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Rhodamine water tracer (RWT) was used to characterize the migration of waste water within the saline subsurface of a marshland upwelling system (MUS), which is an alternative on-site waste water treatment system for coastal areas. Field tracer studies were performed to investigate the fresh waste water plume movement within the saline ground water. Pore velocities were calculated using first detection times and ranged from 0.68 to 10.7 x 10(-4) cm/sec for the loamy sandy soil matrix present at the site. Use of RWT in the field also allowed determination of main and preferential flowpaths. One- and two-dimensional laboratory experiments were performed using silica sand to investigate the interactions of the organically rich waste water with RWT within the zone surrounding the point of injection (one-dimensional) and the impact of background salinity on plume movement (two-dimensional). The results from these studies were used to help explain the field data. One-dimensional breakthrough curves revealed retardation factors for the RWT in the waste water mixture of 1.73 to 1.90. These results were similar to other researchers, indicating little interaction between the waste water and RWT. Variations in pore water salinity (5, 15, 25, and 35 ppt) were found to have a significant effect on pore water velocities of the fresh water plume (two-dimensional), indicating the need to incorporate background salinities into the design process for MUS.

The objective of this research was to study the sorption and transport of bacteriophage MS-2 (a bacterial virus) in saturated sediments under the effect of salinity and soluble organic matter (SOM). One-dimensional column experiments were conducted on washed high-purity silica sand and sandy soil. In sand column tests, increasing salinity showed distinct effect on enhancing MS-2 sorption. However, SOM decreased MS-2 sorption. Using a two-site reversible-irreversible sorption model and the double layer theory, we explained that pore-water salinity potentially compressed the theoretical thickness of double layers of MS-2 and sand, and thus increased sorption on reversible sorption sites. On irreversible sorption sites, increasing salinity reversed charges of some sand particles from negative to positive, and thus converted reversible sorption sites into irreversible sites and enhanced sorption of MS-2. SOM was able to expand the double layer thickness on reversible sites and competed with MS-2 for the same binding place on irreversible sites. In sandy soil column tests, the bonded and dissolved (natural) soil organic matters suppressed the effects of pore-water salinity and added SOM and significantly reduced MS-2 adsorption. This was explained that the bonded soil organic matter occupied a great portion of sorption sites and significantly reduced sorption sites for MS-2. In addition, the dissolved soil organic matter potentially expanded the double layer thickness of MS-2 and sandy soil on reversible sorption sites and competed with MS-2 for the same binding place.