Water supply safety of riverbank filtration wells (RBFWs) have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as their role in water supply is increasingly valued. In this study, this issue was revealed from the perspective of water level, quality and supply capacity of RBFWs based on an interference-pumping test with three pumping wells near the Songhua River in Northeast China followed by a recovery test. The results showed that a stable cone of depression of groundwater level in the riverbank filtration (RBF) formed after pumping for about five days with the maximum drawdown of the groundwater level of 10.42 m. The corresponding water capacity of the well group maintained 2.78 × 104 m3/d from then until the end of the test, 60% of which were captured directly from the river. The groundwater level could return to the level before the pumping test after the pumping test stopped for one day. The RBF could provide turbidity, trace organic substances and major cations and anions (except for Ca2+ and Mg2+) pre-treatment of the river water with the removal rates of 29%-95% for some water quality indicators. However, limited improvement of water quality was observed with respect to some inorganic contaminants (Fe, Mn and NH4+-N) because the background concentrations of them in the groundwater were higher than in the river water. When compared with the impact on water level and supply capacity, the impact of the surface water-groundwater interaction on the mechanisms of water quality evolution was more complicated. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that RBFWs can ensure a sustainable water supply of stable quality, which can also simplify the post-treatment processes of waterworks and reduce costs.
Keywords: Pumping test; Riverbank filtration; Songhua River; Water quality; Water supply capacity.
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