Fecha de publicación: -- Fuente: PubMed "microbial biotechnology" Water Res. 2026 Nov 6;309(Pt C):127279. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2026.127279. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTManaged aquifer recharge (MAR) systems require ecological as well as hydraulic commissioning, yet when attached microbial communities become spatially organized and associated with stable treatment remains unresolved. We operated duplicate 10 m sand-column trains supplied with River Lek water for 12 months and tracked water quality and bacterial communities monthly at 1, 5, and 10 m and in the effluent. Removal trajectories for dissolved organic carbon, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, NH₄⁺, and NO₂⁻ and bacterial diversity showed little sustained directional change after approximately 5 months, while distance-associated communities became evident after month 6. At month 12, ASVs shared with 10 m sand accounted for 69.7% of effluent sequence abundance. Only 11.6% of shared influent-sand sequence abundance was consistent with neutral expectations, whereas sand-to-effluent neutral-model fit increased to R² = 0.60. We define this coordinated transition as ecological commissioning: a months-long process in which environmental selection organizes attached communities, spatial zones emerge, and terminal-zone dispersal increasingly shapes produced-water microbiology. Although timing is system specific, this framework identifies start-up and terminal aquifer zones as targets for MAR treatment verification and biological water-quality management.PMID:43002996 | DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2026.127279