Elise Bekele

CSIRO Land and Water

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S. Toze

University of Queensland

Bradley M. Patterson

University of Western Australia

Mark Shackleton

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Benjamin J. Rostron

University of Alberta

Mark Person

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

G.B. Davis

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Andrew J.S. Furness

Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

John L. Rayner

CSIRO Land and Water

Simon Higginson

Water Corporation of Western Australia (Australia)

Declan Page

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Cooperative Institutions

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

CSIRO Land and Water

Health Sciences and Nutrition

University of Western Australia

Australian Resources Research Centre

University of Queensland

Curtin University

CSIRO Manufacturing

National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training

University of Wollongong

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Tracking NSZD mass removal rates over decades: Site-wide and local scale assessment of mass removal at a legacy petroleum site

Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (2022)

G.B. Davis John L. Rayner Michael J. Donn C.D. Johnston R. Lukatelich

Long-term estimates of natural source zone depletion (NSZD) rates for petroleum LNAPL (light non-aqueous phase liquid) sites are not available. One-off measurements are often thought valid over the lifetime of LNAPL sites. In the context of site-wide LNAPL mass estimates, we report site-specific gasoline and diesel NSZD rates spanning 21-26 years. Using depth profiles of soil gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, volatiles) above LNAPL, NSZD rates were estimated in 1994, 2006 and 2020 for diesel and 1999, 2009 and 2020 for gasoline. Each date also had soil-core mass estimates, which together with NSZD rates allow estimation of the longevity for LNAPL presence. Site-wide coring (in 1992, 2002, 2007) estimated LNAPL mass reductions of 12,000 t. For diesel NSZD, the ratio of NSZD rates for 2006 (16,000-49,000 L/ha/y) to those in 2020 (2600-14,000 L/ha/y) was ~3-6. By 2020, the 1994 diesel NSZD rates would have predicted the entire removal of measured mass (16-42 kg/m2). For gasoline, NSZD rates in 1999 were extremely high (50,000-270,000 L/ha/y) but 9-27 times lower (5800-10,000 L/ha/y) a decade later. The gasoline NSZD rates in 1999 predicted near complete mass removal in 2-12 years, but 10-11 kg/m2 was measured 10 and 21 years later which is 26% of the initial mass in 1999. The outcomes substantiate the need to understand NSZD rate changes over the lifetime of LNAPL-impacted sites.

10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104007

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Citations (16)

Evaluating two infiltration gallery designs for managed aquifer recharge using secondary treated wastewater

Journal of Environmental Management (2013)

Elise Bekele S. Toze Bradley M. Patterson Wolfgang Fegg Mark Shackleton

Infiltration (HVAC)

10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.12.018

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Citations (30)

Abstract: Can Geostatistical Methods be Used to Infer Long-Range Oil Migration Through Carrier Beds? A Case Study from the Alberta Basin, Canada

AAPG Bulletin (1998)

Elise Bekele

10.1306/00aa80ee-1730-11d7-8645000102c1865d

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Citations (0)

Aquifer residence times for recycled water estimated using chemical tracers and the propagation of temperature signals at a managed aquifer recharge site in Australia

Hydrogeology Journal (2014)

Elise Bekele Bradley M. Patterson S. Toze Andrew J.S. Furness Simon Higginson

TRACER

10.1007/s10040-014-1142-0

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Citations (28)

Fluid pressure implications of erosional unloading,basin hydrodynamics and glaciation in the Alberta Basin, Western Canada

Journal of Geochemical Exploration (2003)

Elise Bekele Benjamin J. Rostron Mark Person

Fluid pressure

Post-glacial rebound

10.1016/s0375-6742(03)00148-1

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Citations (21)

Water Recycling via Aquifers for Sustainable Urban Water Quality Management: Current Status, Challenges and Opportunities

Water (2018)

Elise Bekele Declan Page Joanne Vanderzalm Anna H. Kaksonen Dennis Gonzalez

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is used worldwide in urban environments to replenish groundwater to provide a secure and sustainable supply of potable and non-potable water. It relies on natural treatment processes within aquifers (i.e., filtration, sorption, and degradation), and in some cases involves infiltration through the unsaturated zone to polish the given source water, e.g., treated wastewater, stormwater, or rainwater, to the desired quality prior to reuse. Whilst MAR in its early forms has occurred for millennia, large-scale schemes to replenish groundwater with advanced treated reclaimed water have come to the fore in cities such as Perth, Western Australia, Monterey, California, and Changwon, South Korea, as water managers consider provision for projected population growth in a drying climate. An additional bonus for implementing MAR in coastal aquifers is assisting in the prevention of seawater intrusion. This review begins with the rationale for large-scale MAR schemes in an Australian urban context, reflecting on the current status; describes the unique benefits of several common MAR types; and provides examples from around the world. It then explores several scientific challenges, ranging from quantifying aquifer removal for various groundwater contaminants to assessing risks to human health and the environment, and avoiding adverse outcomes from biogeochemical changes induced by aquifer storage. Scientific developments in the areas of water quality assessments, which include molecular detection methods for microbial pathogens and high resolution analytical chemistry methods for detecting trace chemicals, give unprecedented insight into the “polishing” offered by natural treatment. This provides opportunities for setting of compliance targets for mitigating risks to human health and maintaining high performance MAR schemes.

Rainwater Harvesting

Sustainable yield

10.3390/w10040457

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Citations (43)

Managed aquifer recharge of treated wastewater: Water quality changes resulting from infiltration through the vadose zone

Water Research (2011)

Elise Bekele S. Toze Bradley M. Patterson Simon Higginson

Infiltration (HVAC)

10.1016/j.watres.2011.08.058

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Citations (113)

Advancing the Use of Suction Lysimeters to Inform Soil Leaching and Remediation of PFAS Source Zones

Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation (2024)

John L. Rayner Amanda Lee Stephen Corish Simon Leake Elise Bekele

Abstract Porewater in soil vadose zones is an integrator of the fundamental processes governing the transport and partitioning of per and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as they move from source zones to groundwater. Suction lysimeters are being advanced as a method to provide reliable and representative PFAS porewater samples, to inform PFAS leaching and for monitoring remedial approaches. We report outcomes of lysimeter investigations across 3 sites and 18 lysimeters within fine‐textured soil profiles. Soil cores were recovered from the same locations, and PFAS concentrations in soils and lysimeter porewater were compared and compared with prior laboratory investigations. Variable concentration distributions with depth of PFAS in soils were found with a maximum sum of PFAS of ~56 mg/kg dominated by perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). The maximum sum of PFAS in porewater was 13.5 mg/L. Comparison across all collocated soil and porewater concentrations did not provide consistent trends. PFAS mass fractions within lysimeter porewater samples were much higher for most PFAS than mass fractions determined from laboratory investigations, but the fraction was lower for PFOS. The results indicate preferential recovery of individual shorter chain PFAS via leaching at lower liquid: soil ratios such as those experienced under suction during recovery of porewater by lysimeters. Suggestions are offered to advance the use of suction lysimeters in promoting porewater PFAS concentrations as an alternative for regulatory compliance, and in closing the gap between field and laboratory approaches. There is merit in using lysimeters at PFAS field sites with improvements and considerations embraced.

Lysimeter

Soil Remediation

10.1111/gwmr.12670

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Parameter estimation for a variable density hydrodynamic model of the Gippsland Basin in Australia using wireline logs and seismic inversion

Sunil Varma N. Bozkurt Çiftçi Sanjeev Rajput Karsten Michael Elise Bekele

Reliable estimates of the hydraulic properties, such as porosity and permeability, are essential for construction of robust dynamic reservoir models. A variable density, non‐isothermal, hydrodynamic model of the Gippsland Basin is being developed to simulate impacts of CO2 injection into the Latrobe Formation on the aquifer pressures and migration of the saline formation water. For this study relationships between porosity and permeability derived from conventional core analysis and mercury injection capillary pressure tests, and the shale volume derived from gamma logs have been used. Shale volume has also been derived from inversion of 3D seismic data using constrained sparse spike inversion to facilitate distribution of porosity and permeability in 3D space. Formation water density distribution has been estimated based on salinity interpreted from self potential logs to assist in model calibration.

Wireline

10.1190/1.3627596

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Impact of change in vegetation cover on groundwater recharge to a phreatic aquifer in Western Australia: assessment of several recharge estimation techniques

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (2006)

Elise Bekele R. B. Salama D. P. Commander

Groundwater levels in a deep phreatic aquifer in the northern Perth Basin, Western Australia have risen between 10 and 55 cm/y over the last three decades due to the replacement of deep-rooted native vegetation with pasture and annual crops. This has sparked debate over increasing groundwater allocation limits to meet growing demand. Estimates of recent and historical rates of groundwater recharge are needed to manage the resource effectively. The Parmelia Formation, composed predominantly of sandstone, supplies domestic, stock and production bores for rural towns. Groundwater recharge was estimated using several recharge estimation techniques including the water-table fluctuation method and tracer techniques; groundwater chloride, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and C-14. Vertical fluxes of soilwater under pasture and native vegetation were determined using chloride as a tracer. Apparent groundwater ages determined using CFCs and carbon-14 are generally younger than 40 years in piezometers that are screened within a few metres of the water-table from recharge under pasture, while groundwater is older than several thousand years in bores that are screened well below the water-table, and mixed waters occur at discharge areas. Recharge-rate estimates obtained under native vegetation are mainly <12 mm/y, whereas after replacement with pasture and annual crops, recharge rates are generally 20 – 50 mm/y. The presence of thick clay lenses in some areas may be responsible for observed delays of approximately one decade in the water-table response to land-use change. The study highlighted the fact that several recharge estimation techniques are required for better understanding of recharge processes and evaluation of recharge.

Phreatic

Depression-focused recharge

Piezometer

Groundwater discharge

10.1080/08120090600686827

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Citations (13)