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Arsenic Remediation Using Constructed Treatment Wetlands

Gorr, Matthew W.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1301943769

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Science, University of Toledo, Biology (Ecology).
The impact of arsenic contamination is globally evident in agriculture and industry. Current methods for arsenic removal have several limiting factors that include usage of large amounts of energy and production of a contaminant by-product. Treatment wetlands are an alternative, sustainable method of contaminant removal that are successful in removing organic contaminants from water, but have not yet been used for arsenic remediation. In this study, small scale (0.57 m x 0.17 m x 0.17 m) test cells were constructed to assess the ability of wetlands to remediate arsenic contaminated water. We have proposed a conceptual model that envelops the potential remediation processes, including soil, plants and microorganisms, within a treatment wetland for arsenic removal. At the root of these processes is the flow of water that transports arsenic-laden water to each component of the wetland. In this experiment, my aim was to predict the transport of arsenate, the species of arsenic with the greatest adsorption capacity, within the soil and water compartments of the treatment wetland test cells. This will be accomplished with the following objectives: iv (1) use a bromide tracer test to characterize water movement within the test cells, (2) characterize the ability of the soil to adsorb arsenate and (3) predict the fate of arsenate in the cells using these data in an appropriate transport model. Test cells were constructed with a sandy loam soil, packed to a field bulk density of 1.5 g cm-3. The computer program, HYDRUS 2D, was selected as the model, because of its capacity to simulate water and solute transport in soil, and its ability to be calibrated using the obtained data. A tracer test using bromide and water samplers embedded within the soil determined that the water was flowing to all the regions of the test cells. An arsenate adsorption experiment to assess arsenate concentration using ICP-OES found the soil was capable of adsorbing arsenate with a maximum capacity of 0.371 mg g-1. The adsorption test obtained Langmuir values of K = 0.2585, η = 695.3 to use with HYDRUS to model the water movement in the test cells with a close fit to the actual data. Arsenic was predicted to reach the outlet of the cells in 50 days. This experiment was the first to characterize water movement and predict arsenate transport through treatment wetland test cells. Future work using these test cells would be done by adding other that remove arsenate, e.g. plants. Data can also be used as a framework to predict of arsenate transport within full scale treatment wetlands.
Daryl Dwyer, PhD (Advisor)
Defne Apul, PhD (Committee Member)
Alison Spongberg, PhD (Committee Member)
James Martin-Hayden, PhD (Committee Member)
97 p.
Environmental Engineering; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies
Arsenic; remediation; constructed wetlands; treatment wetlands

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gorr, M. W. (2011). Arsenic Remediation Using Constructed Treatment Wetlands [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1301943769

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gorr, Matthew. Arsenic Remediation Using Constructed Treatment Wetlands. 2011. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1301943769.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gorr, Matthew. "Arsenic Remediation Using Constructed Treatment Wetlands." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1301943769

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1301943769
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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.