Assessment of sulfide production risk in soil during the infiltration of domestic wastewater treated by a sulfur-utilizing denitrification process

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 23; no. 19; pp. 19071 - 19083
• Main Authors: Ghorbel, L., Coudert, L., Gilbert, Y., Mercier, G., Blais, J. F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anaerobic conditions; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Autotrophic Processes; Bacteria; Biochemical oxygen demand; Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; Bioreactors; Carbon; Chemical oxygen demand; Denitrification; Dissolved organic carbon; Domestic wastewater; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Hydrogen; Infiltration; Lungs; Nitrates; Organic matter; Oxidation; Permeability; Research Article; Risk Assessment; Soil - chemistry; Soil contamination; Soil permeability; Soil types; Studies; Sulfates; Sulfates - analysis; Sulfates - chemistry; Sulfides; Sulfides - analysis; Sulfides - chemistry; Sulfur; Sulfur - chemistry; Waste Water - chemistry; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water treatment; Soil; Autotrophic denitrification; Infiltration; Domestic wastewater; Sulfide production
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-6979-4

This study aimed to determine the potential of sulfide generation during infiltration through soil of domestic wastewater treated by a sulfur-utilizing denitrification process. Three types of soil with different permeability rates ( K s  = 0.028, 0.0013, and 0.00015 cm/s) were investigated to evaluate the potential risk of sulfur generation during the infiltration of domestic wastewater treated by a sulfur-utilizing denitrification system. These soils were thoroughly characterized and tested to assess their capacity to be used as drainages for wastewaters. Experiments were conducted under two operating modes (saturated and unsaturated). Sulfate, sulfide, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) levels were determined over a period of 100 days. Despite the high concentration of sulfates (200 mg/L) under anaerobic conditions (ORP = −297 mV), no significant amount of sulfide was generated in the aqueous (<0.2 mg/L) or gaseous (<0.15 ppm) phases. Furthermore, the soil permeability did not have a noticeable effect on the infiltration of domestic wastewater treated by a sulfur-utilizing denitrification system due to low contents of organic matter (i.e., dissolved organic carbon, DOC). The autotrophic denitrification process used to treat the domestic wastewater allowed the reduction of the concentration of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) below 5 mg/L, of DOC below 7 mg/L, and of COD below 100 mg/L.