HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (31) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tan, Y. Articles by Griffin, D. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Tan, Y. Articles by Griffin, D. M. Agricola Articles by Tan, Y. Articles by Griffin, D. M.

Transport of Bacteria during Unsteady Unsaturated Soil Water Flow

Environmental Science, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Private Mail Bag 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia

W. J. Bond

CSIRO Division of Soils, GPO Box 639, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

D. M. Griffin

Dep. of Forestry, Australian National Univ., GPO Box 4, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Transport of bacteria in porous media has been a subject of great interest in recent years because of its importance in many areas. However, there is a lack of quantitative experimental data on bacterial movement through porous media. Column experiments were carried out to obtain experimental data needed to test the conceptual and mathematical approaches used to describe bacterial transport. Constant-head horizontal infiltration experiments were carried out with bacterial suspensions and three different sand materials. Bacteria were suspended in various solutions: distilled water to which tritium was added (34 MBq L^–1), CaCl₂ solution at each of two different concentrations (25 and 3 mmol L^–1), or KCl solution (75 mmol L^–1). In all experiments, bacterial profiles were found to scale in terms of the well-known similarity variable, , defined as distance divided by the square root of time. Compared with Cl^- and tritium, the bacterial movement was retarded and the retardation was attributed to the adsorption of bacteria onto the sand surfaces. The ionic strength of the suspending solutions and the soil surface properties were found to affect bacterial transport. A quasi-analytical model was derived for bacterial adsorption and transport during unsaturated unsteady soil water flow for conditions in which the sole mechanism of retention is adsorption. The position of the retarded bacterial concentration fronts were predicted using the model together with independently measured batch adsorption data. The agreement between measured and predicted bacterial concentration fronts was very good for four out of five sets of experiments.

Joint contribution from CSIRO Division of Soils and Australian National Univ., Canberra.

Received for publication November 6, 1991.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. L. Rockhold, R. R. Yarwood, M. R. Niemet, P. J. Bottomley, and J. S. Selker Experimental Observations and Numerical Modeling of Coupled Microbial and Transport Processes in Variably Saturated Sand Vadose Zone J., May 12, 2005; 4(2): 407 - 417. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. W. de Jonge, C. Kjaergaard, and P. Moldrup Colloids and Colloid-Facilitated Transport of Contaminants in Soils: An Introduction Vadose Zone J., May 1, 2004; 3(2): 321 - 325. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. M. Selim, L. Zhou, and S. K. Xue Alachlor Transport during Transient Water Flow in Unsaturated Soils Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., November 1, 2002; 66(6): 1773 - 1783. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. K. Powelson and A. L. Mills Transport of Escherichia coli in Sand Columns with Constant and Changing Water Contents J. Environ. Qual., January 1, 2001; 30(1): 238 - 245. [Abstract] [Full Text]