U.S. Department of Agriculture: Forest Service -- National Agroforestry Center

 

Date of this Version

2003

Comments

Published in J. Environ. Qual. 32:801–815 (2003).

Abstract

Three low-volume mini-sprinklers were tested for their efficacy to strip trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) from water. Deionized water spiked with TCE and PCE as pumped for approximately 1 h at 0.19 to 0.21 MPa (28 to 30 lb in-2) through a mini-sprinkler supported on top of a 1.8-m-tall riser. Water was collected in collection vessels at 0.61 and 1.22 m above the ground on support columns that were spaced at 0.61-m intervals from the riser base, and samples were composited per height and distance from the riser. Overall, air-stripping reduced dissolved concentrations of TCE and PCE by 99.1 to 100 and 96.9 to 100%, respectively, from mean influent dissolved concentrations of 466 to 1675 μg L-1 TCE and 206 to 940 μg L-1, respectively, over a 1-h test period. Mini-sprinklers offer the advantages of (i) easy setup in series that can be used on practically any terrain; (ii) operation over a long period of time that does not threaten aquifer depletion; (iii) use in small or confined aquifers in which the capacity is too low to support large irrigation or purging systems; and (iv) use in forests in which the small, low-impact droplets of the mini-sprinklers do not damage bark and in which tress can help manage (via evapotranspiration) excess water waste.

Share

COinS