Department of Civil Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, 913-532-5862
Ground water is an important source of water for much of the United States. Contamination from agricultural pesticides presents a serious problem. Fluctuating water tables may increase microbial degradation of these contaminants by: (1) optimization of moisture content, (2) increased transport of the contaminant to the microbes, and (3) increased transport of soil organic matter to the area. This research is investigating the effects of a fluctuating water table on microbial degradation of pesticides. Multiple soil columns are being used in this experiment. We expect to observe increased pesticide degradation with a fluctuating water table.
pesticide, microorganism, degradation
This paper is from the Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research 1995, published in hard copy and on the Web by the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center.