Detachment-influenced transport of an adhesion-deficient bacterial strain within water-reactive porous media

Bacteria and carboxylate-modified microsphere transport experiments were performed in glass bead packed columns in order to examine the distribution of retained colloids on the sediment. Solution pH was allowed to vary from 6.0 to 9.4 across the length of the column (20 cm) in order to examine potential effects of solution chemistry on the retained profiles. Both the microspheres and the bacteria showed retained profiles that deviated strongly from log-linear behavior expected from a spatially invariant colloid deposition rate coefficient. Deviation for the microspheres was in the form of steeper-than-expected decreases in retained concentrations with distance from source. Deviation for the bacteria was in the form of maximum retained concentrations that were located down-gradient from the column inlet. Subsidiary experiments with varying elution times showed that detachment during elution moved the peak of mass of retained bacteria down-gradient of the column inlet; however, the disproportional translation of the peak of mass relative to elution time indicated that processes operating during injection produced the initial down-gradient translation of peak concentrations of retained cells.