Pathogen survival in groundwater during artificial recharge

Wastewater can be regarded as a valuable resource that can be reused in various ways, creating more sustainable societies which can benefit both human communities and the environment. An issue when using reclaimed water is the potential presence of health hazards such as microbial pathogens. The presence of pathogens can often impact on the type of water reclamation project selected. Artificial recharge is one of the water re-use options available and has the advantage of storage of reclaimed water, as well as potential improvement of the quality of the stored water by processes within the aquifer. Microbial pathogens have been shown to be removed in aquifers due to the action of a variety of biological and abiotic processes. This paper discusses the activity of the processes on microbial pathogens and the implications for the use of artificial recharge and reclaimed waters.