FATE AND TRANSPORT OF N-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE (NDMA) IN SOIL COLUMNS

In recent years N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) has been detected in groundwater and in recycled water. Because of its suspected adverse health effects these findings are of concern for the wastewater industry. Since NDMA is a disinfection byproduct, it will be in the effluent from wastewater treatment plant in appreciable quantity. Not much is known about fate of NDMA when this effluent is used for aquifer recharge or for irrigation. This study looks into the various factors that affect the NDMA attenuation in soil columns. Two columns working under aerobic and anaerobic condition is used for this study. The initial results indicate that various parameters like DOC, electron acceptors play a very important role in NDMA attenuation. Also a method was developed to measure Dimethylamine (DMA) a precursor of NDMA using High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC).