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Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Wastewater: De Facto Water Reuse and Groundwater Under the Influence of Septic Systems
Citation:
Glassmeyer, S. Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Wastewater: De Facto Water Reuse and Groundwater Under the Influence of Septic Systems. Presented at WEFTEC Workshop: Emerging Pathogens and Microconstituents in Wastewater/Water Reuse: Challenges and Opportunities, New Orleans, LA, October 09, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
Some CECs are found in wastewater. If this wastewater is expelled into drinking water source waters, these chemcials and microbes can contaminate drinking water. This presentation discusses CECs in waters impacted by wastewater and and on-site septic effluent, focusing on the magnitude of the the concentrations found. Additionally, the data is used to show how using a variety of analytical methods provides additional information about the relative quality of the water.
Description:
Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs), as a class of chemicals and biological stressors, are typically found at low concentrations, are difficult to measure, and can be linked to many on-going and historic sources. The challenge with source identification and control is that in many instances multiple sources are contributing to the contaminant loading to the system. Significant research has identified municipal wastewater treatment discharges (e.g. aqueous effluents, biosolids) as a source of CECs to the environment. By contrast, lesser loadings to the environment such as the relative impact from on-site wastewater treatment systems are not as well understood. This presentation details two projects examining CECs in wastewater. The first examines the sources, fates, and potential effects of CECs during de facto water reuse which occurs when treated wastewater is discharged to a source of drinking water. The second explores the fate of CECs in groundwater under the influence of on-site septic systems. Our work has observed that the concentrations of CECs in groundwater in on-site septic areas can meet or exceed those found in community wastewater effluents. To ensure confidence in data being generated, an integrated suite of quality assurance (QA) procedures and quality control (QC) samples are necessary. These QA procedures and QC samples prevent or address potential for contamination or loss in both the field and the laboratory. These samples also discriminate between field or laboratory introduction of these artifacts. These QC samples include, but are not limited to, field and laboratory blanks, replicate samples, matrix fortified samples, fortified laboratory samples and instrument blanks.