Chemistry and sulfur isotope investigation of industrial wastewater contamination into groundwater aquifers, Piteå County, N. Sweden

The possible contamination of a groundwater system with industrial wastewater originating from a paper mill factory has been investigated in Piteå, N. Sweden. Six samples were collected from the wastewater in the waste dump and twelve samples from the adjacent groundwater were analyzed for chemistry and sulfur isotopes. The industrial wastewater is a saline water consisting mainly of Na–HCO3–SO4, having a high pH and showing δ34S values between 7‰ and 9‰ affected by bacterial sulfate reduction. The groundwaters are relatively dilute, dominated by Na+, Ca2+ and HCO3−, but with varying concentrations as exemplified by sulfate with concentrations varying between 3 and 69 mg L− 1 while the δ34S values range from − 0.5‰ to 14.3‰. The data suggest that the main S sources in the waters are the bedrock sulfides and/or atmospheric deposition, which, sometimes, are overlapped by bacterial sulfate reduction. Contamination from the waste dump does not occur.