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Groundwater contaminated with perchlorate is ahealth concern because of its ability to disrupt thyroidhormone production when ingested, which may inhibitnormal growth and development. Although several abioticand biotic technologies can efficiently remove perchloratefrom drinking water, currently only ion exchange is beingapplied for perchlorate removal in full-scale plants,because it is the least expensive option among the abioticprocesses. Cost estimates for biotic treatment processesindicate their potential to be relatively inexpensive optionsfor treating perchlorate-contaminated drinking water.However, other concerns have limited their considerationfor full-scale perchlorate treatment. In this article, theauthors discuss the results of a six-month pilot study thatwas performed at the Castaic Lake Water Agency in SantaClarita, California, to evaluate the effectiveness of fixed-bedbioreactors to treat perchlorate-contaminated water. Thepilot data showed that perchlorate-reducing fixed-bedbioreactors can be acclimated using organisms indigenousto the local aquifer; can achieve sustained perchlorateremoval to below the analytical detection limit using reasonablecontact times; can produce biologically stableeffluent; do not foster the growth of pathogenic bacteria;and are robust in respect to system upsets. Includes 26 references, table, figures.

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Edition: Vol. 97 - No. 9 Published: 09/01/2005 Number of Pages: 12 File Size: 1 file , 260 KB