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Lorenzi V, Banzato F, Barberio M, Goeppert N, Goldscheider N, Gori F, Lacchini A, Manetta M, Medici G, Rusi S, Petitta M. Tracking flowpaths in a complex karst system through tracer test and hydrogeochemical monitoring: Implications for groundwater protection (Gran Sasso, Italy). Heliyon 2024; 10:e24663. [PMID: 38298644 PMCID: PMC10828060 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Groundwater in karst aquifers is frequently tapped for drinking purposes, due to frequent huge volumes of resources. Unfortunately, vulnerability of these aquifers can be high, due to possible fast transfer of recharge water on springs by the karst network. On Gran Sasso Mountain regional aquifer, several springs are subjected to drinking withdrawal and an updated evaluation of their potential is now a fundamental issue to be considered, facing climate change effects, which reflect on variation of discharge regimen and values. To distinguish between different contribution of spring recharge, a tracer test has been carried out on the Vitella d'Oro spring, fed both by the regional aquifer and by a local system exposed to karst features developed in the Rigopiano Conglomerates formation. Thanks to hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical and isotopic data, a conceptual model of spring recharge has been proposed and subsequently validated by the tracer test results. All information confirms the superimposition on the regional base flow, by a relevant contribution of the karst network, influencing the spring discharge in recharge periods. In detail, a fast flow component is responsible for discharge peaks and frequently of turbidity events, having a mean velocity ranging from 30 to 70 m/h in the aquifer. Besides of this fast flow, an additional aliquot of the recharge is due to the same local aquifer, but slower flow clearly identifiable by hydrochemistry and isotopic data. Thanks to these findings, a renewed management of the spring has been suggested, considering the different degrees of aquifer vulnerability (turbidity occurrence) directly related to the discharge regimen.
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Affiliation(s)
- V. Lorenzi
- Earth Science Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - F. Banzato
- Autorità di Bacino Distretto Idrografico Appennino Centrale, Italy
| | - M.D. Barberio
- National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Rome, Italy
| | - N. Goeppert
- Institute of Applied Geosciences, Division of Hydrogeology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - N. Goldscheider
- Institute of Applied Geosciences, Division of Hydrogeology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - F. Gori
- Earth Science Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - A. Lacchini
- Earth Science Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - M. Manetta
- Earth Science Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - G. Medici
- Earth Science Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - S. Rusi
- Engineering and Geology Department, University G. D’Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
| | - M. Petitta
- Earth Science Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
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Vucinic L, O'Connell D, Dubber D, Coxon C, Gill L. Multiple fluorescence approaches to identify rapid changes in microbial indicators at karst springs. JOURNAL OF CONTAMINANT HYDROLOGY 2023; 254:104129. [PMID: 36634484 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Karst springs are globally important for drinking water supply but are often also exceptionally vulnerable to contamination. Such springs usually exhibit strong variation in microbial water quality in sharp response to rainfall events, thus, posing a health hazard to consumers of water supplied from these sources. The rapid detection of such changes is extremely important as well as being able to establish a link to the sources of such pollution, so that appropriate measures can be taken both in terms of immediate protection of human health and the management of karst aquifers. In this study, a fluorescence-based multi-parameter approach was trialed in order to evaluate which methods can be used to monitor rainfall-induced rapid changes in microbial water quality at karst springs, as well as determine whether such changes can be linked to sources of human effluent contamination. The results from three monitoring periods at two karst springs revealed marked responses to rainfall events for all of the microbial parameters measured. Total cell count (TCC) measurements using flow cytometry (FCM) showed very strong positive correlations with the more conventionally monitored faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and total coliforms (TC), indicating that such a fluorescence-based and cultivation-independent technique can be very useful to indicate rapid changes in microbial water quality at karst springs. Furthermore, very strong positive correlations were also found between tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF) measurements and concentrations of all monitored microbial parameters, again demonstrating that such a fluorescence-based approach can also be useful for detecting rapid changes in concentrations of traditional faecal indicators. Interestingly, it was found that fluorescent whitening compounds (FWCs) signals do not necessarily follow temporal variations of microbial indicators. However, the frequency of detection of positive FWCs signals may still reveal useful information about the overall magnitude of human wastewater effluent impacts on karst aquifer systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luka Vucinic
- Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
| | - David O'Connell
- Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Donata Dubber
- Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Catherine Coxon
- Department of Geology, Trinity Centre for the Environment, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Laurence Gill
- Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
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Khan MFS, Akbar M, Wu J, Xu Z. A review on fluorescence spectroscopic analysis of water and wastewater. Methods Appl Fluoresc 2021; 10. [PMID: 34823232 DOI: 10.1088/2050-6120/ac3d79] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, the application of fluorescence spectroscopy has been widely recognized in water environment studies. The sensitiveness, simplicity, and efficiency of fluorescence spectroscopy are proved to be a promising tool for effective monitoring of water and wastewater. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEMs) and synchronous fluorescence spectra have been widely used analysis techniques of fluorescence measurement. The presence of organic matter in water and wastewater defines the degree and type of pollution in water. The application of fluorescence spectroscopy to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) has made the water quality assessment simple and easy. With the recent advances in this technology, components of DOM are identified by employing parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), a mathematical trilinear data modeling with EEMs. The majority of wastewater studies indicated that the fluorescence peak of EX/EM at 275 nm/340 nm is referred to tryptophan region (Peak T1). However, some researchers identified another fluorescence peak in the region of EX/EM at 225-237 nm/340-381 nm, which described the tryptophan region and labeled it as Peak T2. Generally, peak T is a protein-like component in the water sample, where T1 and T2 signals were derived from the <0.20μm fraction of pollution. Therefore, a more advanced approach, such as an online fluorescence spectrofluorometer, can be used for the online monitoring of water. The results of various waters studied by fluorescence spectroscopy indicate that changes in peak T intensity could be used for real-time wastewater quality assessment and process control of wastewater treatment works. Finally, due to its effective use in water quality assessment, the fluorescence technique is proved to be a surrogate online monitoring tool and early warning equipment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Farooq Saleem Khan
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.,International Faculty of Applied Technology, Yibin City 644000, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.,Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua University, Suzhou 215000, People's Republic of China
| | - Mona Akbar
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.,International Faculty of Applied Technology, Yibin City 644000, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing Wu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.,Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua University, Suzhou 215000, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhou Xu
- International Faculty of Applied Technology, Yibin City 644000, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
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Sorensen JPR, Nayebare J, Carr AF, Lyness R, Campos LC, Ciric L, Goodall T, Kulabako R, Curran CMR, MacDonald AM, Owor M, Read DS, Taylor RG. In-situ fluorescence spectroscopy is a more rapid and resilient indicator of faecal contamination risk in drinking water than faecal indicator organisms. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 206:117734. [PMID: 34655933 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) are limited in their ability to protect public health from the microbial contamination of drinking water because of their transience and time required to deliver a result. We evaluated alternative rapid, and potentially more resilient, approaches against a benchmark FIO of thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs) to characterise faecal contamination over 14 months at 40 groundwater sources in a Ugandan town. Rapid approaches included: in-situ tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF), humic-like fluorescence (HLF), turbidity; sanitary inspections; and total bacterial cells by flow cytometry. TTCs varied widely in six sampling visits: a third of sources tested both positive and negative, 50% of sources had a range of at least 720 cfu/100 mL, and a two-day heavy rainfall event increased median TTCs five-fold. Using source medians, TLF was the best predictor in logistic regression models of TTCs ≥10 cfu/100 mL (AUC 0.88) and best correlated to TTC enumeration (ρs 0.81), with HLF performing similarly. Relationships between TLF or HLF and TTCs were stronger in the wet season than the dry season, when TLF and HLF were instead more associated with total bacterial cells. Source rank-order between sampling rounds was considerably more consistent, according to cross-correlations, using TLF or HLF (min ρs 0.81) than TTCs (min ρs 0.34). Furthermore, dry season TLF and HLF cross-correlated more strongly (ρs 0.68) than dry season TTCs (ρs 0.50) with wet season TTCs, when TTCs were elevated. In-situ TLF or HLF are more rapid and resilient indicators of faecal contamination risk than TTCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P R Sorensen
- British Geological Survey, Maclean Building, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK; Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK.
| | - Jacintha Nayebare
- Department of Geology and Petroleum Studies, Makerere University, Uganda
| | - Andrew F Carr
- Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Robert Lyness
- Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Luiza C Campos
- Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Lena Ciric
- Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Timothy Goodall
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Maclean Building, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Robinah Kulabako
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Makerere University, Uganda
| | - Catherine M Rushworth Curran
- Catherine M Rushworth Curran Ltd., 27 Silverhall Street, Isleworth, TW7 6RF, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Alan M MacDonald
- British Geological Survey, Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Michael Owor
- Department of Geology and Petroleum Studies, Makerere University, Uganda
| | - Daniel S Read
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Maclean Building, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
| | - Richard G Taylor
- Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UK
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