Groundwater Contamination Due to Activities of an Intensive Hog Farming Operation Located on a Geologic Fault in East Mediterranean: A Study on COD, BOD5 and Microbial Load

Abstract

The application of treated animal wastewater produced in intensive fog farming operations (IHFOs) on surface soil, leads to groundwater contamination. In this study, the contamination of a Mediterranean aquifer caused by long-term application of treated wastewater, produced by an IHFO, on a plot with a geologic fault within the IHFO boundaries, was investigated. Groundwater samples were taken from monitoring wells close to the IHFO. A significant increase of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total viable count (TVC) and total coliform (TC) concentrations was found in wells, compared to control monitoring well, which were mainly affected by the subsurface flow of contaminated water, due to the presence of the geologic fault. During the winter, significant increases in concentrations of COD, BOD5, TVC and TC were noted and attributed to increased precipitation, which assisted in the accelerated transport of organic compounds and microbial load, through geologic fault, to groundwater.

An Effectiveness of Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetland to Improve Fish Pond Water Quality

“…The organic matter can be of natural origin as well as waste from agriculture, households, and industry. High COD values indicate a significant amount of organic matter in all forms both biologically degradable and non-biologically degradable that seeps into groundwater (Islam et al, 2019;Michalopoulos et al, 2016). The high COD value occurred, it possible that the dissolved oxygen content was sufficient to help bacteria in decomposing organic waste.…”

Groundwater contamination by salinity, microoorganisms and nitrogen compounds in Zahedan city, southeastern Iran

“…To assess of impacts of urbanization on groundwater, researchers have used remote sensing techniques and geographical information systems (Al-Bakri and Al-Jahmany 2013; Chaudhary et al 1996;Lalbiakmawia 2015;Mukherjee 2008;Solomon and Quiel 2006;Kalhor and Emaminejad 2019), hydrogeochemical investigations (Khazaei et al 2004;Sheng et al 2020;Minnig et al 2018;Zhang et al 2020;Li et al 2009;Keraita et al 2003), modeling (Khazaei et al 2004;Zhang et al 2019; Lamichhane and Shakya 2020; Lamichhane and Shakya 2020; Palanca-Tan R 2017) and microbiological approaches (Khazaei et al 2004;Hynds et al 2012;Michalopoulos et al 2016;Vasudevan et al 2020;Nowicki et al 2019).…”