Modeling of Trace Organics Biotransformation in the Subsurface

Biofilm processes are potentially important for transformations of organic micropollutants in ground water. Some theoretical hypotheses and empirical observations suggest that a concentration threshold exists for some compounds below which the concentration cannot be reduced by bacterial action. However, in the presence of one compound at a relatively high concentration, termed the primary substrate, another compound present at trace concentrations, termed the secondary substrate, can be biotransformed as well. These concepts were evaluated through laboratory column studies with several halogenated organic compounds of importance in ground water. A biofilm model can successfully describe utilization of trace substrates, and application to modeling the subsurface is discussed. A simplified batch model with first-order kinetics may be adequate for describing subsurface microbial processes when low active organism and pollutant concentrations exist over a large scale.