Greywater irrigation as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water

Ryan D.R. Turner; Michael St J. Warne; Les A. Dawes; Kristie Thompson; Geoffrey D. Will

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.073

Greywater irrigation as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water

Ryan D.R. Turner
, Michael St J. Warne
, Les A. Dawes
, Kristie Thompson
, Geoffrey D. Will

University of Queensland
Queensland Department of Environment and Science
Queensland University of Technology
Griffith University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

175 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Increased water demands due to population growth and increased urbanisation have driven adoption of various water reuse practices. The irrigation of greywater (water from all household uses, except toilets) has been proposed as one potential sustainable practice. Research has clearly identified environmental harm from the presence of micro-pollutants in soils, groundwater and surface water. Greywater contains a range of micro pollutants yet very little is known about their potential environmental fate when greywater is irrigated to soil. Therefore, this study assessed whether organic micro-pollutants in irrigated greywater were transferred to shallow groundwater and an adjacent surface waterway. A total of 22 organic micro-pollutants were detected in greywater. Six of these (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET, paracetamol, salicylic acid and triclosan) were selected as potential tracers of greywater contamination. Three of these chemicals (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET) were detected in the groundwater, while salicylic acid was also detected in adjacent surface water. Caffeine and DEET in surface water were directly attributable to greywater irrigation. Thus the practice of greywater irrigation can act as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water. The full list of micro-pollutants that could be introduced via greywater and the risk they pose to aquatic ecosystems is not yet known.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	570-578
Number of pages	9
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	669
Early online date	6 Mar 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.073
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2019

Bibliographical note

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality
control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment, 669, (2019)
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.073

© 2017, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Funding

The authors would like to thank all reviewers who provided useful comment on this manuscript. The authors would also like to acknowledge the Queensland Government for providing R.D.R. Turner with study time and funding for this research project. We particularly would like to thank the staff at the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, University of Queensland (Entox) and Queensland Health Forensic Scientific Services (QHFSS) for their time and assistance. Thanks to colleagues at the Queensland Government who provided, valuable advice and support and the internal reviewers. This research would not have been possible without the support of the residents at Payne Road, The Gap, Queensland, Australia. Appendix A

Keywords

Greywater
Groundwater
Irrigation
Organic micro-pollutants
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)
Water quality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution

Access to Document

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.073

Post-PrintAccepted author manuscript, 1.75 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

https://eprints.qut.edu.au/127548/Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Greywater irrigation as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water",

abstract = "Increased water demands due to population growth and increased urbanisation have driven adoption of various water reuse practices. The irrigation of greywater (water from all household uses, except toilets) has been proposed as one potential sustainable practice. Research has clearly identified environmental harm from the presence of micro-pollutants in soils, groundwater and surface water. Greywater contains a range of micro pollutants yet very little is known about their potential environmental fate when greywater is irrigated to soil. Therefore, this study assessed whether organic micro-pollutants in irrigated greywater were transferred to shallow groundwater and an adjacent surface waterway. A total of 22 organic micro-pollutants were detected in greywater. Six of these (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET, paracetamol, salicylic acid and triclosan) were selected as potential tracers of greywater contamination. Three of these chemicals (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET) were detected in the groundwater, while salicylic acid was also detected in adjacent surface water. Caffeine and DEET in surface water were directly attributable to greywater irrigation. Thus the practice of greywater irrigation can act as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water. The full list of micro-pollutants that could be introduced via greywater and the risk they pose to aquatic ecosystems is not yet known.",

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note = "NOTICE: this is the author{\textquoteright}s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment, 669, (2019) DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.073 {\textcopyright} 2017, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ",

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AU - Dawes, Les A.

AU - Thompson, Kristie

AU - Will, Geoffrey D.

N1 - NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment, 669, (2019) DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.073 © 2017, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

PY - 2019/6/15

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N2 - Increased water demands due to population growth and increased urbanisation have driven adoption of various water reuse practices. The irrigation of greywater (water from all household uses, except toilets) has been proposed as one potential sustainable practice. Research has clearly identified environmental harm from the presence of micro-pollutants in soils, groundwater and surface water. Greywater contains a range of micro pollutants yet very little is known about their potential environmental fate when greywater is irrigated to soil. Therefore, this study assessed whether organic micro-pollutants in irrigated greywater were transferred to shallow groundwater and an adjacent surface waterway. A total of 22 organic micro-pollutants were detected in greywater. Six of these (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET, paracetamol, salicylic acid and triclosan) were selected as potential tracers of greywater contamination. Three of these chemicals (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET) were detected in the groundwater, while salicylic acid was also detected in adjacent surface water. Caffeine and DEET in surface water were directly attributable to greywater irrigation. Thus the practice of greywater irrigation can act as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water. The full list of micro-pollutants that could be introduced via greywater and the risk they pose to aquatic ecosystems is not yet known.

AB - Increased water demands due to population growth and increased urbanisation have driven adoption of various water reuse practices. The irrigation of greywater (water from all household uses, except toilets) has been proposed as one potential sustainable practice. Research has clearly identified environmental harm from the presence of micro-pollutants in soils, groundwater and surface water. Greywater contains a range of micro pollutants yet very little is known about their potential environmental fate when greywater is irrigated to soil. Therefore, this study assessed whether organic micro-pollutants in irrigated greywater were transferred to shallow groundwater and an adjacent surface waterway. A total of 22 organic micro-pollutants were detected in greywater. Six of these (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET, paracetamol, salicylic acid and triclosan) were selected as potential tracers of greywater contamination. Three of these chemicals (acesulfame, caffeine, DEET) were detected in the groundwater, while salicylic acid was also detected in adjacent surface water. Caffeine and DEET in surface water were directly attributable to greywater irrigation. Thus the practice of greywater irrigation can act as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water. The full list of micro-pollutants that could be introduced via greywater and the risk they pose to aquatic ecosystems is not yet known.

KW - Greywater

KW - Groundwater

KW - Irrigation

KW - Organic micro-pollutants

KW - Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)

KW - Water quality

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SN - 0048-9697

VL - 669

SP - 570

EP - 578

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

ER -

Greywater irrigation as a source of organic micro-pollutants to shallow groundwater and nearby surface water

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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