SMART: Sequential Managed Aquifer Recharge Technology

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems, such as riverbank filtration (RBF), soil aquifer treatment and artificial recharge and recovery, have been used for decades to improve the availability of localized water supplies by the utilization of less desirable water sources like storm water, impaired surface water and reclaimed water. During infiltration of water through the vadose and saturated zones, microbial degradation and assimilation is playing a dominant role for the attenuation of organic contaminants.

The innovative Sequential Managed Aquifer Recharge Technology (SMART) concept actively manipulates subsurface conditions and combines two MAR systems with an in between aeration step to provide favorable aerobic, carbon limited infiltration in the second system (Figure 28). This concept has been already successfully tested for treatment of wastewater-impacted surface water at a utility in the United States.

Experiments are conducted within a joint collaborating project with TU Berlin (TUB), the University of Oldenburg (UO) and the Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB). Laboratory-scale column experiments are operated to test the SMART concept and validated by monitoring of a full-scale groundwater recharge facility in Berlin-Tegel. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses will be established in combination with compound and pathway determination by target, suspected target and non-target analytical methods in order to identify composition and function of microbial communities responsible for biodegradation of trace organic compounds.