Grey water footprint assessment of groundwater resources in southeastern Turkey: effect of recharge

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Abstract This paper aimed to determine the grey water footprint (GWF) of groundwater resources. The effect of groundwater recharge on grey water footprint was investigated in Southeastern Turkey. In this paper, GWF has been monitored in October and March in terms of nitrate and arsenic concentrations for ten observation wells in the Harran Plain. In this study, a new approach was developed based on the GWF to determine the nitrate and arsenic pollution of groundwater. GWF of coagulation-flocculation and biochar adsorption processes were calculated and benchmarked with each other. In the second stage of the study, the effect of groundwater recharge using reclaimed municipal wastewater on GWF was investigated applying Monte Carlo simulation. The results revealed that nitrate led to higher GWF. According to the results, biochar application could reduce the GWF. Total reduction of GWF would be approximately 64.3% if groundwater recharge using reclaimed wastewater is applied.