Soils Environmental Purifying Function - Polluted Water Treatment by MultiSoil-Layering System Tsugiyuki MASUNAGA1, Kuniaki SATO1, Toshiyuki WAKATSUKI2

(1Shimane Univ., 2Kinki Univ.)

Function of soils
1)Medium for plant production 3) Material cycles

4) Habitat for soil organisms 2) Water supply and purification

(Brady 2001)

5)Engineering medium

Soils Purifying Function of Wastewater

(3) Decomposition CO2 , N2 (1) Filtration

Wastewater Aggregate

Composition of Soil minerals (clay, silt, sand, gravel) organic matters (humus, organic residues) organisms

Humic Substance Clay

Silt

Sand (2) Adsorption

: Contaminants (Organic substances, N, P)

High specific surface area High variation of : - size of particles - physical and chemical properties (hydrophilic/phobic, ion exchange capacity,aerobic/anaerobic, etc) - species of microorganisms

(1) Filtration (2) Adsorption (NH4, P, O.M.) (3) Decomposition

Filtration and adsorption of materials in soils

humus pesticide H2PO4Al,Fe

SO42NH4+

Color removal by soil filter

Picture cited from Tsuchi no Ehon, Nobunkyo, Japan

clay Ca2 Hydrophobic, Ion-exchange adsorption

Table: The number, size, and biomass of organisms in surface soil

Type of organisms Bacteria

Actynomysethes

Number
(individuals/m2)

Size
(m)

Biomass
(g/m2)

Fungi Protozoa Nematoda Others Earthworm

1013~1014 1012~1013 1010~1011 109~1010 106~107 103~105 30~300

0.5~1 1~2 0.3~10 10~80 500~2000 500~2000 2~>5000

45~450 45~450 112~1120 2~17 1~11 2~17 11~110

Micro ~ Fine pore

It was estimated that microorganisms with more than 100 million in population and several thousands of species live in 1-g of soil (Trosvik 1990).

Use the soils for wastewater treatment

In the guideline of the application of soil trench system: Maximum infiltration loading of wastewater : 7 to 15% of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil, 25 to 50 l/m2/day (Reed et al., 1995).

Septic tank (Solid-Liquid separation)

Soil trench

In the U.S.A., about 30% of households, where they treat wastewater individually at their home, use this type of system.

Figure: Septic tank - Soil trench system for domestic wastewater treatment.

N2

N2

Gravitational flow

Gravitational flow

Plastic tray Sand Inlet pipe Gravel Plastic net Covering Sand

Figure: Structure of a type of soil trench system

Soils Purifying Function of Wastewater

(3) Decomposition CO2 , N2 (1) Filtration
Wastewater Aggregate

Trickling filter method

Humic Substance Clay Silt Sand (2) Adsorption : Contaminants (Organic substances, N, P)

Medium to develop bio-film and to adsorb contaminants

Principle of purifying mechanisms of soil is the same with that of the trickling filter method.

Table: Comparison between Trench-type Wastewater treatment method using Soil and Trickling Filter Method
Purifying Method using Soil Trickling Filter Method 102 m2/m3

Specific Surface Area Pore Active Al, Fe, Loading Rate Loading Rate per Specific Surface Area

105 - 108 m2/m3 large contact area 40 - 90% (Aerobic-Anaerobic)

1 - 10% 10 - 100 l/m3d 10-3 - 10-5 l/m2d
P adsorption
slow speed efficient contact

40 - 90% (Aerobic) 0% 1 - 3 103 l/m3d 10 - 100 l/m2d

(Wakatsuki, 1997)

Higher contact efficiency of wastewater and media in the systems

High purifying ability of wastewater

Limitation of Water Purifying Function of Soil

Limitation and causes
(1) Clogging
Wastewater Aggregate

Humic Substance

Clay Silt Sand

(3) Leaching
NO3 : Pollutants (Organic matters, N, P)

(2) Saturation of adsorption

(1) Low permeability of soil = require large land area (2) Clogging - small pore size - high organisms activity (3) Saturation of adsorption - active Al/Fe for P -humic substances for hydro-phobic materials (4)Nitrate leaching - preferential flow - shortage of C source for denitrification - lack of anaerobic condition

Table: Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils and zeolite

Sandy soil Mas S oil Bulk density (g/cc) 1.3 1.5 Volcanic ash soil Kurobok u So il 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 Zeolite
(1-3mm) (3-5mm) (4-6mm)

1.0 0.8

1.0 1.6

Saturated Hydraulic 9.8 9.6 3.2 1.1 1.8 0.1 -3 -4 -3 -3 Conductivity (cm/sec) x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10-4

Coarse particles

Very high specific surface area Very low permeability comparing to coarse materials

Mechanisms of clogging of soil

Wastewater Organic SS Biofilm Decomposition Sand Clay Silt Clay Silt Sand Biofilm Artificial compaction Destruction of coarse pore spaces

Organic SS c) Destruction of coarse pore space by artificial compaction

a) Clogging by biofilm and organic SS (can be recovered)

Biofilm Na type clay Organic SS Inorganic SS

Dispersion & deposition

Clogging a) can be recovered by keeping the soil aerobic with no wastewater loading for a few months.

Clay Inorganic SS
b) Clogging by clay dispersion and deposition including biofilm, inorganic and organic SS

Clogging b) and c) must be prevented as these can never recovered naturally.

How to avoid b) and c)?

Varieties in type of soils.

course organic poor soil

organic rich soil

highly weathered iron rich soil

(pictures cited from Brady 2001)

Table: General Physical and Chemical Properties of Sandy Soil, Volcanic ash Soil and Red Clayey Soil
Sandy soil Volcanic ash soil Red clayey soil pH (H2O ) pH (KCl) Particle size Composition (%) CoarseSand (2 to 0.2 mm ) Fine Sand (to 0.02 mm ) Silt (to 0.0002 mm ) Clay (0.0002 mmor less) Total Organic Carbon (%) Total Nitrogen (%) C/N Ratio Effective Cation Exchange Capacity (cmol(+)/kg soil) Active Fe (%) ActiveAl (%) PhosphoricAcid Adsorption Coefficient (mgP2O5/100 g soil) 5.9 3.7 4.9 4.3 4.8 3.7

70.5 20.2 1.6 7.7 0.04 0.004 10 10.3 0.28 0.09 342

14.1 49.5 19.6 16.8 8.21 0.355 23 7.63 0.6 5.63 2410

1.3 8.2 32.3 58.2 0.22 0.034 6 39.36 4.51 2.53 1560

Water permeability

N removal (NH4 adsorption Denitrificaltion)

P removal capacity

Treatment of wastewater (polluted water) using Soil

Land treatment, Sand filter, Soil trench
Water treatment

Low permeability
> need large area > Risk of clogging

Purification functions

Soils
Soilecological engineering

-Filtration -Adsorption -Decomposition

(depending on soil types)

Increase the permeability

Multi-SoilLayering method

Control and enhancement of the purification functions

Multi-Soil-LayeringMSL method
A Multi-Soil-Layering (MSL) system consists of water permeable layers and soil mixture layers which are arranged in brick pattern.
Water permeable layer (Ks > 0.1 cm/sec) uniform size 1-5mm of particles zeolite, pumice, gravel, charcoal, etc. Soil mixture layer : high purification function Natural soil Metal iron (P absorbent, reducer) Organic matter (H donor for denitrification) Charcoal (absorbent of various pollutants) or/and other functional materials

Aeration: control availability of O2

Cross section of a MSL system used for a field experiment of river water treatment in Kyusyu, Japan.

Permeable layer (pumice)

Soil mixture layer (local soil, charcoal)

Cross section of a MSL system

Ron oxides derived from soil and river water

Hydraulic loading rate : 4 m3/m2/day

Air: enhance the decomposition

of organic matters Accumulation of SS in wastewater
Clogging of the system Water permeable layer allow to pass the water to deeper layer

Natural soil condition

Contact of water and soil occurs at whole layers

MSL method

Figure: Control mechanisms of prevention of clogging by MSL method

N2 CO 2 Aerobic de composition

Den itrification CH 4 N2 , N 2 O CO CO 2, 2 (Anaerobic) Metal iron Fe O2 CH 2 O + NO 3 -

Wastewater Organic matters BOD PO 4 3- NH 4 + COD

Adsorption

(Aerobic) Zeolite H+ NH 4 + adsorption

Anaerobic de composition

Organic C harcoal material HydrophoOH - bicity

Soil mixture layer

Fe 2+

NO 3 -

Nitrification Fe(OH) 3 PO 4 3- adsorption

O2 Aeration

Possible mechanisms of wastewater treatment in MSL

Variation of MSL structure

Inlet
5 8 4 3 6 4.6 12

50 (cm)

2 1.5

6 60 50 50

MSL1
Zeolite

MSL2

MSL3
Soil mixture layer (block)

Thickness Width

Water distribution and contact at soil unit

Water inside outside outside distribution Contact high low moderate efficiency Advantage High treatment Simple structure Smooth water flow efficiency (easy construction) High loading rate (per unit soil) (less clogging)

Variation of MSL structures and type of water treatment

Heavily polluted water Low loading rate
Toilet, Restaurant ww treatment

Moderately polluted water High loading rate

Advanced treatment of sewage or domestic ww

High treatment efficiency Thick ness

Soil mixture

Less polluted water High loading rate

Width
High loading rate (less clogging)
Direct treatment of polluted river water

The structure is decided depending on the treatment condition.

Application of MSL System for wastewater treatment Domestic wastewater from individual houses or a community development (secondary-advanced treatment)
Sewage (advanced treatment) Toilet wastewater (advanced treatment) Wastewater from toilet, shower, kitchen of a camping facility (secondary-advanced treatment)

Polluted river water

Domestic wastewater treatment in Fukuoka

Gray water (kitchen, bathroom and laundry)

MSL

Domestic wastewater treatment in Shimane

Gray Toilet Water septic tan

Masa soil Plastic net Gravel 40mm Porous pipe VU75mm

100

600 mm
100 150 100 100 100 100 100 100 50 50 50 50 50 50

1200 mm

Mean surface area: 3.9 m2

Volume : 4.3 m3

Ceramic cups for collection of soil solution

Drainage pipe Aeration pipe

Operation: July 1990 Soil, Jutepellet , Iron Mixture July 2003

50

Cross Section

Jute net Zeolite 1-3mm Plastic net Gravel 40mm Vinyl sheet

Construction of a MSL system for domestic Wastewater treatment in a household in Shimane.

Impermeable sheet

Zeolite Soil mixture layer

(sandy soil mixed with jute pellet and Iron particle) packed in jute bags

200 180 160

(mg/l)

(mg/l) 14

left axis
right axis

WW BOD
TW BOD WW PO4-P

WW T-N
TW T-N TW PO4-P 10 8 6 4 2 12

140
120

100
80 60

40
20

0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 13:00 16:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Daily fluctuation of waste and treated water10th year

40 30 20 10
(mgl)

BO D rem oval percentage

4 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 100 80 3 60 2 T-P 40 1 rem oval percentage 20 0 0 1990 1991 1992 1994% 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 Concentration and 1993 removal of BOD,T-P,T-N in1999 treated water 50 100

( )

100 80 60 40 20 0

unit : kg (%) Denitrification 92 (59) Material accumulation in MSL

T-N 157 (100)

T-P COD(OM) 23 (100) 358 (100)

wastewater

Decomposition 277.6 (78)

7 (4)

19 (83)

0.4 (0.1)

MSL system

58 (37)

4 (17)

80 (22)

treated water

Mass balances of contaminants for 10 years treatment

Systems life is depending on P adsorption capacity. But, if we concern about only organic matter and N, it may be until the system physically is damaged.

Summary of wastewater types applied to MSL systems and the treatment results in previous works.
WW types and HLR
Polluted river water Secondary treated swegae (220-4700 l/m3/d WW (mg/l) PLR (g/m3/d TW (mg/l) Removal rate (%)

BOD
25.9 65.7 5.1 77

SS
25.1 63.5 4.9 78

T-N
11.8 8.5 3.9 52

T-P
2.68 6.78 1.65 44

Domestic or toilet WW (190-1820 l/m3/d

WW (mg/l) PLR (g/m3/d TW (mg/l) Removal rate (%)

WW (mg/l) PLR (g/m3/d TW (mg/l) Removal rate (%)

192 76 16 91
1434 329 47.4 96

89.2 45.3 6.5 90

515 130 23.8 94

58.3 21.3 29.8 48

237 65.6 91.9 61

6.47 2.37 1.65 75

40.5 11.2 5.37 88

Highly polluted WW ex. Animal farm WW (30-290 l/m3/d

WW: wastewater, TW: treated water, HLR: hydraulic loading rate, PLR: pollutants loading rate

Removal of pesticides and PCE by MSL system

(ng/l) WW TW Removal EQS Rate (%) 100 3 99 100 97 10 3*

Simazin
Fenitrothion

200
910 2000 93

nd
14

Napropamid
PCE

nd
3

PCE: Tetrachloroetylene EQS: Environmental Quality standard Monitoring guideline value.

MSL containing about 0.5%(w/w) of activated carbon in the soil mixture layer. HLR:250L/m2/d

20 (ng/l) 15

E2 concentration in a river
A possible removal mechanism is adsorption by humic substances and charcoal, and decomposition.

10

( ) removal % (62)
5

(82)
(92)

(83)

(82)

R.W

Sandy And. And. And. Sandy 2000 4000 1000 2000 1000 Soil type and loading rate. (And.=Black volcanic ash soil)

17-Estradiol (E2) removal by MSL system.

An endocrine disrupting substance

Sewage system, community plant

Advanced treatment at pre-settled facilities Domestic wastewater

Public toilet MSL system

reuse

Restaurant

reuse Polluted COD environmental water

Possible Water treatment Scheme by MSL system

For the removal of N, P, BOD, COD, Pesticides, PCE, 17estradiol, etc