Water and acrylamide monomer transfer rates from a settling basin to groundwaters

Stéphane Binet (1, 2) , Kathy Bru (3) , Thomas Klinka (3) , Solène Touzé (3) , Mikael Motelica-Heino (1)

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
2 LEFE - Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement
3 BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)

The aim of this paper was to estimate the potential leakage of acrylamide monomer, used for flocculation in a settling basin, towards the groundwaters. Surface-groundwater interactions were conceptualized with a groundwater transport model, using a transfer rate to describe the clogged properties of the interface. The change in the transfer rate as a function of the spreading of the clogged layer in the settling basin was characterized with respect to time. It is shown that the water and the Acrylamide transfer rate are not controlled by the spreading of the clogged layer until this layer fully covers the interface. When the clogged layer spreads out, the transfer rate remains in the same order of magnitude until the area covered reaches 80 %. The main flux takes place through bank seepage. In these early stage conditions of a working settling basin, the acrylamide flux towards groundwaters remains constant, at close to 10 g/year (±5).

Keywords: Groundwater; Water transfer rate; Clogged layer; Acrylamide

Domains: Continental interfaces, environment; Global Changes

Stéphane Binet, Kathy Bru, Thomas Klinka, Solène Touzé, Mikael Motelica-Heino. Water and acrylamide monomer transfer rates from a settling basin to groundwaters. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015, 22 (9), pp.6431-6439. ⟨10.1007/s11356-014-3106-2⟩. ⟨insu-01017359⟩