Agricultural pollutant penetration and steady state in thick aquifers

Health and economic impact of nitrate pollution in drinking water: a Wisconsin case study

Nitrate contamination of drinking water, common in agricultural areas, increases the risk of certain cancers and impacts fetal development during pregnancy. Building on previously published methodology, this study evaluates nitrate-attributable disease cases and adverse birth outcomes as well as their economic costs for Wisconsin, USA. Nitrate is the most common contaminant in groundwater in Wisconsin. Two-thirds of the state's residents use groundwater as the primary source of drinking water. Here, we analyze nitrate exposure from drinking water in Wisconsin based on nitrate test results for community water systems for the period of 2010-2017 and a novel methodology for estimating nitrate exposure for the 28% of state's residents who use private wells. We estimate that annually, 111-298 combined cases of colorectal, ovarian, thyroid, bladder, and kidney cancer in Wisconsin may be due to nitrate contamination of drinking water. Each year, up to 137-149 cases of very low birth weight, 72-79 cases of very preterm birth, and two cases of neural tube defects could be due to nitrate exposure from drinking water. The direct medical cost estimates for all nitrate-attributable adverse health outcomes range between $23 and $80 million annually. Simulating targeted reductions in the counties with the highest current drinking water nitrate concentrations resulted in similar reductions in adverse health outcomes as statewide reduction efforts, up to nitrate reductions of 20%. Time trend analysis suggests that groundwater nitrate concentrations are overall increasing. Thus, nitrate contamination of water supplies in Wisconsin is a public health problem that needs to be addressed.

Breakthrough dynamics of s-metolachlor metabolites in drinking water wells: Transport pathways and time to trend reversal

We present the results of a two years study on the contamination of the Luxembourg Sandstone aquifer by metolachlor-ESA and metolachlor-OXA, two major transformation products of s-metolachlor. The aim of the study was twofold: (i) assess whether elevated concentrations of both transformation products (up to 1000 ng/l) were due to fast flow breakthough events of short duration or the signs of a contamination of the entire aquifer and (ii) estimate the time to trend reversal once the parent compound was withdrawn from the market. These two questions were addressed by a combined use of groundwater monitoring, laboratory experiments and numerical simulations of the fate of the degradation products in the subsurface. Twelve springs were sampled weekly over an eighteen month period, and the degradation rates of both the parent compound and its transformation products were measured on a representative soil in the laboratory using a radiolabeled precursor. Modelling with the numeric code PEARL simulating pesticide fate in soil coupled to a simple transfer function model for the aquifer compartment, and calibrated from the field and laboratory data, predicts a significant damping by the aquifer of the peaks of concentration of both metolachlor-ESA and -OXA leached from the soil. The time to trend reversal following the ban of s-metolachlor in spring protection zones should be observed before the end of the decade, while the return of contaminant concentrations below the drinking water limit of 100 ng/l however is expected to last up to twelve years. The calculated contribution to total water discharge of the fast-flow component from cropland and short-circuiting the aquifer was small in most springs (median of 1.2%), but sufficient to cause additional peaks of concentration of several hundred nanograms per litre in spring water. These peaks are superimposed on the more steady contamination sustained by the base flow, and should cease immediately once application of the parent compound stops.

Estimating Pesticide Attenuation From Water Dating and the Ratio of Metabolite to Parent Compound

Although pesticides are primarily degraded in the topsoil, significant attenuation can be expected in groundwater systems where the transit time of pesticides usually are orders of magnitude longer than in the soil. Because degradation and transport processes in the subsurface take place at time scales of months to years or even decades, direct measurements of natural attenuation are hampered by practical and logistical limitations (for instance the limited duration of sampling or a correct estimation of the pesticide flux into groundwater). Indirect methods such as measuring the changes in the ratio of degradation product to parent compound as a function of transit time in the aquifer, along a flow line provide a possible alternative. This paper presents a simple mathematical formulation of the relationship between transit time in the subsurface and changes in that ratio, and allows estimating the transformation rate of both parent compound and degradation product. The applicability of the method is illustrated in a case study investigating atrazine attenuation in a fractured sandstone aquifer.

Temporal variability in water quality parameters--a case study of drinking water reservoir in Florida, USA

Our objective was to evaluate changes in water quality parameters during 1983-2007 in a subtropical drinking water reservoir (area: 7 km(2)) located in Lake Manatee Watershed (area: 338 km(2)) in Florida, USA. Most water quality parameters (color, turbidity, Secchi depth, pH, EC, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, cations, anions, and lead) were below the Florida potable water standards. Concentrations of copper exceeded the potable water standard of <30 μg l(-1) in about half of the samples. About 75 % of total N in lake was organic N (0.93 mg l(-1)) with the remainder (25 %) as inorganic N (NH3-N: 0.19, NO3-N: 0.17 mg l(-1)), while 86 % of total P was orthophosphate. Mean total N/P was <6:1 indicating N limitation in the lake. Mean monthly concentration of chlorophyll-a was much lower than the EPA water quality threshold of 20 μg l(-1). Concentrations of total N showed significant increase from 1983 to 1994 and a decrease from 1997 to 2007. Total P showed significant increase during 1983-2007. Mean concentrations of total N (n = 215; 1.24 mg l(-1)) were lower, and total P (n = 286; 0.26 mg l(-1)) was much higher than the EPA numeric criteria of 1.27 mg total N l(-1) and 0.05 mg total P l(-1) for Florida's colored lakes, respectively. Seasonal trends were observed for many water quality parameters where concentrations were typically elevated during wet months (June-September). Results suggest that reducing transport of organic N may be one potential option to protect water quality in this drinking water reservoir.

Dynamique de l’écoulement souterrain et vulnérabilité d’un aquifère du piémont appalachien (Québec, Canada)

Même si des travaux récents ont permis de caractériser certains aquifères du sud du Québec, plusieurs demeurent encore très peu connus. Cette recherche a pour objectifs de comprendre la dynamique de l’écoulement souterrain et la vulnérabilité de l’aquifère du bassin de la rivière Noire (Montérégie, Québec), un bassin représentatif des aquifères de milieux fracturés situés en bordure des Basses-Terres du Saint-Laurent. Dans ce travail, un modèle de bilan hydrique en zone non saturée a permis de quantifier la distribution spatio-temporelle de l’infiltration sur le bassin. L’infiltration simulée moyenne est importante (215 mm•an‑1) et a lieu surtout au moment de la fonte printanière (74 %). L’infiltration la plus élevée se produit dans la partie amont du bassin, mais les résultats du modèle ne permettent pas d’évaluer quelle proportion de la recharge atteint effectivement l’aquifère régional profond. Sur l’ensemble du bassin, les concentrations en nitrate dans l’eau souterraine sont majoritairement en deçà de la norme pour l’eau potable (10 mg N-NO3•L‑1). Néanmoins, 18 % des puits analysés ont des concentrations supérieures à 1,5 mg N-NO3•L‑1, seuil considéré comme la teneur de fond en nitrate. Les indicateurs géochimiques (pH, conductivité électrique, ions majeurs et rapports des isotopes stables de l’eau) montrent que la topographie et la géologie jouent un rôle important dans la dynamique de l’écoulement souterrain. Soixante-quinze pourcents du territoire étudié ont une vulnérabilité intrinsèque élevée, mais la sensibilité des forages à la contamination varie selon leur position le long de l’écoulement souterrain. La recharge réelle de l’aquifère régional se fait principalement dans la partie inférieure du bassin versant et est probablement plus faible que l’infiltration simulée. La vulnérabilité de l’aquifère à la contamination dans cette zone est limitée en raison de la dilution des contaminants dans un volume important d’eau souterraine non contaminée, alimenté par des écoulements souterrains intermédiaires et profonds. La contamination de l’aquifère à l’aval du bassin pourrait cependant augmenter au cours des prochaines décennies à mesure que l’aquifère tendra vers un régime permanent d’apports en contaminants d’origine agricole.

Collateral geochemical impacts of agricultural nitrogen enrichment from 1963 to 1985: a southern Wisconsin ground water depth profile

In this study, we used chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) age-dating to investigate the geochemistry of N enrichment within a bedrock aquifer depth profile beneath a south central Wisconsin agricultural landscape. Measurement of N(2)O and excess N(2) allowed us to reconstruct the total NO(3)(-) and total nitrogen (TN) leached to ground water and was essential for tracing the separate influences of soil nitrification and ground water denitrification in the collateral geochemical chronology. We identify four geochemical impacts due to a steady ground water N enrichment trajectory (39 +/- 2.2 micromol L(-1) yr(-1), r(2) = 0.96) over two decades (1963-1985) of rapidly escalating N use. First, as a by-product of soil nitrification, N(2)O entered ground water at a stable (r(2) = 0.99) mole ratio of 0.24 +/- 0.007 mole% (N(2)O-N/NO(3)-N). The gathering of excess N(2)O in ground water is a potential concern relative to greenhouse gas emissions and stratospheric ozone depletion after it discharges to surface water. Second, excess N(2) measurements revealed that NO(3)(-) was a prominent, mobile, labile electron acceptor comparable in importance to O(2.) Denitrification transformed 36 +/- 15 mole% (mol mol(-1) x 100) of the total N within the profile to N(2) gas, delaying exceedance of the NO(3)(-) drinking water standard by approximately 6 yr. Third, soil acids produced from nitrification substantially increased the concentrations of major, dolomitic ions (Ca, Mg, HCO(3)(-)) in ground water relative to pre-enrichment conditions. By 1985, concentrations approximately doubled; by 2006, CFC age-date projections suggest concentrations may have tripled. Finally, the nitrification induced mobilization of Ca may have caused a co-release of P from Ca-rich soil surfaces. Dissolved P increased from an approximate background value of 0.02 mg L(-1) in 1963 to 0.07 mg L(-1) in 1985. The CFC age-date projections suggest the concentration could have reached 0.11 mg L(-1) in ground water recharge by 2006. These results highlight an intersection of the N and P cycles potentially important for managing the quality of ground water discharged to surface water.