Transport and fate of bacteria in porous media: Coupled effects of chemical conditions and pore space geometry

Abstract

Experimental and theoretical studies were undertaken to explore the coupled effects of chemical conditions and pore space geometry on bacteria transport in porous media. The retention of Escherichia coli D21g was investigated in a series of batch and column experiments with solutions of different ionic strength (IS) and ultrapure quartz sand. Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) calculations and results from batch experiments suggested that bacteria attachment to the sand surface was negligible when the IS was less than or equal to 50 mM. Breakthrough data from column experiments showed significant cell retention and was strongly dependent on the IS. This finding indicates that cell retention was dependent on the depth of the secondary energy minimum which increases with IS. When the IS of the influent bacteria‐free solution was decreased to 1 mM, only a small fraction of the retained bacteria was released from the column. The remaining retained bacteria, however, were recovered from the sand, which was excavated from the column and suspended in a cell‐free electrolyte having the original IS. These observations suggest that the solution chemistry is not the only parameter controlling bacteria retention in the porous media. Computational simulations of flow around several collector grains revealed the retention mechanism, which is dependent on both the solution chemistry and the pore space geometry. Simulations demonstrate that the pore space geometry creates hydrodynamically disconnected regions. The number of bacterial cells that may be transported to these relatively “immobile” regions will theoretically be dependent on the depth of the secondary energy minimum (i.e., the IS). Once bacteria are trapped in these immobile regions, reduction of the secondary energy minimum does not necessarily release the cells owing to hydrodynamic constraints.