ABSTRACT
Understanding the main parameters controlling injection well clogging provides great help to those planning and implementing aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) projects. For this reason laboratory-based experiments can be very important for the success of such projects. This paper outlines the procedures and results of laboratory studies that explored the effects of the quality of reclaimed water on clogging and water-matrix biogeochemical interactions in columns of aquifer material under controlled conditions. These were performed as a precursor to a long-term field trial to inject reclaimed water from the Bolivar sewage treatment plant into a brackish aquifer on the Northern Adelaide Plains (South Australia). The laboratory column studies identified the rates of physical and biological clogging processes and biogeochemical processes that would offset this on the perimeter of an injection well during the ASR field trials with reclaimed water. This gave confidence that clogging could be managed and suggested management strategies that subsequently proved effective in maintaining recharge rates.
