2012 NGWA Ground Water Summit: Innovate and Integrate

Surface water is often used for recharge of aquifers used in drinking water production. But it can be contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and viruses from wastewater discharges or manure runoff. These pathogens have to be removed to produce safe drinking water such as passing surface water through soil. However, to assure production of safe drinking water from surface water, adequate travel times and travel distances are needed. In this regard, it is important to determine various factors that affect the rate of removal of pathogenic viruses during soil passage. These factors include hydraulic conditions (such as flow velocity and saturation) and geochemical conditions (pH, ionic strength, concentration of calcium).