Fast changes in spring water quality in karst areas are a major concern for production of drinking water and require detailed knowledge of the complex interaction between karst aquifer, transport behavior of microorganisms and water treatment. We have conducted artificial and natural particle transport experiments at a karst spring with bacteria, bacteriophages, microspheres, and pathogens. Transport of the investigated microorganisms, turbid matter and chemical pullutants as well as increase in discharge are strongly related to precipitation and the heterogeneity of the aquifer. The indicator bacteria E. coli revealed a significant correlation to verotoxin-producing E coli and Cryptosporidium spp. We conclude that artificial particle tracers can help identify 'hot spots' for microbial recharge and that system parameters in spring water such as turbidity, UV-extinction and increase in discharge can be key parameters for efficient raw water management.
Snow interception in a coniferous stand leads to considerable short-range variability in snowcover depth, which in turn affects the water and heat regime of the soil. To study the coupling between snow accumulation, frost penetration, and hydrological response, plot-scale experiments were conducted in a subalpine spruce forest. The stony, sandy-loamy Spodosol was highly permeable and had an organic layer of 5-15cm thickness. Within two plots, one underneath a tree crown and one in a canopy gap, we measured near-surface runoff, soil temperature, and liquid water content. Snow and frost depths varied more in space than between two winter periods at given locations. Frost penetration was greater near the trunk, where a higher portion of snowmelt water drained downslope close to the surface than in the gap due to frost-induced reduction of infiltration. In both years, the spring snowmelt occurred over two distinct periods. During the first snowmelt, the water percolated primarily through the frozen layer and part of it probably refroze within the frozen layer, thereby raising the total water and ice content. During the second event, near-surface runoff was more pronounced.
Knowledge about the residence times of artificially infiltrated water into an aquifer and the resulting flow paths is essential to developing groundwater-management schemes. To obtain this knowledge, a variety of tracers can be used to study residence times and gain information about subsurface processes. Although a variety of tracers exists, their interpretation can differ considerably due to subsurface heterogeneity, underlying assumptions, and sampling and analysis limitations. The current study systematically assesses information gained from seven different tracers during a pumping experiment at a site where drinking water is extracted from an aquifer close to contaminated areas and where groundwater is artificially recharged by infiltrating surface water. We demonstrate that the groundwater residence times estimated using dye and heat tracers are comparable when the thermal retardation for the heat tracer is considered. Furthermore, major ions, acesulfame, and stable isotopes (δH and δO) show that mixing of infiltrated water and groundwater coming from the regional flow path occurred and a vertical stratification of the flow system exist. Based on the concentration patterns of dissolved gases (He, Ar, Kr, N, and O) and chlorinated solvents (e.g., tetrachloroethene), three temporal phases are observed in the ratio between infiltrated water and regional groundwater during the pumping experiment. Variability in this ratio is significantly related to changes in the pumping and infiltration rates. During constant pumping rates, more infiltrated water was extracted, which led to a higher dilution of the regional groundwater. An infiltration interruption caused however, the ratio to change and more regional groundwater is extracted, which led to an increase in all concentrations. The obtained results are discussed for each tracer considered and its strengths and limitations are illustrated. Overall, it is demonstrated that aquifer heterogeneity and various subsurface processes necessitate application of multiple tracers to quantify uncertainty when identifying flow processes.
Stable isotopes of water, organic micropollutants and hydrochemistry data are powerful tools for identifying different water types in areas where knowledge of the spatial distribution of different groundwater is critical for water resource management. An important question is how the assessments change if only one or a subset of these tracers is used. In this study, we estimate spatial artificial infiltration along an infiltration system with stage-discharge relationships and classify different water types based on the mentioned hydrochemistry data for a drinking water production area in Switzerland. Managed aquifer recharge via surface water that feeds into the aquifer creates a hydraulic barrier between contaminated groundwater and drinking water wells. We systematically compare the information from the aforementioned tracers and illustrate differences in distribution and mixing ratios. Despite uncertainties in the mixing ratios, we found that the overall spatial distribution of artificial infiltration is very similar for all the tracers. The highest infiltration occurred in the eastern part of the infiltration system, whereas infiltration in the western part was the lowest. More balanced infiltration within the infiltration system could cause the elevated groundwater mound to be distributed more evenly, preventing the natural inflow of contaminated groundwater. Dedicated to Professor Peter Fritz on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
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