Hydro-Geophysical Characterization and Performance Evaluation of Natural Wetlands in a Semi-Arid Wastewater Irrigated Landscape

Sonkamble, Sahebrao, Sahya, Ashalata, Jampani, Mahesh, Ahmed, Shakeel and Amerasinghe, Priyanie, (2019). Hydro-Geophysical Characterization and Performance Evaluation of Natural Wetlands in a Semi-Arid Wastewater Irrigated Landscape. Water Research, 148 176-187

Document type:
Article
Collection:
UNU-FLORES Articles

Metadata
Links
Versions
Statistics
  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Sonkamble, Sahebrao
    Sahya, Ashalata
    Jampani, Mahesh
    Ahmed, Shakeel
    Amerasinghe, Priyanie
    Title Hydro-Geophysical Characterization and Performance Evaluation of Natural Wetlands in a Semi-Arid Wastewater Irrigated Landscape
    Appearing in Water Research
    Volume 148
    Publication Date 2019-01-01
    Place of Publication Oxford
    Publisher Elsevier
    Start page 176
    End page 187
    Language eng
    Abstract Natural wetlands are green infrastructure systems that are energy-efficient for wastewater treatment and can be found in diverse geo-environmental settings around the world. Their structure and functions, which defines the treatment efficiencies are highly varied. Wetlands over shallow bedrock and geological lineaments (weak zones) have been known to contribute to groundwater contamination. However, not many studies have been performed to understand the structure in different geological settings to identify the efficiency determining factors. Therefore, it is important to investigate the geological suitability of the natural wetlands. We examined wastewater fed natural wetlands in diverse geological settings aiming at studying the depth, geo-stability, bio-chemical interactions, and hydrogeological attributes that improve the wastewater quality, within the Musi River basin, India. The integrated geophysical scans encompassing electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), hydrogeological test, bathymetric study and hydro-chemical analysis were carried out to explore the physical structure and hydro-dynamic processes in the wetlands. ERT investigations showed that, the depth to bedrock up to 20–25 m devoid of geo-fractures (lineaments) indicated the effective depth of saturated zone as a passable scope for potential bio-chemical interactions, implying the proportionality of the deep seated (deep bedrock) wetland to the pollutant removal efficiency. The lower order of electrical resistivity range 10–35 Ωm and hydraulic conductivity 2.938 md−1 acquired for saturated weathered zone were found catalyzing the bioremediation, sedimentation, adsorption, redox reactions and ion exchange processes. It caused the deep seated wetland removing nitrate 194.34 kgd−1 (97.18%); sulphate 333.75 kgd−1 (77.70%); phosphate 9.66 kgd−1 (82.53%); microbes 99.99%, BOD 80%, and COD 80% load with discharge 1408 m3d-1 of treated wastewater. Further, the strategies for designating the natural wetlands as wastewater treatment systems are also discussed in this paper.
    Keyword Wetland efficiency
    Electrical resistivity tomography
    Hydrogeological suitability
    Pollutant removal capacity
    Musi river
    Southern India
    Copyright Holder Elsevier Ltd.
    Copyright Year 2018
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    DOI 10.1016/j.watres.2018.10.040
  • Versions
    Version Filter Type
  • Citation counts
    Google Scholar Search Google Scholar
    Access Statistics: 1121 Abstract Views  -  Detailed Statistics
    Created: Tue, 30 Oct 2018, 18:15:29 JST by Claudia Matthias on behalf of UNU FLORES