AWWA ACE54275

Riverbank filtration has several advantages over the direct use of surface water. Many dissolved and suspended contaminants of surface water, including pathogenic organisms and microscopic particles are significantly removed during passage of surface water in the soil/aquifer system. In this paper, the performance of riverbank filtration systems to attenuate chemical shock loads during flooding and chemical spills is presented. Through sensitivity analysis, it is shown that the hydraulic conductivity of the riverbed or bank materials have a pronounced effect on filtrate quality if the hydraulic conductivity of the bed/bank material is increased due to sediment wash-off, it could cause an increase in contaminant concentrations in the filtrate. For low conductivity material, the impact on filtrate quality would be minimal. Includes 16 references, tables, figures.