The effect of iron oxidation in the groundwater of the alluvial aquifer of the Velika Morava River, Serbia, on the clogging of water supply wells

Abstract

The oxidation of dissolved iron(II) in groundwater and precipitation on the screens and discharge pipes of water wells that tap shallow alluvial aquifers leads to the formation of well encrustations. Well clogging has a number of adverse impacts reflected in declining production capacity, increasing parasitic drawdown and growing maintenance costs of the water supply source. Chemical clogging rarely occurs as a stand-alone process in the groundwater of shallow alluvial aquifers; it is generally catalyzed by micro-organisms, the role of which is important to explain rapid blocking. This paper presents a calculation of the rate of homogeneous chemical oxidation of iron in wells that tap the alluvial aquifer of the Velika Morava River in Serbia, where there are pronounced iron hydroxide clogging issues. When the dynamic groundwater level drops to such an extent that the pumps need to be shut down, or when the well capacity is very low, the results show that there is enough time for iron encrustation to form. Iron oxidation does not occur solely inside the well; the process tends to extend into a much wider zone, beyond the well. [Projekat Ministartsva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR37014]

Keywords

• iron encrustations
• clogging
• Trnovče
• wells