Is climate change affecting the mobility of persistent and mobile organic micropollutants in the water cycle?

• Applicant: Muhammad Zeeshan, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559798731

Several persistent and mobile organic micropollutants (OMP) have recently been found in aquatic environments within the ng/L to µg/L ranges. This is likely due to their remarkably high mobility, leading to a strong tendency to disperse into water resources, thereby posing challenges in remediation. The increased detection rates of these OMP have resulted from recent advancements in quantitative analytical methods. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems, including bank filtration (BF) and artificial groundwater recharge, have been effectively employed in Europe for over 150 years as well as in other parts of the world to supply drinking water. Numerous recent studies have investigated the fates (persistency and biotransformation) of various OMP in laboratory columns simulating BF. However, the fate of many detected OMP within surface water and MAR systems remains unknown, particularly under realistic and variable climatic conditions, such as temperature fluctuations, UV radiation, and rainfall. Further research is needed to investigate the efficacy of MAR in removing persistent and mobile OMP, as well as the adaptability of MAR systems to climate change. This project aims to investigate the impact of climate change (including temperature variations, flow fluctuations, and rainfall/runoff) on the fate of emerging contaminants in both surface water and BF systems. The study will examine the influence of particulate organic matter, various water quality parameters (such as turbidity, dissolved organic matter, iron, manganese, and nitrate), hydraulic retention time, and redox conditions on the removal of OMP. Furthermore, the removal of OMP by plants will also be investigated. Batches, laboratory columns, columns under realistic conditions, and mesocosm experiments will be employed to evaluate the fates of OMP in BF. Furthermore, the mobility of OMP in surface water will be assessed through mesocosm pond experiments. The data collected from these experiments will be systematically utilized to develop a predictive model using a machine learning approach to provide insights into the fates of OMP.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Aki Sebastian Ruhl