Electromigration of microbial electron acceptors and nutrients: (I) transport in synthetic media.

Microbiological cleanup is a widely used in situ remediation strategy for organic soil and groundwater contaminations. However, often the availability of electron acceptors and nutrients are limiting factors for microbial pollutant degradation in the field. Electromigration represents a new approach for the transport of microbiological agents in soil. In this study, the electrokinetic transport of the microbial electron acceptors nitrate and sulfate and of the nutrients ammonium and phosphate was compared. All experiments were performed under standardized conditions, i.e. with constant voltage in demineralized water and a model sandy soil. Average transport rates for nitrate, sulfate, poly-phosphate, and ammonium were 1.34 cm/h, 1.91 cm/h, 0.48 cm/h, and 0.40 cm/h, respectively, in single compound studies. Transport velocities were dependent on applied voltage gradient but not on the initial ion concentration. Additionally, electrokinetic transport was studied with ion mixtures. The ion distribution in the soil was significantly influenced by the pH profile and the associated voltage gradient.