Fate of benzotriazole and 5-methylbenzotriazole in recycled water recharged into an anaerobic aquifer: column studies

M D Alotaibi; B M Patterson; A J McKinley; A Y Reeder; A J Furness; M J Donn

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.040

Fate of benzotriazole and 5-methylbenzotriazole in recycled water recharged into an anaerobic aquifer: column studies

Water Res. 2015 Mar 1:70:184-95. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.040. Epub 2014 Dec 4.

Authors

M D Alotaibi¹, B M Patterson², A J McKinley³, A Y Reeder⁴, A J Furness⁵, M J Donn⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia; CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Private Bag 5, Wembley, 6913, WA, Australia; Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia; CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Private Bag 5, Wembley, 6913, WA, Australia. Electronic address: Bradley.Patterson@csiro.au.
³ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Microscopy, Characterization and Analysis, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
⁵ CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Private Bag 5, Wembley, 6913, WA, Australia.

PMID: 25528548
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.040

Abstract

The fate of benzotriazole (BTri) and 5-methylbenzotriazole (5-MeBT) was investigated under anaerobic conditions at nano gram per litre concentrations in large-scale laboratory columns to mimic a managed aquifer recharge replenishment strategy in Western Australia. Investigations of BTri and 5-MeBT sorption behaviour demonstrated mobility of the compounds with retardation coefficients of 2.0 and 2.2, respectively. Degradation processes over a period of 220 days indicated first order biodegradation of the BTri and 5-MeBT under anaerobic aquifer conditions after a biological lag-time of approximately 30-60 days. Biodegradation half-lives of 29 ± 2 and 26 ± 1 days for BTri and 5-MeBT were respectively observed, with no threshold effect to biodegradation observed at the 200 ng L(-1). The detection of degradation products provided further evidence of BTri and 5-MeBT biodegradation. These results suggested that if BTri and 5-MeBT were present in recycled water recharged to the Leederville aquifer, biodegradation during aquifer passage is likely given sufficient aquifer residence times or travel distances between recycled water injection and groundwater extraction.

Keywords: 5-Methylbenzotriazole; Benzotriazole; Degradation; MAR; Recycled water.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Geologic Sediments / chemistry
Groundwater / chemistry*
Triazoles / chemistry*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / chemistry*

Substances

Triazoles
Water Pollutants, Chemical
benzotriazole