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Nitrate removal rates in a 15-year-old permeable reactive barrier treating septic system nitrate
Open accessAbstract
Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) have gained popularity in recent years as a low‐cost method for ground water remediation. However, their cost advantage usually requires that these barriers remain maintenance free for a number of years after installation. In this study, sediment cores were retrieved from a pilot‐scale PRB consisting of a sand and wood particle (sawdust) mixture that has been in continuous operation for 15 years treating nitrate from a septic system plume in southern Ontario (Long Point site). Reaction rates for the 15‐year‐old media were measured in dynamic flow column tests and were compared to rates measured in year 1 using the same reactive mixture. Nitrate removal rates in the 15‐year‐old media varied, as expected, with temperature in the range of 0.22 to 1.1 mg N/L/d at 6 °C to 10 °C to 3.5 to 6.0 mg N/L/d at 20 °C to 22 °C. The latter rates remained within about 50% of the year 1 rates (10.2 ± 2.7 mg N/L/d at 22 °C). Near the end of the year 15 column test, media particles >0.5 mm in diameter, containing most of the wood particles, were removed from the reactive media by sieving. Nitrate removal subsequently declined by about 80%, indicating that the wood particles were the principal energy source for denitrification. This example shows that some denitrifying PRBs can remain maintenance free and be adequately reactive for decades.
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“Robertson et al. (2008) took cores from the denitrification wall and then ran NO 3 -through them in a lab; a full field sampling was not undertaken.”
From Long-term nitrate removal in a denitrification wall (2011) · cites this paper as Robertson et al., 2008
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“The only decadal study of NO 3 removal in a denitrification wall was performed in Canada, which showed continued effectiveness in NO 3 -removal after 15 years (Robertson et al., 2008).”
From Long-term nitrate removal in a denitrification wall (2011) · cites this paper as Robertson et al., 2008
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“They have been shown to continue to remove NO 3 -for 7 years (Robertson et al., 2000;Schipper and Vojvodic-Vukovic, 2005), 9 years (Moorman et al., 2010), and in the only decadal study, up to 15 years (Robertson et al., 2008).”
From Long-term nitrate removal in a denitrification wall (2011) · cites this paper as Robertson et al., 2008
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“The only other decadal study to date demonstrated that a denitrification wall constructed in Ontario, Canada from 20% sawdust mixed with soil (Robertson and Cherry, 1995) still removed NO 3 -after 15 years (Robertson et al., 2008).Input NO 3 -concentrations in the Canada wall ranged from <2 mg N L -1 up to 100 mg N L -1 over the 15 years of performance and the wall achieved near-complete NO 3 -rem”
From Long-term nitrate removal in a denitrification wall (2011) · cites this paper as Robertson et al., 2008
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“Moorman et al. (2010) and Robertson et al. (2008) which found that denitrification walls were still effective after 9 years and 15 years respectively.”
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“Moorman et al. (2010) and Robertson et al. (2008) which found that denitrification walls were still effective after 9 years and 15 years respectively.”
From Long-term nitrate removal in a denitrification wall (2011) · cites this paper as Robertson et al. (2008)
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Metadata
- Authors
- Robertson, W. D., Vogan, J. L., & Lombardo, P. S.
- Venue
- Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-06
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 65-72
- ISSN
- 1069-3629 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-6592
- OpenAlex
- W2130047935
- Semantic Scholar
- 16e82ad0428ff6a9c6065e65d0c93b33e8118ca8
- Cited by
- 160
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 5.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental remediation with nanomaterials
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Groundwater flow and contamination studies
- Keywords
- permeable reactive barrier, nitrate removal, denitrification, sawdust, groundwater remediation
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