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- Title
Evaluating the attenuation of naphthenic acids in constructed wetland mesocosms planted with Carex aquatilis.
- Authors
Trepanier, Kaitlyn E.; Vander Meulen, Ian J.; Ahad, Jason M. E.; Headley, John V.; Degenhardt, Dani
- Abstract
Surface oil sands mining and extraction in northern Alberta's Athabasca oil sands region produce large volumes of oil sands process–affected water (OSPW). OSPW is a complex mixture containing major contaminant classes including trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and naphthenic acid fraction compounds (NAFCs). Naphthenic acids (NAs) are the primary organic toxicants in OSPW, and reducing their concentrations is a priority for oil sands companies. Previous evidence has shown that constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) are capable of reducing the concentration of NAs and the toxicity of OSPW through bioremediation. In this study, we constructed greenhouse mesocosms with OSPW or lab process water (LPW) (i.e., water designed to mimic OSPW minus the NAFC content) with three treatments: (1) OSPW planted with Carex aquatilis; (2) OSPW, no plants; and (3) LPW, no plants. The OSPW–C. aquatilis treatment saw a significant reduction in NAFC concentrations in comparison to OSPW, no plant treatments, but both changed the distribution of the NAFCs in similar ways. Upon completion of the study, treatments with OSPW saw fewer high-molecular-weight NAs and an increase in the abundance of O3- and O4-containing formulae. Results from this study provide invaluable information on how constructed wetlands can be used in future remediation of OSPW in a way that previous studies were unable to achieve due to uncontrollable environmental factors in field experiments and the active, high-energy processes used in CWTSs pilot studies.
- Subjects
ALBERTA; CONSTRUCTED wetlands; NAPHTHENIC acids; TYPHA latifolia; WETLAND plants; OIL sands; POLYCYCLIC aromatic hydrocarbons; TRACE metals
- Publication
Environmental Monitoring & Assessment, 2023, Vol 195, Issue 10, p1
- ISSN
0167-6369
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10661-023-11776-8