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Microbial Inactivation and Nutrient Removal in Aquifer Zones Targeted for Aquifer Storage and Recovery

By St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center August 18, 2020

On July 23, 2020, Dr. John Lisle (Research Microbiologist, SPCMSC) gave an invited presentation at a virtual meeting hosted by the South Florida Water Management District of West Palm Beach, Florida.

Media
Diagram of a series of tubes connected to a well head, with an inset showing the structure inside the tubes
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Above ground mesocosm with biofilm growth reactors. Groundwater from the well head is directly transferred to the mesocosm via PTFE tubing into a high flow rate control valve (a) that diverts groundwater into a flow cell containing a water quality measurement meter (b) and a low flow control valve (c). Groundwater passing through the high flow control valve fills the outside chamber (d) while the low flow rate groundwater flows through a series of biofilm growth reactors that contain aquifer core coupons on which the biofilms grow (e) and connected by PTFE tubing (f). Both flow systems discharge through PTFE tubing (g) into flow cells containing water quality measurement meters (b) (from Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020; https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01765). Credit: Betsy Boynton, Cherokee Nation Technologies, contracted to the USGS. Public domain.)

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is a long-term federally and state funded project to restore hydrologic flow through the Everglades. One of the technologies that has been approved to augment the flow of freshwater into the northern Everglades out of Lake Okeechobee is aquifer storage and recovery (ASR). ASR treats surface water and recharges the treated water into specific zones of the Floridan Aquifer. Dr. John Lisle (St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center) has been funded by SFWMD to characterize the effects of native groundwater geochemical conditions, in two zones of the Floridan Aquifer (Upper Floridan Aquifer and Avon Park Production Zone), on (1) the survival of bacteria, viruses and encysted protozoans, (2) the removal of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and (3) changes in microbial energetics and productivity during the storage phase of ASR. Dr. Lisle was invited to participate as a contributing expert on subsurface microbial processes at ASR facilities in Florida as part of the ASR Peer Review Panel Workshop. This workshop seated a panel of academic and governmental experts on ASR and groundwater biogeochemistry to review past research efforts and to discuss how future research can be focused on existing and developing ASR-related issues related to CERP. 

 

For more information, visit the following links:

https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/cerp-project-planning 

https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/alternative-water-supply/asr

 

Read what else is new at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

 

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