Water supply for irrigation is a limiting factor for agriculture in Mediterranean countries. A strategy for increasing water availability proposes to use low quality water for irrigation to avoid irrigation with precious and high cost potable water. A drawback about using waste water is the potential heavy metal accumulation in soil and foodstuff. In this study, primary or secondary treated municipal wastewater went through supplementary cleaning steps with a low-cost device and was used to irrigate tomatoes and potatoes in an experimental field in Italy. We monitored heavy metals in soil, food and processed food during three years. We measured no accumulation neither in soil, nor in food after this period. Variations of metal concentrations in soil and food were mainly due to common farm practices such as fertilisation and pesticide applications. This study demonstrates that irrigation with wastewater is achievable with a low-cost treatment device that can be used elsewhere to decrease pressure on water resources.

The combination of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has clear advantages for the future sustainable quality and quantity management of groundwater, especially when using treated wastewater. We built a Marthe flow and transport model of an MAR–SAT system located in a near-shore sand aquifer, for quantifying the influence of environmental factors (climate, tides, and operational conditions) on the coastal hydrosystem with regard to the fate of trace organic compounds (TrOCs). The simulations show the impact of these factors on flow rates and dilution, and thus, on the potential reactivity of TrOCs. The dilution of secondary treated wastewater (STWW) is variable, depending on the operations (feeding from infiltration ponds) and on shore proximity (dilution by saltwater). We show that, close to the ponds and during infiltration, the attenuation of TrOC concentrations can be explained by reactivity. At the natural outlet of the aquifer, the simulated average residence times ranged from about 70 to 500 days, depending upon seasonal dynamics. It is important to study TrOCs at site scale in order to anticipate the effect of natural variations on the SAT and on the fate of TrOCs.

Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) can provide supplementary treatment of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) such as pharmaceutical and industrial compounds present in Secondary Treated Wastewater (STWW). Concern on presence of unregulated TrOCs in natural systems has raised recently as well as the interest in SAT systems for remediation. The present study quantifies, at the field scale over35 m of lateral groundwater flow, the effectiveness of the Agon-Coutainville SAT system (Manche, Normandy, France) for TrOCs removal by sorption and biodegradation through monitoring of seven TrOCs (oxazepam, carbamazepine, benzotriazole, tolyltriazole, caffein, paracetamol, ibuprofen) and major inorganic compounds as intrinsic tracers in STWW and groundwater during a 34-day STWW infiltration experiment during operational use of the SAT. Cationic exchanges and mixing between groundwater and STWW during the experiment were highlighted by major ions and geochemical simulations. Due to the low thickness of the unsaturated zone, a 1D analytical solution of the advection-dispersion equation (ADE) was applied on chloride data. Chloride was used as conservative intrinsic tracer to calibrate the horizontal flow and transport parameters such as the aquifer dispersion coefficient (D) and the average pore water velocity (ν) allowing estimation of the groundwater residence time. Transport and attenuation of the TrOCs were simulated assuming first-order degradation constant (μ) and linear retardation coefficient (R), calibrated to simulate the observed temporal changes in the breakthrough of TrOCs. Sorption was found to play a role in the transport of TrOCs, notably for oxazepam with a higher linear retardation coefficient value of 2.2, whereas no significant differences of retardation were observed for carbamazepine, tolyltriazole, benzotriazole (1.37, 1.35, 1.36 respectively). Estimated first order degradation rate constants, between 0.03d-1 for carbamazepine and 0.09d-1 for tolyltriazole, were generally high compared to the literature, possibly due to favourable redox conditions and important microbial activities within the system. This study provides evidence of the efficiency of the Agon-Coutainville SAT system for the removal of TrOCs.

The demand for energy and chemicals is constantly growing, leading to an increase of the amounts of contaminants discharged to the environment. Among these, pharmaceutical molecules are frequently found in treated wastewater that is discharged into superficial waters. Indeed, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designed to remove organic pollution from urban effluents but are not specific, especially toward contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), which finally reach the natural environment. In this context, it is important to study the fate of micropollutants, especially in a soil aquifer treatment (SAT) context for water from WWTPs, and for the most persistent molecules such as benzodiazepines. In the present study, soils sampled in a reed bed frequently flooded by water from a WWTP were spiked with diazepam and oxazepam in microcosms, and their concentrations were monitored for 97 days. It appeared that the two molecules were completely degraded after 15 days of incubation. Samples were collected during the experiment in order to follow the dynamics of the microbial communities, based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing for Archaea and Bacteria, and ITS2 gene for Fungi. The evolution of diversity and of specific operating taxonomic units (OTUs) highlighted an impact of the addition of benzodiazepines, a rapid resilience of the fungal community and an evolution of the bacterial community. It appeared that OTUs from the Brevibacillus genus were more abundant at the beginning of the biodegradation process, for diazepam and oxazepam conditions. Additionally, Tax4Fun tool was applied to 16S rRNA gene sequencing data to infer on the evolution of specific metabolic functions during biodegradation. It finally appeared that the microbial community in soils frequently exposed to water from WWTP, potentially containing CECs such as diazepam and oxazepam, may be adapted to the degradation of persistent contaminants.

The last 60years has seen unprecedented groundwater extraction and overdraft as well as development of new technologies for water treatment that together drive the advance in intentional groundwater replenishment known as managed aquifer recharge (MAR). This paper is the first known attempt to quantify the volume of MAR at global scale, and to illustrate the advancement of all the major types of MAR and relate these to research and regulatory advancements. Faced with changing climate and rising intensity of climate extremes, MAR is an increasingly important water management strategy, alongside demand management, to maintain, enhance and secure stressed groundwater systems and to protect and improve water quality. During this time, scientific researchon hydraulic design of facilities, tracer studies, managing clogging, recovery efficiency and water quality changes in aquifershas underpinned practical improvements in MAR and has had broader benefits in hydrogeology. Recharge wells have greatly accelerated recharge, particularly in urban areas and for mine water management. In recent years, research into governance, operating practices, reliability, economics, risk assessment and public acceptance of MAR has been undertaken. Since the 1960s, implementation of MAR has accelerated at a rate of 5%/year, but is not keeping pace with increasing groundwater extraction. Currently, MAR has reached an estimated 10km(3)/year, 2.4% of groundwater extraction in countries reporting MAR (or 1.0% of global groundwater extraction). MAR is likely to exceed 10% of global extraction, based on experience where MAR is more advanced, to sustain quantity, reliability and quality of water supplies.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Numerical simulation of the injection of a CO 2 saturated solution in a limestone sample Dominique Thiéry, Aurélien Randi, Jérôme Sterpenich, Christophe Kervévan, Marie Pettenati

Chalk aquifer is the main water resource for domestic water supply in many parts in northern France. In this region, groundwater is frequently affected by quality problems concerning nitrates. Often close to or above the drinking water standards, nitrate content in groundwater is mainly due to historical agriculture practices, combined with aquifer recharge through the vadose zone. The complexity of processes occurring into such an environment leads to combine a lot of knowledge in agronomy, geochemistry and hydrogeology in order to understand, model and predict the spatiotemporal evolution of nitrate content and provide a decision support tool for the water producers and stakeholders. To succeed in this challenge, conceptual and numerical models representing accurately the Chalk aquifer specificity will be developed, including a multidisciplinary approach to simulate storage and transport from the ground surface to the underlying groundwater. This involves a new agronomic module MONICA (MOdelling NItrates transfert taking into account Crops and Agricultural practices), a soil-crop model calculating the nitrogen mass balance in arable soil, integrated in the 3D transient groundwater numerical code MARTHE . This approach integrating existing multidisciplinary tools is a real challenge. It enables to decrease the number of calibration parameters by selecting the relevant equations and simplifying them without altering the signal. The numerical development is applied on a 2D vertical cross-section in the vadose zone representing experimental nitrate vertical measurements in soil profiles (0-22 m depth) in the Somme region (France). The experiment results highlight the land use management effect on nitrate evolution into the vadose zone (e.g. forest instead of crops). Simulations constrained by climate forcing, land use and nitrogen inputs over several decades reproduce the nitrate spatial and temporal distribution. This approach will be ultimately used to model in 3D the drinking water catchment area. It will be calibrated using nitrate contents time series of nitrate content measured in the domestic water pumping well available since 1995 (field in northern France – Avre Basin region). This numerical tool will help the decision-making in all activities in relation with water uses.

We investigate denitrification mechanisms through batch experiments using crushed rock and groundwater from a granitic aquifer subject to long term pumping (Ploemeur, France). Except for sterilized experiments, extensive denitrification reaction induces NO3 decreases ranging from 0.3 to 0.6mmol/L. Carbon concentrations, either organic or inorganic, remain relatively stable and do not document potential heterotrophic denitrification. Batch experiments show a clear effect of mineral dissolution which is documented through cation (K, Na, Ca) and Fluoride production. These productions are tightly related to denitrification progress during the experiment. Conversely, limited amounts of SO4, systematically lower than autotrophic denitrification coupled to sulfur oxidation stoichiometry, are produced during the experiments which indicates that sulfur oxidation is not likely even when pyrite is added to the experiments. Analysis of cation ratios, both in isolated minerals of the granite and within water of the batch, allow the mineral dissolution during the experiments to be quantified. Using cation ratios, we show that batch experiments are characterized mainly by biotite dissolution. As biotite contains 21 to 30% of Fe and 0.3 to 1.7% of F, it constitutes a potential source for these two elements. Denitrification could be attributed to the oxidation of Fe(II) contained in biotite. We computed the amount of K and F produced through biotite dissolution when entirely attributing denitrification to biotite dissolution. Computed amounts show that this process may account for the observed K and F produced. We interpret these results as the development of microbial activity which induces mineral dissolution in order to uptake Fe(II) which is used for denitrification. Although pyrite is probably available, SO4 and cation measurements favor a large biotite dissolution reaction which could account for all the observed Fe production. Chemical composition of groundwater produced from the Ploemeur site indicates similar denitrification processes although original composition shows mainly plagioclase dissolution.

"Man-made" or unconventional freshwater, like desalinated seawater or reclaimed effluents, is increasingly introduced into regional water cycles in arid or semi-arid countries. We show that the breakthrough of reverse osmosis-derived freshwater in the largely engineered water cycle of the greater Tel Aviv region (Dan Region) has profoundly changed previous isotope fingerprints. This new component can be traced throughout the system, from the drinking water supply, through sewage, treated effluents, and artificially recharged groundwater at the largest Soil-Aquifer Treatment system in the Middle East (Shafdan) collecting all the Dan region sewage. The arrival of the new water type (desalinated seawater) in 2007 and its predominance since 2010 constitutes an unplanned, large-scale, long-term tracer test and the monitoring of the breakthrough of desalination-specific fingerprints in the aquifer system of Shafdan allowed to get new insights on the water and solute flow and behavior in engineered groundwater systems. Our approach provides an investigation tool for the urban water cycle, allowing estimating the contribution of diverse freshwater sources, and an environmental tracing method for better constraining the long-term behavior and confinement of aquifer systems with managed recharge.

As covered in Chap. 2 , many of the world’s aquifers are rapidly being depleted. Nearly one quarter of the world’s population – 1.7 billion people – live in regions where more water is being consumed than nature can renew (Gleeson et al. 2012). Over-exploitation occurs when groundwater abstraction is too intensive, for example for irrigation or for direct industrial water-supply like extracting fossil fuels (Pettenati et al. 2013; Foster et al. 2013). When groundwater is continuously over-pumped, year after year, the volume withdrawn from the aquifer cannot be replaced by recharge. Eventually, the groundwater level is much lower than its initial level and even when pumping stops, the aquifer has trouble rising once again to its original level. In continental zones, over-exploitation can lead to groundwater drawdown and, ultimately, to subsidence through development of sinkholes when underground caverns or channels collapse. In coastal areas, the decrease in groundwater recharge results in saltwater intrusion into the aquifer formation (Petalas and Lambrakis 2006; De Montety et al. 2008). Preserving local groundwater resources is an environmental and economic issue in coastal zones and is vital in an island context. The increasing demand for water caused by a growing population can lead to the salinization of groundwater resources if these are systematically over-exploited. Limiting the salinization of coastal aquifers is consistent with the groundwater objective of the European Union Water Framework Directive, which is to achieve a good qualitative and quantitative status by 2015. The economic advantage of preserving these threatened water resources is that, when there is a growing demand, a local water resource is sustained and there is no need to import water. Transporting water can cost 2–10 times more than limiting the intrusion of saltwater into a coastal aquifer.

The Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a broad collection of practices for water resource management, aiming at underground water recharge and storage for its recovery. Climate change, population growth and economic development may be behind the acute tension over water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. In these areas, recourse to new sources of water has to be considered in order to secure water supply for drinking, irrigation, tourism and domestic using. Artificial groundwater recharge using different water resources (desalted waters, river waters, treated wastewater, etc.) appears as one of major solution to the recurrent issue of water scarcity and supply security. Artificial groundwater recharge is potentially a pragmatic way to store and restore water in the environment allowing to: i) maintain necessary water supply levels, ii) alleviate salt water intrusion into costal aquifers, iii) store water avoiding evaporation as it happens for dams, and iv) make it available at any time for all needs.

In low-permeability environments, the solutions of heat storage are still limited to the capacities of geothermal borehole heat exchangers. The ANR Stock-en-Socle project explores the possibilities of periodic storage of sensitive heat1 in low-permeability environments that would offer much better performance than that of borehole heat exchangers, especially in terms of unit capacity. This project examines the storage possibilities of using semi-open water circulation in typically a Standing Column Well (SCW), using the strong heterogeneity of hard-rock aquifers in targeting the least favorable areas for water resources. To solve the main scientific issues, which include evaluating the minimum level of permeability required around a well as well as its evolution through time (increase and decrease) due to water-rock interaction processes, the study is based on an experimental program of fieldwork and modelling for studying the thermal, hydraulic and geochemical processes involved. This includes tracer and water-circulation tests by injecting hot water in different wells located in distinct hard-rock settings (i.e. granite and schist) in Brittany, Ploemeur (H+ observatory network) and Naizin. A numerical modelling approach allows studying the effects of permeability structures on the storage and heat-recovery capacities, whereas the modelling of reactive transfers will provide an understanding of how permeability evolves under the influence of dissolution and precipitation. Based on the obtained results, technical solutions will be studied for constructing a well of the SCW type in a low-permeability environment. This work will be completed by a technical and economic feasibility study leading to an investment and operations model. This study aims to describe the suitability of SCW storage for shallow geothermal energy. In order to reach these objectives, Stock-en-Socle is constructed around a public/private partnership between two public research organizations, Geosciences Rennes and BRGM, and two companies, Antea Group and Soletanche Bachy, experts in groundwater and geothermal energy. 1Sensitive heat: modifies the temperature of water and its surrounding solids without modification of physical properties, as opposed to latent heat that causes a phase change, such as vaporization

Chalk aquifer is the main water resource for domestic water supply in many parts in northern France. In same basin, groundwater is frequently affected by quality problems concerning nitrates. Often close to or above the drinking water standards, nitrate concentration in groundwater is mainly due to historical agriculture practices, combined with leakage and aquifer recharge through the vadose zone. The complexity of processes occurring into such an environment leads to take into account a lot of knowledge on agronomy, geochemistry and hydrogeology in order to understand, model and predict the spatiotemporal evolution of nitrate content and provide a decision support tool for the water producers and stakeholders. To succeed in this challenge, conceptual and numerical models representing accurately the Chalk aquifer specificity need to be developed. A multidisciplinary approach is developed to simulate storage and transport from the ground surface until groundwater. This involves a new agronomic module NITRATE (NItrogen TRansfer for Arable soil to groundwaTEr), a soil-crop model allowing to calculate nitrogen mass balance in arable soil, and the PHREEQC numerical code for geochemical calculations, both coupled with the 3D transient groundwater numerical code MARTHE . Otherwise, new development achieved on MARTHE code allows the use of dual porosity and permeability calculations needed in the fissured Chalk aquifer context. This method concerning the integration of existing multidisciplinary tools is a real challenge to reduce the number of parameters by selecting the relevant equations and simplifying the equations without altering the signal. The robustness and the validity of these numerical developments are tested step by step with several simulations constrained by climate forcing, land use and nitrogen inputs over several decades. In the first time, simulations are performed in a 1D vertical unsaturated soil column for representing experimental nitrates vertical soil profiles (0-30m depth experimental measurements in Somme region). In the second time, this approach is used to simulate with a 3D model a drinking water catchment area in order to compared nitrate contents time series calculated and measured in the domestic water pumping well since 1995 (field in northern France – Avre Basin region). This numerical tool will help the decision-making in all activities in relation with water uses.