Suitability of temperature, hydraulic heads, and acesulfame to quantify wastewater-related fluxes in the hyporheic and riparian zone

Groundwater and surface water are in many cases closely linked components of the water cycle with respect to both quantity and quality. Bank filtrates may eventually be impacted by the infiltration of wastewater-derived micropollutants from surface waters. Artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame have recently been reported as a novel class of potentially valuable tracers to study the fate of wastewater-derived substances in groundwater and, in particular, to determine the (bio)degradability of micropollutants. In this paper, a model-based analysis of a field experiment within the hyporheic and riparian zone of a highly polluted German stream was performed to assess the physical and chemical behavior of the artificial sweetener acesulfame. In the first part of this study, a reliable flow and transport model was established by jointly using hydraulic heads, temperatures, and acesulfame concentrations as inverse model calibration constraints. The analysis confirmed the conservative behavior of acesulfame and, therefore, its usability as an indicator of sewage flux provenance. However, a comparison of the appropriateness of hydraulic head, temperature, and acesulfame concentrations revealed that the characterization of the surface water-groundwater flux data indicated diurnal temperature fluctuations are the best indicator in terms of characterizing the flow and transport behavior in the groundwater system. Citation: Engelhardt, I., H. Prommer, C. Moore, M. Schulz, C. Schuth, and T. Ternes (2013), Suitability of temperature, hydraulic heads, and acesulfame to quantify wastewater-related fluxes in the hyporheic and riparian zone, Water Resour. Res., 49, doi: 10.1029/2012WR012604.