Demonstrating Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Solution to Water Scarcity and Drought

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is an emerging technology for recharging depleted aquifers using alternative water sources. One of our tasks within the MARSOL project was to perform column experiments simulating MAR to investigate water quality changes when treated wastewater is infiltrated through soil from a possible future MAR site in Greece.

Water scarcity is increasingly common in the Mediterranean region and is projected to increase further over the coming decades with climate change. Within the MARSOL project, Matthew conducted experiments infiltrating treated wastewater through natural soils from Greece and desalinated water through soil from a project site in Israel. The aim of this work is to evaluate processes affecting water quality, predominantly in two areas: attenuation of anthropogenic pollutants such as pharmaceuticals and processes involved in nitrogen cycling and production of ammonium. Results in the first area show varying degrees of degradation of pharmaceuticals that vary by compound and infiltration mode. In the second area, results indicate a combination of processes producing ammonium and cycling nitrogen during infiltration.

Further information about MARSOL (Demonstrating Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Solution to Water Scarcity and Drought): www.marsol.eu

Country, Continent: Greece, Israel, Germany

Project Acronym: MARSOL

Funding agency: EU (FP7)

Years of activity: 2014 – …

Responsible person: Matthew Silver, Annette Wefer-Roehl, Christoph Schüth

Cooperation partners: