Woodchip bioreactors for saline leachates denitrification can mitigate agricultural impacts in mediterranean areas: The Campo de Cartagena-Mar Menor environmental issue

Leachates from intensive agriculture containing high nitrate have been identified as a major cause of the severe eutrophication crisis that impacts Mar Menor (SE Spain), the largest hypersaline coastal lagoon in the Mediterranean basin. A best management practice for removing NO3−-N is denitrifying bioreactors. This is the first study to assess the efficiency of citrus woodchips bioreactors in treating agricultural leachates that flow to the Mar Menor via surface discharges. Denitrification capacity, woodchip degradation (by weight loss), formation of potentially harmful compounds, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were assessed. Three bioreactors (6 m × 0.98 m x 1.2 m) filled with citrus woodchips (3 m3 d−1 per bioreactor) through which the untreated ditch water over 1.5 years. Bioreactors were operated at 8 h, 16 h, and 24 h hydraulic residence time respectively, in each bioreactor. The main characteristics of the ditch water were: pH ≈ 7.5–8.0, electrical conductivity ≈ 5–8 dS m−1, dissolved organic carbon ≈6–10 mg L−1, and NO3−-N ≈ 22–45 mg L−1. Bioreactors were highly efficient in reducing NO3−-N. The average RNO3 in effluents was for the complete experimental period 8 g N m−3 d−1, 10.9 g N m−3 d−1, and 12.6 g N m−3 d−1 for 8, 16 and 24 h residence time, respectively. Nitrate reduction efficiency was modulated by seasonal changes in temperature, with an increasing efficiency in warmer periods (maximum ≈ 85–90% for all hydraulic residence time) and decreasing in colder ones (minimum ≈ 12%, 23% and 41% for hydraulic residence time 8, 16 and 24 h respectively). Woodchips degradation was greatest during the first six months (average ≈ 29% weight loss) in the material above the water level, attributable to aerobic mineralization of the organic carbon, while weight loss was ≈11% in woodchip media continuously below the water level. Dissolved organic carbon, sulfide, ammonium, and soluble phosphorus concentrations in the effluents were mostly low, although some peaks in concentrations occurred. Design consideration must be taken to avoid environmental impacts due to the occasional presence of harmful compounds in the effluents. [Display omitted] •Citrus woodchip bioreactors denitrified saline leachates with NO3−-N = 22–45 mg L−1•Woodchip aging negatively affected nitrate removal particularly below ≈20 °C.•Sulfide, ammonium, and soluble phosphorus may appear in bioreactor effluents.•Higher CO2 emissions and woodchips degradation occurred above the water leve