Abstract

Fate and transport modeling in effluent-dominated water supply watersheds
Track: Water Resources
Authors: Chris Breed, Bowen Du

A joint USDA-ARS, Baylor University effort involves modifying the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to understand watershed fate and transport of specific contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). These CECs (e.g. pharmaceuticals) have been identified as tracers of municipal effluent that can be used to track the fate and transport of wastewater in large watersheds. Applying comprehensive spatial and temporal databases, SWAT uses a routing analysis to model transport of CECs discharged from wastewater treatment plants under various flow conditions. By modifying the transport functions to use physicochemical properties, we are able to analyze the fate and transport of these chemicals to predict the likelihood of contaminants collecting in municipal water supplies in significant concentrations. Our findings compare field observations with model outputs of CECs, and highlight the opportunities and challenges associated with using GIS models to better understand fate and transport of our wastewater in areas of significant water reuse.