. Following repeated PFOS spikes (100 μg/L on Days 0, 50, and 399), PFOA, PFPrA, and PFBA accumulated over 664 days. Despite being the dominant accumulated compound, PFOA accounted for <1.8% of the total spiked PFOS mass. Minimal PFOS transformation occurred in controls without active WBC-2, highlighting the importance of microbial metabolism. Biofilm analysis revealed dense colonization of rod-shaped bacteria on carbon fiber brushes. Enrichment of Bacillus , Agrobacterium , and other low-abundance taxa suggests selective adaptation to BES and PFAS conditions. These findings highlight BES driven by electrochemically stimulated microbial activity as a promising strategy for PFAS remediation.

Journal of Water Process Engineering↗
USGS2022

Natural inactivation of MS2, poliovirus type 1 and Cryptosporidium parvum in an anaerobic and reduced aquifer

Aims The study of microbial inactivation rates in aquifer systems has most often been determined in aerobic and oxidized systems. This study examined the inactivation (i.e. loss of infectivity) of MS2, poliovirus type 1 (PV1) and Cryptosporidium parvum in an anaerobic and reduced groundwater system that has been identified as storage zones for aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) facilities. Methods and Results Anaerobic and reduced (ORP < − 250 mV) groundwater from an artesian well was diverted to an above-ground, flow-through mesocosm that contained diffusion chambers filled with MS2, PV1 or Cryptosporidium parvum . The respective infectivity assays were performed on microorganisms recovered from the diffusion chambers during 30- to 58-day experiments. The net reduction in infectivity was 5.73 log 10 over 30 days for MS2, 5.00 log 10 over 58 days for PV1 and 4.07 log 10 over 37 days for C . parvum . The best fit inactivation model for PV1 was the log-linear model and the Weibull model for MS2 and C . parvum , with respective inactivation rates (95% confidence interval) of 0.19 (0.17–0.21) log 10 day −1 , 0.31 (0.19–0.89) log 10 day −1 and 0.20 (0.14–0.37) log 10 day −1 . Conclusions The groundwater geochemical conditions in this aquifer enhanced the inactivation of MS2, PV1, and C . parvum at rates approximately 2.0–5.3-fold, 1.2–17.0-fold, and 4.5–5.6-fold greater, respectively, than those from published studies that used diffusion chambers in aerobic-to-anoxic groundwater systems, with positive redox potentials. Significance and Impact of the Study Geochemical conditions like those in the aquifer zone in this study can naturally and significantly reduce concentrations of microbial indicators and pathogens of human health concern in injected surface water. Appropriate storage times for injected surface water could complement above-ground engineered processes for microorganism removal and inactivation (e.g. filtration, disinfection) by naturally increasing overall microorganism log-inactivation rates of ASR facilities.

Journal of Applied Microbiology↗
USGS2002

Removal of antibiotics from surface and distilled water in conventional water treatment processes

Conventional drinking water treatment processes were evaluated under typical water treatment plant conditions to determine their effectiveness in the removal of seven common antibiotics: carbadox, sulfachlorpyridazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfathiazole, and trimethoprim. Experiments were conducted using synthetic solutions prepared by spiking both distilled/ deionized water and Missouri River water with the studied compounds. Sorption on Calgon WPH powdered activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and oxidation with chlorine and ozone under typical plant conditions were all shown to be effective in removing the studied antibiotics. Conversely, coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation with alum and iron salts, excess lime/soda ash softening, ultraviolet irradiation at disinfection dosages, and ion exchange were all relatively ineffective methods of antibiotic removal. This study shows that the studied antibiotics could be effectively removed using processes already in use many water treatment plants. Additional work is needed on by-product formation and the removal of other classes of antibiotics.

Journal of Environmental Engineering↗
USGS1989

Bias in groundwater samples caused by wellbore flow

Design of physical installations and sampling procedures for ground-water monitoring networks, particularly for detection and analysis of possible contaminants, is a topic of great scientific and practical interest at the present time. Recent practice in the design of monitoring networks associated with known contaminant sources sometimes includes an array of monitoring wells with long well screens (up to 50 feet or more). Numerical experiments with a detailed three-dimensional ground-water flow model indicate that significant wellbore flow can occur in contaminant monitoring wells with long well screens that are embedded in homogeneous aquifers with very small vertical head differences in the aquifer. This ``short circuiting'' of flow through boreholes should exist at some level on all scales. Consideration of the general flow pattern within the borehole, the flow pattern in the aquifer adjacent to the borehole, and the process of obtaining water samples from the borehole suggests that in many situations the practice of installing long well screens in contaminant monitoring wells should be abandoned.

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗
USGS2018

Discussion of “Shallow water hydro-sediment-morphodynamic equations for fluvial processes” by Zhixian Cao, Chunchen Xia, Gareth Pender, and Qingquan Liu

The original paper concerns the formulation and use of depth-integrated equations of motion to model the dynamics of shallow flows that entrain or deposit bed material. A recurring theme of the original paper is the authors’ criticism of related theoretical results published by Iverson and Ouyang ( 2015 ). This discussion explains why that criticism is misguided.

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗
USGS2025

Coastal fine-grained sediment plumes from beach nourishment near Santa Barbara, California

Terrestrial sediments captured by flood control facilities such as dams, debris basins, and engineered stream channels can reduce sediment fluxes to littoral cells. The beneficial use of these sediments for beach nourishment may induce negative environmental effects from turbidity or sedimentation caused by the source material. Here, we examine the size and extent of turbid coastal plumes produced by beach nourishment with sediment containing significant fine-grained (silt and clay) fractions near Santa Barbara, California, to evaluate the potential effects of beneficial use of fluvial sediment captured in upstream facilities. Using remotely sensed imagery and hydrodynamic and sediment transport model simulations, we find that wave height, wind speed and direction, and sediment settling velocity have strong controls on the direction and extent of the turbid plume produced by beach nourishment. These results are consistent with monitored nourishment projects, suggesting generalizable patterns and processes across the studies. Additionally, we find that sediment placement method (hauling versus dredging) can influence the magnitude and duration of fine-sediment concentrations in the adjacent coastal waters. Combined, these results will inform sediment management strategies that intend to minimize the environmental effects of beach nourishment within the study area and across similar coastal sites.

California↗
USGS1976

Use of thermal-infrared imagery in ground-water investigations, northwestern Montana

Thermal-infrared imagery was used to locate ground-water inflow along a 50-mile (80-kilometre) reach of the Kootenai River and Lake Koocanusa and a 55-mi (88-km) reach of the Clark Fork of the Columbia River in northwestern Montana and northeastern Idaho. The imagery confirmed that measured streamflow gains below Noxon Rapids Dam, ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 cubic feet per second (28 to 71 cubic metres per second), resulted from inflow of ground water, which was about 2.5° Celsius warmer than surface water. The thermal scanner (8.5-11 micrometres) used in May 1972 and March 1973 was mounted in a twin-engined aircraft. On the March 1973 flight, the data were recorded in an analog format on magnetic tape in flight, later were converted to digital format, and then were computer processed using an assignment of patterns to indicate differences in water temperature. Thus, subtle temperature differences are much easier to identify than they are oh conventional film-negative displays. The output data from the image-processing program can be converted to temperature maps having an isotherm spacing of 0.5°C.

Montana↗
USGS1979

Arctic stream processes--an annotated bibliography

This bibliography selectively summarizes investigations to date (1978) dealing with the physical processes of streams in the Arctic. The specialized annotations include aspects of stream processes described in subordinate parts of general papers on the arctic environment and therefore not evident in author-abstract bibliographies. Foreign contributions--Canadian, Scandinavian, and Russian--are summarized, in the case of Russian literature primarily by means of papers in translation journals. Until 1970 the role of streams in development of the arctic landscape was commonly considered subordinate to that of glacial and frost-related processes. This conclusion changed, however, with the findings of the many new studies begun in response to oil and gas discoveries in the late 1960's. The conclusions of these studies, made to provide both the engineering data for resource development and the information to assess the impacts of that development, were in general agreement that stream processes throughout most of the Arctic were significantly more important than previously had been thought.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS2004

Estimation of contraction scour in riverbed using SERF

Contraction scour in a firm-clay estuarine riverbed is estimated at an oil-unloading terminal at the Port of Haldia in India, where a scour hole attained a maximum depth greater than 5 m relative to the original bottom. A linear equation for the erosion flux as a function of the excess bed shear stress was semicalibrated in a rotating-cylinder device called SERF (Simulator of Erosion Rate Function) and coupled to a hydrodynamic code to simulate the hole as a clear-water scour process. SERF, whose essential design is based on previous such devices, additionally included a load cell for in situ and rapid measurement of the eroded sediment mass. Based on SERF's performance and the degree of comparison between measured and simulated hole geometry, it appears that this device holds promise as a simple tool for prediction of scour in firm-clay beds. ?? ASCE.

Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engin↗
USGS2000

Detection of crystalline hematite mineralization on Mars by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer: evidence for near-surface water

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission has discovered a remarkable accumulation of crystalline hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) that covers an area with very sharp boundaries approximately 350 by 350–750 km in size centered near 2°S latitude between 0° and 5°W longitude (Sinus Meridiani). Crystalline hematite is uniquely identified by the presence of fundamental vibrational absorption features centered near 300, 450, and >525 cm −1 and by the absence of silicate fundamentals in the 1000 cm −1 region. Spectral features resulting from atmospheric CO 2 , dust, and water ice were removed using a radiative transfer model. The spectral properties unique to Sinus Meridiani were emphasized by removing the average spectrum of the surrounding region. The depth and shape of the hematite fundamental bands show that the hematite is crystalline and relatively coarse grained (>5–10 μm). Diameters up to and greater than hundreds of micrometers are permitted within the instrumental noise and natural variability of hematite spectra. Hematite particles <5–10 μm in diameter (as either unpacked or hard-packed powders) fail to match the TES spectra. The spectrally derived areal abundance of hematite varies with particle size from ∼10% (>30 μm diameter) to 40–60% (10 μm diameter). The hematite in Sinus Meridiani is thus distinct from the fine-grained (diameter <5–10 μm), red, crystalline hematite considered, on the basis of visible, near-IR data, to be a minor spectral component in Martian bright regions like Olympus-Amazonis. Sinus Meridiani hematite is closely associated with a smooth, layered, friable surface that is interpreted to be sedimentary in origin. This material may be the uppermost surface in the region, indicating that it might be a late stage sedimentary unit or a layered portion of the heavily cratered plains units. We consider five possible mechanisms for the formation of coarse-grained, crystalline hematite. These processes fall into two classes depending on whether they require a significant amount of near-surface water: the first is chemical precipitation that includes origin by (1) precipitation from standing, oxygenated, Fe-rich water (oxide iron formations), (2) precipitation from Fe-rich hydrothermal fluids, (3) low-temperature dissolution and precipitation through mobile ground water leaching, and (4) formation of surface coatings, and the second is thermal oxidation of magnetite-rich lavas. Weathering and alteration processes, which produce nanophase and red hematite, are not consistent with the coarse, crystalline hematite observed in Sinus Meridiani. We prefer chemical precipitation models and favor precipitation from Fe-rich water on the basis of the probable association with sedimentary materials, large geographic size, distance from a regional heat source, and lack of evidence for extensive groundwater processes elsewhere on Mars. The TES results thus provide mineralogic evidence for probable large-scale water interactions. The Sinus Meridiani region may be an ideal candidate for future landed missions searching for biotic and prebiotic environments, and the physical characteristics of this site satisfy all of the engineering requirements for the missions currently planned.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗
USGS2018

Impact of pore fluid chemistry on fine-grained sediment fabric and compressibility

Fines, defined here as grains or particles, less than 75 μm in diameter, exist nearly ubiquitously in natural sediment, even those classified as coarse. Macroscopic sediment properties, such as compressibility, which relates applied effective stress to the resulting sediment deformation, depend on the fabric of fines. Unlike coarse grains, fines have sizes and masses small enough to be more strongly influenced by electrical interparticle forces than by gravity. These electrical forces acting through pore fluids are influenced by pore fluid chemistry changes. Macroscopic property dependence on pore fluid chemistry must be accounted for in sediment studies involving subsurface flow and sediment stability analyses, as well as in engineered flow situations such as groundwater pollutant remediation, hydrocarbon migration, or other energy resource extraction applications. This study demonstrates how the liquid limit‐based electrical sensitivity index can be used to predict sediment compressibility changes due to pore fluid chemistry changes. Laboratory tests of electrical sensitivity, sedimentation, and compressibility illustrate mechanisms linking microscale and macroscale processes for selected pure, end‐member fines. A specific application considered here is methane extraction via depressurization of gas hydrate‐bearing sediment, which causes a dramatic pore water salinity drop concurrent with sediment being compressed by the imposed effective stress increase.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗
USGS2011

Stationarity: Wanted dead or alive?

Aligning engineering practice with natural process behavior would appear, on its face, to be a prudent and reasonable course of action. However, if we do not understand the long-term characteristics of hydroclimatic processes, how does one find the prudent and reasonable course needed for water management? We consider this question in light of three aspects of existing and unresolved issues affecting hydroclimatic variability and statistical inference: Hurst-Kolmogorov phenomena; the complications long-term persistence introduces with respect to statistical understanding; and the dependence of process understanding on arbitrary sampling choices. These problems are not easily addressed. In such circumstances, humility may be more important than physics; a simple model with well-understood flaws may be preferable to a sophisticated model whose correspondence to reality is uncertain.

Journal of the American Water Resources Associatio↗
USGS1987

Langrangian model of nitrogen kinetics in the Chattahoochee River

A Lagrangian reference frame is used to solve the convection‐dispersion equation and interpret water‐quality data obtained from the Chattahoochee River. The model was calibrated using unsteady concentrations of organic nitrogen, ammonia, and nitrite plus nitrate obtained during June 1977 and verified using data obtained during August 1976. Reaction kinetics of the cascade type are shown to provide a reasonable description of the nitrogenspecies processes in the Chattahoochee River. The conceptual model is easy to visualize in the physical sense and the output includes information that is not easily determined from an Eulerian approach, but which is very helpful in model calibration and data interpretation. For example, the model output allows one to determine which data are of most value in model calibration or verification.

Journal of Environmental Engineering↗
USGS1987

Analyzing numerical errors in domain heat transport models using the CVBEM

Besides providing an exact solution for steady-state heat conduction processes (Laplace-Poisson equations), the CVBEM (complex variable boundary element method) can be used for the numerical error analysis of domain model solutions. For problems where soil-water phase change latent heat effects dominate the thermal regime, heat transport can be approximately modeled as a time-stepped steady-state condition in the thawed and frozen regions, respectively. The CVBEM provides an exact solution of the two-dimensional steady-state heat transport problem, and also provides the error in matching the prescribed boundary conditions by the development of a modeling error distribution or an approximate boundary generation. Consequently, this error evaluation can be used to develop highly accurate CVBEM models of the heat transport process, and the resulting model can be used as a test case for evaluating the precision of domain models based on finite elements or finite differences.

Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineeri↗
USGS2009

Acid rock drainage and climate change

Rainfall events cause both increases and decreases in acid and metals concentrations and their loadings from mine wastes, and unmined mineralized areas, into receiving streams based on data from 3 mines sites in the United States and other sites outside the US. Gradual increases in concentrations occur during long dry spells and sudden large increases are observed during the rising limb of the discharge following dry spells (first flush). By the time the discharge peak has occurred, concentrations are usually decreased, often to levels below those of pre-storm conditions and then they slowly rise again during the next dry spell. These dynamic changes in concentrations and loadings are related to the dissolution of soluble salts and the flushing out of waters that were concentrated by evaporation. The underlying processes, pyrite oxidation and host rock dissolution, do not end until the pyrite is fully weathered, which can take hundreds to thousands of years. These observations can be generalized to predict future conditions caused by droughts related to El Ni??o and climate change associated with global warming. Already, the time period for dry summers is lengthening in the western US and rainstorms are further apart and more intense when they happen. Consequently, flushing of inactive or active mine sites and mineralized but unmined sites will cause larger sudden increases in concentrations that will be an ever increasing danger to aquatic life with climate change. Higher average concentrations will be observed during longer low-flow periods. Remediation efforts will have to increase the capacity of engineered designs to deal with more extreme conditions, not average conditions of previous years.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗
USGS2023

Evolving radon diffusion through earthen barriers at uranium waste disposal sites

Field measurements of Rn-222 fluxes from the tops and bottoms of compacted clay radon barriers were used to calculate effective Rn diffusion coefficients (D Rn ) at four uranium waste disposal sites in the western United States to assess cover performance after more than 20 years of service. Values of D Rn ranged from 7.4 × 10 −7 to 6.0 × 10 −9 m 2 /s, averaging 1.42 × 10 −7 . Water saturation (S W ) from soil cores indicated that there was relatively little control of D Rn by S W , especially at higher moisture levels, in contrast to estimates from most steady-state diffusion models. This is attributed to preferential pathways intrinsic to construction of the barriers or to natural process that have developed over time including desiccation cracks, root channels, and insect burrows in the engineered earthen barriers. A modification to some models in which fast and slow pathway D Rn values are partitioned appears to give a good representation of the data; 4% of the fast pathway was needed to fit the data regression. For locations with high S w and highest D Rn (and fluxes) at each site, the proportion of fast pathway ranged from 1.7% to 34%, but for many locations with lower fluxes, little if any fast pathway was needed.

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity↗
USGS2009

Water quality characterization in some birimian aquifers of the Birim Basin, Ghana

The objective of this study was to determine the main controls on the hydrochemistry of groundwater in the study area. Mass balance modeling was used simultaneously with multivariate R-mode hierarchical cluster analysis to determine the significant sources of variation in the hydrochemistry. Two water types have been revealed in this area: (1) waters influenced more significantly by the weathering of silicate minerals from the underlying geology, and are rich in silica, sodium, calcium, bicarbonate, and magnesium ions, and (2) waters that have been influenced by the effects of fertilizers and other anthropogenic activities in the area. Mineral speciation and silicate mineral stability diagrams generated from the data suggest that montmorillonite, probably derived from the incongruent dissolution of feldspars and micas, is the most stable silicate phase in the groundwater. The apparent incongruent weathering of silicate minerals in the groundwater system has led to the enrichment of sodium, calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate ions as well as silica, leading to the supersaturation of calcite, aragonite, dolomite and quartz. Stability in the montmorillonite field suggests restricted flow conditions whereby groundwater residence time is relatively high, leading to greater contact of groundwater with the rock to enhance weathering. Cation exchange processes have also been determined to play minor roles in the hydrochemistry.

KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering↗
USGS2026

A process-based model for forecasting wave runup along the coast of Georgia

Wave runup is an important nearshore process that impacts total water level, sediment transport, and coastal design. Current methods for forecasting wave runup implement an empirical model that considers offshore wave height, wave period, and generalized beach slope. In this study, the authors generated wave runup forecasts from offshore wave conditions and a system of polynomial equations derived from numerical simulations at three different still water datums for each beach profile. They developed a process-based methodology that incorporated site-specific cross-shore topobathy into the phase-resolving numerical model. A comparison between the system of equations, deterministic hydrodynamic simulations, and observed high-water marks was made using Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Irma (2017) for 12 cases, and it showed that the polynomials were capable of being consistent with the results from full simulation runs, while not requiring hours of runtime when a forecast was needed—the differences between the polynomial and the observed high water marks ranged from 3 to 32 cm for the Irma hindcast and 9–70 cm for Matthew. Then, using forcings from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole (2022), the model predicted the occurrence of dune collision, overwash, and inundation for the coast of Georgia and suggested that wave runup was impacted by the still water level and local topobathy.

Georgia↗