Evaluating a Probabilistic Approach for Simulating Pathogen Removal at a Riverbank Filtration Site in India

Abstract

In this paper, concentrations of pathogens in the influent and bank filtrate water at a riverbank filtration (RBF) site in Haridwar, India, are simulated by using a probabilistic approach. During the study of the RBF water quality in Haridwar in 2005–2006, it was observed that the river water does not meet World Health Organization and other Bureau of Indian Standards requirements for drinking water quality, especially with respect to bacteriological water quality, i.e., total coliform and fecal coliform levels, and therefore, changes to the river water quality as it moves to an infiltration well are of much relevance. By using the river water quality and the quality of abstracted water from nearby pumping wells, a probabilistic approach is used to study the variation of probability of clogging under different bacteriological qualities of source water. It is observed that the probability of clogging the pores varies with the natural logarithm of the concentrations of pathogens in source water, and the probabilistic approach has the potential to be used to simulate variations in pathogens in riverbank filtrate.