Evaluating the success of sewer reconstruction by using carbamazepine as anthropogenic marker in groundwater

Water Sci Technol. 2011;63(4):727-32. doi: 10.2166/wst.2011.296.

Abstract

The antiepileptic drug carbamazepine is a useful anthropogenic marker in groundwater to detect and quantify sewer exfiltration. In 2003 its application on a city wide scale enabled the identification of a trunk sewer in extremely bad structural status with an exfiltration (of wastewater into groundwater) rate in the adjacent area of around 5% compared to an average of approximately 1% in other parts of the city. After a reconstruction of the trunk sewer investigations were carried out again in 2008. Due to the reconstruction a decrease in exfiltration to roughly 3% could be achieved, which equals a reduction of exfiltration by about 45%. Thus carbamazepine emerged as suitable anthropogenic marker to assess sewer exfiltration and to evaluate the success of reconstruction measurements on a regional scale.

MeSH terms

  • Carbamazepine / analysis*
  • Carbamazepine / isolation & purification
  • Humans
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sewage / chemistry*
  • Waste Management / methods*
  • Water / chemistry*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Sewage
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Water
  • Carbamazepine