Bacteria can help clean the groundwater. The choice of the right food for them is determined by the temperature.
Bacteria can help clean the groundwater. The choice of the right food for them is determined by the temperature.
The groundwater in Germany contains too much nitrate, which in the long run poses a threat to drinking water, too. Naturally occurring bacteria can accelerate its degradation, as long as they have enough organic carbon at their disposal. While carbon can occur naturally underground, it is limited and already partly scarce. Still, several substances could be used to ensure the degradation capacity. Felix Ortmeyer studied their effect at different temperatures. He found out that ethanol works best as a carbon supplier at the typical groundwater temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius. Together with other researchers, the geoscientist from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) published his paper in the journal Water Resources Research on 8 November 2021.
Intervention is a matter of urgency
High nitrate levels in groundwater are often caused by nitrogen fertilisers used in agriculture. Germany and other EU member states have already been taken to the European Court of Justice for non-compliance with the EU’s Nitrate Directive. “This means intervention is urgently needed to protect the groundwater,” explains Felix Ortmeyer, who works at the Department of Applied Geology/Hydrogeology at RUB. One way to improve nitrate degradation is to add carbon-containing substances to the groundwater.
Read more at: Ruhr-University Bochum
