Supplemental Table 1 Parameters measured throughout the study and the instrumentation and methods used to perform the analyses

Parameter / Instrumentation / Method/Source
Temperature, pH, DO, conductivity, ORP / Accumet XL600 benchtop multimeter
Total alkalinity / Digital titrator / Hach 8203
Total and dissolved metals / CEM MARS Xpress digestion system
Varian Vista-PRO simultaneous axial ICP-OES / EPA 3015
EPA 6010C
Total and dissolved carbon / Analytik Jena N/C 2100 / EPA 9060A
Sulfate / Hach DR3800 spectrophotometer / Hach 8051
Sulfide / Spectrophotometer / APHA 4500 D

Supplemental Table 2 Mean influent water quality data and standard deviations

LI SMD (n = 8) / HI SMD (n = 8)
Mean / SD / Mean / SD
Temperature (°C) / 21 / 0.54 / 21 / 0.64
Conductivity (mS/cm) / 0.32 / 0.01 / 4.9 / 0.10
pH (s.u.) / 6.3 / 0.11 / 5.9 / 0.03
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) / 8.1 / 0.45 / 8.3 / 0.20
Oxidation-reduction potential (mV) / 214 / 15 / 186 / 39
Alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO3) / 5.7 / 3.0 / 3.2 / 0.32
Sulfate (mg/L) / 104 / 1.5 / 1830 / 54
Chloride (mg/L) / 24 / 0.27 / 426 / 7.0

Supplemental Table 3 Mean influent metals concentrations and standard deviations

LI SMD (n = 8) / HI SMD (n = 8)
Total / Dissolved / Total / Dissolved
Mean / SD / Mean / SD / Mean / SD / Mean / SD
Cadmium (mg/L) / 0.48 / 0.01 / 0.48 / 0.01 / 0.48 / 0.02 / 0.48 / 0.01
Manganese (mg/L) / 0.49 / 0.02 / 0.49 / 0.02 / 0.46 / 0.01 / 0.46 / 0.01
Nickel (mg/L) / 0.48 / 0.01 / 0.48 / 0.01 / 0.45 / 0.01 / 0.45 / 0.02
Lead (mg/L) / 0.46 / 0.04 / 0.44 / 0.08 / 0.59 / 0.10 / 0.58 / 0.09
Zinc (mg/L) / 0.46 / 0.01 / 0.46 / 0.01 / 0.49 / 0.03 / 0.49 / 0.02
Calcium (mg/L) / 37 / 1.1 / 39 / 1.4 / 267 / 14 / 259 / 13
Sodium (mg/L) / 16 / 0.44 / 16 / 0.23 / 769 / 35 / 707 / 31

Supplemental Table 4 Mean effluent total, inorganic, and organic carbon data and standard deviations

LI effluent (n = 22) / HI effluent (n = 22)
TOTAL / DISSOLVED / TOTAL / DISSOLVED
Mean / SD / Mean / SD / Mean / SD / Mean / SD
Total carbon (mg/L) / 47.9 / 38.9 / 54.0 / 36.7 / 72.1 / 80.5 / 85.9 / 82.0
Inorganic carbon (mg/L) / 34.6 / 19.1 / 39.5 / 18.2 / 43.0 / 42.2 / 56.6 / 43.0
Organic carbon (mg/L) / 13.5 / 20.0 / 14.7 / 18.7 / 28.8 / 39.2 / 29.3 / 39.5