SEDIMENT BIOBARRIERS FOR CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS IN GROUNDWATER REACHING SURFACE WATER (SEDBARCAH PROJECT)

摘要

Polluted groundwater in urban and industrial areas often represents a continuous source of diffuse contamination of surface waters. However, the fate of the infiltrating groundwater pollutants might be influenced by the sediment in eutrophic water bodies since they might possess characteristic biological and physicochemical properties influencing pollutant degradation. In a part of the eutrophic river Zenne (Vilvoorde, Belgium) we studied the intrinsic capacity of river sediment microbial communities to degrade chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons(CAHs). The CAH concentrations determined in groundwater sampled at screenpoints and using piston sampler equipment indicate that the Zenne locally drains groundwater polluted with vinyl chloride (VC) and cis-1,2-dichloro-ethene (cis-DCE).