Push-pull tests for assessing in situ aerobic cometabolism

Implementation of in situ aerobic cometabolism for groundwater treatment: State of the knowledge and important factors for field operation

In situ aerobic cometabolism of groundwater contaminants has been demonstrated to be a valuable bioremediation technology to treat many legacy and emerging contaminants in dilute plumes. Several well-designed and documented field studies have shown that this technology can concurrently treat multiple contaminants and reach very low cleanup goals. Fundamentally different from metabolism-based biodegradation of contaminants, microorganisms that cometabolically degrade contaminants do not obtain sufficient carbon and energy from the degradation process to support their growth and require an exogenous growth supporting primary substrate. Successful applications of aerobic cometabolic treatment therefore require special considerations beyond conventional in situ bioremediation, such as competitive inhibition between growth-supporting primary substrate(s) and contaminant non-growth substrates, toxic effects resulting from contaminant degradation, and differences in microbial population dynamics exhibited by biostimulated indigenous consortia versus bioaugmentation cultures. This article first provides a general review of microbiological factors that are likely to affect the rate of aerobic cometabolic biodegradation. We subsequently review fourteen well documented field-scale aerobic cometabolic bioremediation studies and summarize the underlying microbiological factors that may affect the performance observed in these field studies. The combination of microbiological and engineering principles gained from field testing leads to insights and recommendations on planning, design, and operation of an in situ aerobic cometabolic treatment system. With a vision of more aerobic cometabolic treatments being considered to tackle large, dilute plumes, we present several novel topics and future research directions that can potentially enhance technology development and foster success in implementing this technology for environmental restoration.

Single-well push-pull tests evaluating isobutane as a primary substrate for promoting in situ cometabolic biotransformation reactions

A series of single-well push-pull tests (SWPPTs) were performed to investigate the efficacy of isobutane (2-methylpropane) as a primary substrate for in situ stimulation of microorganisms able to cometabolically transform common groundwater contaminants, such as chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons and 1,4-dioxane (1,4-D). In biostimulation tests, the disappearance of isobutane relative to a nonreactive bromide tracer indicated an isobutane-utilizing microbial community rapidly developed in the aquifer around the test well. SWPPTs were performed as natural drift tests with first-order rates of isobutane consumption ranging from 0.4 to 1.4 day^-1. Because groundwater contaminants were not present at the demonstration site, isobutene (2-methylpropene) was used as a nontoxic surrogate to demonstrate cometabolic activity in the subsurface after biostimulation. The transformation of isobutene to isobutene epoxide (2-methyl-1,2-epoxypropane) illustrates the epoxidation process previously shown for common groundwater contaminants after cometabolic transformation by alkane-utilizing bacteria. The rate and extent of isobutene consumption and the formation and transformation of isobutene epoxide were greater in the presence of isobutane, with no evidence of primary substrate inhibition. Modeled concentrations of isobutane-utilizing biomass in microcosms constructed with groundwater collected before and after each SWPPT offered additional evidence that the isobutane-utilizing microbial community was stimulated in the aquifer. Experiments in groundwater microcosms also demonstrated that the isobutane-utilizing bacteria stimulated in the subsurface could cometabolically transform a mixture of co-substrates including isobutene, 1,1-dichloroethene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, and 1,4-D with the same co-substrate preferences as the bacterium Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC strain 21198 after growth on isobutane. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of isobutane as primary substrate for stimulating in situ cometabolic activity and the use of isobutene as surrogate to investigate in situ cometabolic reactions catalyzed by isobutane-stimulated bacteria.

A Straightforward Random Walk Model for Fast Push-Pull Tracer Test Evaluation

In this article, we present a straightforward random walk model for fast evaluation of push-pull tracer tests. By developing an adaptive algorithm, we overcome the problem of manually defining how many particles have to be used to simulate the transport problem. Beside this, we validate the random walk model by evaluating a push-pull tracer test with drift phase and confirm the results with MT3DMS. The random walk model took less than 1% of computational time of MT3DMS, thus allowing a remarkable faster evaluation of push-pull tracer tests.

In situ aerobic cometabolism of chlorinated solvents: a review

The possible approaches for in situ aerobic cometabolism of aquifers and vadose zones contaminated by chlorinated solvents are critically evaluated. Bioaugmentation of resting-cells previously grown in a fermenter and in-well addition of oxygen and growth substrate appear to be the most promising approaches for aquifer bioremediation. Other solutions involving the sparging of air lead to satisfactory pollutant removals, but must be integrated by the extraction and subsequent treatment of vapors to avoid the dispersion of volatile chlorinated solvents in the atmosphere. Cometabolic bioventing is the only possible approach for the aerobic cometabolic bioremediation of the vadose zone. The examined studies indicate that in situ aerobic cometabolism leads to the biodegradation of a wide range of chlorinated solvents within remediation times that vary between 1 and 17 months. Numerous studies include a simulation of the experimental field data. The modeling of the process attained a high reliability, and represents a crucial tool for the elaboration of field data obtained in pilot tests and for the design of the full-scale systems. Further research is needed to attain higher concentrations of chlorinated solvent degrading microbes and more reliable cost estimates. Lastly, a procedure for the design of full-scale in situ aerobic cometabolic bioremediation processes is proposed.

Co-metabolic biodegradation of acetamiprid by Pseudoxanthomonas sp. AAP-7 isolated from a long-term acetamiprid-polluted soil

An AAP-degrading bacterium, AAP-7, was isolated from AAP-polluted soil. AAP-7 was identified as Pseudoxanthomonas sp. on the basis of the comparative analysis of 16S rDNA sequences. The strain was able to transformate more than 80% AAP by means of co-metabolism and degraded AAP via hydrolysis or demethylation to form (E)-3-(((6-chloropyridin-3yl)methyl)(methyl)amino)acrylonitrile and N-((6-chloropyridin-3yl)methyl)-N-methylprop-1-en-2-amine, both of which transformed into ultimate product, which was 1-(6-chloropyridin-3yl)-N-methylmethanamine. A novel degradation pathway was proposed based on these metabolites. AAP could be transformed with a maximum specific degradation rate, half-saturation constant and inhibit constant of 1.775/36 h, 175.3 mg L(-1), and 396.5 mg L(-1), respectively, which proved that the degradation rate of AAP could be restrained at high AAP concentration. This paper highlights a significant potential use of co-metabolic cultures of microbial cells for the cleanup of AAP-contaminated soil.

Degradation of polar organic micropollutants during riverbank filtration: complementary results from spatiotemporal sampling and push-pull tests

The fate of polar organic micropollutants (logDOW (pH 7) between -4.2 and +3.5) during riverbank filtration (RBF) at the river Thur was studied using both spatiotemporally resolved sampling and single-well push-pull tests (PPT), followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The Thur is a dynamic prealpine river with an alluvial sandy-gravel aquifer, which is characterized by short groundwater travel times (a few days) from surface water infiltration to groundwater extraction. The spatiotemporal sampling allowed tracing concentration dynamics in the river and the groundwater and revealed persistence for the drug carbamazepine, while the herbicide MCPA (2-methyl-4-chloro-phenoxyacetic acid) and the drug 4-acetamidoantipyrine were very quickly degraded under the prevalent aerobic conditions. The corrosion inhibitor 1H-benzotriazole was degraded slightly, particularly in a transect influenced by river restoration measures. For the first time in situ first-order degradation rate constants for three pesticides and two pharmaceuticals were determined by PPTs, which confirmed the results of the spatiotemporal sampling. Atenolol was transformed almost completely to atenolol acid. Rate constants of 0.1-1.3 h(-1) for MCPA, 2,4-D, mecoprop, atenolol, and diclofenac, corresponding to half-lives of 0.6-6.3 h, demonstrated the great potential of RBF systems to degrade organic micropollutants and simultaneously the applicability of PPTs for micropollutants in such dynamic systems.

Fluorescent dye imaging of the volume sampled by single well forced-gradient tracer tests evaluated in a laboratory-scale aquifer physical model

This study presents a new method to visualise forced-gradient tracer tests in 2-D using a laboratory-scale aquifer physical model. Experiments were designed to investigate the volume of aquifer sampled in vertical dipole flow tracer tests (DFTT) and push-pull tests (PPT), using a miniature monitoring well and straddle packer arrangement equipped with solute injection and recovery chambers. These tests have previously been used to estimate bulk aquifer hydraulic and transport properties for the evaluation of natural attenuation and other remediation approaches. Experiments were performed in a silica glass bead-filled box, using a fluorescent tracer (fluorescein) to deduce conservative solute transport paths. Digital images of fluorescein transport were captured under ultraviolet light and processed to analyse tracer plume geometry and obtain point-concentration breakthrough histories. Inorganic anion mixtures were also used to obtain conventional tracer breakthrough histories. Concentration data from the conservative tracer breakthrough curves was compared with the digital images and a well characterised numerical model. The results show that the peak tracer breakthrough response in dipole flow tracer tests samples a zone of aquifer close to the well screen, while the sampling volume of push-pull tests is limited by the length of the straddle packers used. The effective sampling volume of these single well forced-gradient tests in isotropic conditions can be estimated with simple equations. The experimental approach offers the opportunity to evaluate under controlled conditions the theoretical basis, design and performance of DFTTs and PPTs in porous media in relation to measured flow and transport properties.

Assessing the activity and diversity of fumarate-fed denitrifying bacteria by performing field single-well push-pull tests

In situ biological denitrification has been proposed as an important metabolic activity in the remediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater. In this study, the effects of fumarate, an electron donor for biological denitrification, on the in situ denitrifying activity were determined by using three types of single-well push-pull tests; transport, biostimulation and activity tests. During the tests, changes in microbial community composition were also investigated using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA genes. Transport test demonstrated that non-reactive tracer and biologically reactive solutes behaved similarly. A biostimulation test was conducted to stimulate the denitrifying activities of native microorganisms, which were monitored by detecting the simultaneous production of CO(2) and drastic degradations of both nitrate and fumarate after the injection of fumarate as an electron donor and/or carbon source, with nitrate as an electron acceptor. A phylogenetic analysis suggested that the taxonomic affiliation of the dominant species before biostimulation was γ-Proteobacteria, including Acinetobacter species and Pseudomonas fluorescens, while the dominant species after biostimulation were affiliated with β-Proteobacteria, cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides and high G+C gram-positive bacteria. These results suggest that the analyses of groundwater samples using a combination of single well push pull tests with DGGE can be applied to investigate the activity, diversity and composition shift of denitrifying bacteria in a nitrate-contaminated aquifer.

Monitoring bioaugmenation with single-well push-pull tests in sediment systems contaminated with trichloroethene

Bioaugmentation to enhance the rate and extent of reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes was investigated in intermediate ( approximately 1 m) scale physical aquifer models (PAMs) designed to simulate the groundwater flow field near an injection well. Push-pull tests were used to quantify the reductive dechlorination of injected trichloroethene (TCE) and trichlorofluoroethene (TCFE) in prepared sediment packs with and without an added dechlorinating culture containing Dehalococcoides spp. Distribution of the added culture throughout the sediment pack was confirmed by microscopic observation. Repeated additions of TCE (100-350 microM) were completely transformed to ethene in 14 days and a subsequent TCFE addition (114 microM) was completely transformed to fluoroethene (FE) in 24 days. Similar transformation rates, product distributions, and time courses for TCE and TCFE transformation were observed when these compounds were added together at similar initial concentrations. In the control PAM (nonbioaugmented), TCE and TCFE were transformed to only cis-DCE and cis-DCFE, respectively, and transformation rates were 6-12 times slower than those in the bioaugmented PAM. The use of TCFE for push-pull tests is shown to be an effective tool for detecting and quantifying the effects of bioaugmentation on TCE transformation.

Evaluation of the in-situ aerobic cometabolism of chlorinated ethenes by toluene-utilizing microorganisms using push-pull tests

A series of transport, biostimulation, and activity push-pull tests were performed under induced and natural gradient conditions in a trichloroethene (TCE) and cis-dichloroethene (c-DCE) contaminated aquifer. Transport tests demonstrated the feasibility of injecting and recovering complex solute mixtures from the aquifer. During the biostimulation tests, decreases in toluene concentration and the production of o-cresol as an intermediate oxidation product indicated the presence of toluene-utilizing microorganisms. Activity tests demonstrated that the stimulated microbial community had the ability to transform injected c-DCE and trans-dichloroethene (t-DCE) at similar zero-order rates. Injected isobutene was oxidized to isobutene oxide, which indicated that a toluene ortho-monooxygenase enzyme system was likely responsible for the observed c-DCE and t-DCE transformations. c-DCE zero-order transformation rates in drift push-pull tests were similar to those obtained from traditional push-pull tests (about 0.1 microM/h). Analysis of drift test data using first-order kinetic analysis resulted in similar conclusions as those obtained using zero-order kinetic analyses. When 1-butyne, an inhibitor of toluene ortho-monooxygenase, was added to injected test solutions, the oxidation of toluene, and the transformation of isobutene, c-DCE, and t-DCE were inhibited. The results illustrate how a series of push-pull tests can be used in combination to detect, quantify and confirm in-situ cometabolic microbial transformations.

Push-pull tests evaluating in situ aerobic cometabolism of ethylene, propylene, and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene

In situ aerobic cometabolic transformations of ethylene, propylene, and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (c-DCE), by microorganisms stimulated on propane, were examined in groundwater contaminated with c-DCE and trichloroethylene (TCE). In situ measurements were performed by conducting field push-pull tests, which consisted of injecting site groundwater amended with a bromide tracer and combinations of propane, dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate, ethylene, propylene, c-DCE, and TCE into existing monitoring wells and sampling the same wells over time. Mass balance and transformation rate calculations were performed after adjusting for dilution losses using measured tracer concentrations. Initial rates of propane utilization were very low; rates increased substantially following sequential additions of propane and DO. Evidence that propane and DO additions had stimulated organisms expressing a propane monoxygenase enzyme system and that had the capability to transform chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) included: (1) the transformation of injected ethylene and propylene to the cometabolic byproducts ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, (2) the transformation of c-DCE, and (3) the inhibition of these transformations in the presence of coinjected acetylene, a known monoxygenase mechanism-based inactivator. These results suggest that a series of push-pull tests performed with nontoxic chemical probes can be useful for detecting and monitoring in situ aerobic cometabolism of CAHs.

Assessment of nitrification potential in ground water using short term, single-well injection experiments

Nitrification was measured within a sand and gravel aquifer on Cape Cod, MA, using a series of single-well injection tests. The aquifer contained a wastewater-derived contaminant plume, the core of which was anoxic and contained ammonium. The study was conducted near the downgradient end of the ammonium zone, which was characterized by inversely trending vertical gradients of oxygen (270 to 0 microM) and ammonium (19 to 625 microM) and appeared to be a potentially active zone for nitrification. The tests were conducted by injecting a tracer solution (ambient ground water + added constituents) into selected locations within the gradients using multilevel samplers. After injection, the tracers moved by natural ground water flow and were sampled with time from the injection port. Rates of nitrification were determined from changes in nitrate and nitrite concentration relative to bromide. Initial tests were conducted with (15)N-enriched ammonium; subsequent tests examined the effect of adding ammonium, nitrite, or oxygen above background concentrations and of adding difluoromethane, a nitrification inhibitor. In situ net nitrate production exceeded net nitrite production by 3- to 6- fold and production rates of both decreased in the presence of difluoromethane. Nitrification rates were 0.02-0.28 mumol (L aquifer)(-1) h(-1) with in situ oxygen concentrations and up to 0.81 mumol (L aquifer)(-1) h(-1) with non-limiting substrate concentrations. Geochemical considerations indicate that the rates derived from single-well injection tests yielded overestimates of in situ rates, possibly because the injections promoted small-scale mixing within a transport-limited reaction zone. Nonetheless, these tests were useful for characterizing ground water nitrification in situ and for comparing potential rates of activity when the tracer cloud included non-limiting ammonium and oxygen concentrations.