Modeling Fate and Transport of Organic and Nitrogen Species in Soil Aquifer Treatment-(I) Model Development and Verification

Soil aquifer treatment is a water reuse technology that secondary or tertiary treated wastewater is infiltrated into the aquifer in which physical and biochemical reactions occur. Major consideration in SAT is the removal and transport of DOC and nitrogen species. In this study, reaction mechanism in SAT was examined considering nitrification, denitrification and organic oxidation. In addition, SAT modeling system was developed as the reaction mechanism was applied to groundwater flow and transport model. In verification of the reaction module by 1-dimensional unsaturated soil column test, the experimental data of all of the species, ammonium, nitrate, DOC and DO, were well matched with the simulation results. In sensitivity analysis, ammonium partition coefficient, dissolved oxygen inhibition constant and biomass decay rate affect ammonium, DOC and DO concentration of effluent, respectively.