Exploring particulate retention mechanisms through visualization of E. coli transport through a single, saturated fracture
Abstract
Groundwater is an extremely valuable resource; a large body of work has been conducted towards remediating, tracking and reducing its contamination. Even so, there are large gaps within the current understanding of groundwater flow and contaminant transport, particularly within fractured media. Fractured media has the ability transport contaminants over longer distances in less time relative to porous media. Furthermore, colloids display unique transport characteristics in comparison to dissolved constituents, including the fact that they typically exhibit earlier initial arrival times. Of particular concern to human health are pathogenic microorganisms, which often originate from fecal contamination. Escherichia coli is a common indicator for fecal contamination; some strains are pathogenic, causing acute illness and sometimes death, in humans. A comprehensive understanding of the transport and retention of E. coli in fractured media will improve our ability to accurately assess whether a site is at risk of becoming contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, the goal of this work is to expand our mechanistic understanding particulate retention, specifically E. coli, in fractures, and the influence of flow rate on these mechanisms. In order to achieve this goal, clear epoxy casts were fabricated of two dolomitic limestone fractures retrieved from a quarry in Guelph, Ontario. Each aperture field was characterized through hydraulic and tracer tests, and measured directly using the light transmission technique. E. coli RS2-GFP, which is a non-pathogenic strain of E. coli that has been tagged with a green fluorescent protein, was injected into the cast under three separate specific discharges ranging from 5 - 30 m/d. These experiments were conducted on an ultraviolet light source, and a high resolution charged-couple device (CCD) camera was employed to take photos at regular intervals in order to capture the dominant flow paths and the areas of retention within the epoxy fracture. Samples were drawn downstream to obtain the E. coli breakthrough curve and determine the percent retained within the fracture. This paper will present the dominant retention mechanisms of E. coli at various effective flow rates as determined from an analysis of the images showing trapped E. coli, together with the aperture field information from the direct measurement. This information will help to improve the robustness and of contaminant transport models in fractures, and will therefore improve the ability to assess the risk posed by using bedrock aquifers as drinking water sources.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.H53B1409B
- Keywords:
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- 1829 HYDROLOGY / Groundwater hydrology;
- 1831 HYDROLOGY / Groundwater quality;
- 5104 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCKS / Fracture and flow;
- 5139 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCKS / Transport properties