Robertson W D, Van Stempvoort D R, Roy J W, Brown S J, Spoelstra J, Schiff S L, Rudolph D R, Danielescu S, Graham G
Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Department Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
Ground Water. 2016 Jul;54(4):579-87. doi: 10.1111/gwat.12399. Epub 2016 Jan 4.
The artificial sweetener acesulfame (ACE) is a potentially useful tracer of waste water contamination in groundwater. In this study, ACE concentrations were measured in waste water and impacted groundwater at 12 septic system sites in Ontario, Canada. All samples of septic tank effluent (n = 37) had ACE >6 µg/L, all samples of groundwater from the proximal plume zones (n = 93) had ACE >1 µg/L and, almost all samples from the distal plume zones had ACE >2 µg/L. Mean mass ratios of total inorganic nitrogen/ACE at the 12 sites ranged from 680 to 3500 for the tank and proximal plume samples. At five sites, decreasing ratio values in the distal zones indicated nitrogen attenuation. These ratios were applied to three aquifers in Canada that are nitrate-stressed and an urban stream where septic systems are present nearby to estimate the amount of waste water nitrate contamination. At the three aquifer locations that are agricultural, low ACE values (<0.02-0.15 µg/L) indicated that waste water contributed <15% of the nitrate in most samples. In groundwater discharging to the urban stream, much higher ACE values (0.2-11 µg/L) indicated that waste water was the likely source of >50% of the nitrate in most samples. This study confirms that ACE is a powerful tracer and demonstrates its use as a diagnostic tool for establishing whether waste water is a significant contributor to groundwater contamination or not.
人工甜味剂乙酰磺胺酸钾（ACE）是地下水中废水污染的一种潜在有用示踪剂。在本研究中，对加拿大安大略省12个化粪池系统场地的废水和受影响的地下水中的ACE浓度进行了测量。化粪池出水的所有样本（n = 37）中ACE浓度均>6 μg/L，近源羽流区地下水的所有样本（n = 93）中ACE浓度均>1 μg/L，并且远源羽流区的几乎所有样本中ACE浓度均>2 μg/L。12个场地的化粪池和近源羽流样本中总无机氮与ACE的平均质量比在680至3500之间。在5个场地，远源区比值下降表明氮发生了衰减。这些比值被应用于加拿大三个硝酸盐受胁迫的含水层以及附近存在化粪池系统的一条城市溪流，以估算废水中硝酸盐污染的量。在三个农业区的含水层位置，较低的ACE值（<0.02 - 0.15 μg/L）表明在大多数样本中废水对硝酸盐的贡献率<15%。在排入城市溪流的地下水中，高得多的ACE值（0.2 - 11 μg/L）表明在大多数样本中废水可能是>50%硝酸盐的来源。本研究证实ACE是一种强大的示踪剂，并展示了其作为诊断工具用于确定废水是否是地下水污染的重要贡献者的用途。
