Water Quality

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https://hdl.handle.net/1813/113369

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Comments on the Preliminary International Joint Commission Recommendations on Microplastics in the Great Lakes
Watkins, Lisa; Rahm, Brian G.; Walter, M. Todd (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
We wish to generally support the recommendations as already articulated by the IJC, and provide the following additional comments in three broad areas: science, pollution prevention, and policy.
Methane and Nutrient cycling in Septic Leach Field Systems
Fernandez-Baca, Cristina (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
Onsite septic systems treat approximately 25% of U.S. domestic wastewater. Despite their prevalence and continued use in new building, few studies have attempted to characterize septic systems’ air and water quality impacts. Understanding septic systems’ effectiveness is vital to managing them in a way that promotes both air and water quality. Systems that are improperly sited and/or managed can cause ground and surface water contamination as well as increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as compared to well-managed systems. To examine microbial populations and potential GHG and nutrient cycling within leach field soil systems, we constructed two leach field soil columns in the lab. Reactors were subjected to either flooded conditions (Column A) or well-maintained conditions (Column B) and compared in: (1) measured atmospheric methane (CH4) fluxes; (2) measured CH4 depth profile, (3) distribution and activity of key organisms involved in CH4 cycling; (4) measured chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrient treatment (N, P). Overall, the columns performed more similarly in nutrient removal than in CH4 cycling with flooded conditions significantly increasing CH4 fluxes and overall CH4 production. COD removal was variable and is negatively impacted by flooding while nutrient removal appears to be unaffected by flooded conditions.
PFOA, PFOS, and Other Perfluoroalkyl Substances: What we Know
New York State Water Resources Institute (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
This list is in no way exhaustive. Rather, it attempts to provide a set of primary references that offer key pieces of information in building a clear understanding of the issue. Thus, it is subjective in its completeness. Annotations attempt to identify unique or defining characteristics of each entry.
Water quality and algal community dynamics in the Finger Lakes
Cleckner, Lisa; Razavi, Roxanne; Halfman, John (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
Nutrient loading has resulted in the proliferation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwaters worldwide. Most HABs are composed of cyanobacteria, also known as blue‐green algae, which can harm human and animal health when they produce cyanotoxins. Ubiquitous HABs represent a serious problem across waterbodies in New York State and the Finger Lakes. Studies of algal community dynamics can help illuminate factors that lead to increases in HABs. Advanced sensor technology allows for in situ measurements of chlorophyll differentiated by algal class. In this study, a FluoroProbe spectrofluorometer (bbe moldaenke, GmbH) was used to assess four major phytoplankton groups in the pelagic and nearshore of two Finger Lakes (i.e., Honeoye and Canandaigua Lakes). The objective of this work was to determine whether pelagic sampling reflects nearshore algal communities, and how this varies by lake trophic status. Seasonal changes in algal communities were also assessed, and water quality parameters that best explain phytoplankton succession and specifically cyanobacteria are evaluated.
Prediction of Sediment Remobilized by Removal of the Bingham Mills Dam in the Hudson River Watershed
Wu, Weiming; Knack, Ian; Perera, Chamil (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
The Bingham Mills Dam is an abandoned, old dam located on the Roeliff Jansen Kill, a tributary of the Lower Hudson River in New York. It used to provide hydropower for the mills nearby, and now does not have any use. The Bingham Mills Dam and the waterfalls are barriers for fish migrating upstream. A management option is to remove the dam for safety concern. The research team surveyed the channel bathymetry upstream and downstream of the dam and collected samples to assess the sediment size compositions and the chemicals absorbed on the sediments. The measured data show that the sediments in the reservoir are mostly sand and gravel, and have very little amounts of mercury, PCBs and pesticides. The erodible sediments in the reservoir are less than 1.4 m thick, and about 9,126 m3 in volume. Then, a depth-averaged 2D numerical model called CMS was used to simulate the sediment erosion after the dam removal. The numerical simulation shows that most of the sediments in the reservoir can be washed downstream within a large flood event. The total eroded sediment is about 7,370 m3. The collected data and derived results can be used for future studies on the feasibility of removing the Bingham Mills Dam and the potential impacts on the downstream stream water quality and habitats.
Innovative water treatment by chitosan modified diatomaceous earth (DE) for small public water systems in rural areas
Wei, Xinchao (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
Small public water systems play a vital role in providing safe drinking water to many rural areas in many states in the U.S. In view of the growing amounts and types of pollutants, providing safe drinking water is becoming increasingly difficult for small public water systems because of their unique geographical, financial, technical and operational constraints. The objective of this study was to develop a drinking water treatment technology for resource-constrained small public water systems using chitosan modified diatomaceous earth (DE) to remove a group of dissolved contaminants (natural organic matters, arsenic, and nitrate). Chitosan is an effective biosorbent for various dissolved contaminants mainly due to its high density amino groups and hydroxyl groups. DE of different sizes and permeability was modified by a chitosan to achieve the uniform thin coating on DE surfaces. The new adsorbent had the unique properties of both DE (good mechanical strength, large surface area, and good permeability) and chitosan (ubiquitous biopolymer with outstanding versatile adsorption capacity). The adsorption performance in removing the target contaminants was examined by batch adsorption tests.
Quantification & Source Identification of Microplastic Pollution in the Hudson River
Walter, M. Todd; Watkins, Lisa; Ryan, Gray; McGrattan, Susan (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
Microplastic pollution in freshwater is increasingly studied in the waterways of New York State. Detrimental to organisms, both through physical mechanisms such as false satiation and through chemical mechanisms due to contaminant adsorption and particle leaching, microplastics originate from a variety of yet-to-be-quantified sources. This ongoing study aims to support the quantification and source identification of microplastic pollution in the Hudson River through investigative studies to uncover patterns in microplasic concentrations. Over the past funding cycle, we found evidence to suggest that microplastic concentrations do change in time and that the change differs between streams with wastewater treatment plant contributions and streams without, depending on the flow conditions at the time of the sampling session. Ongoing work continues to compare results found using different sampling methods, investigate the influence of dams on plastic transport in rivers, and link fish diets with fish consumption of microplastics in Hudson River estuaries.
Student Researcher Support of Adaptive Management of the St Lawrence River using Novel Water Quality Monitoring Methodology
Twiss, Michael R.; Skufca, Jospeh D.; Dagrossa, Michael T. (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
Restrictive water level regulation in the Saint Lawrence River over the past 50 years has had a profound impact on ecosystem health. Currently, there are no explicit plans to determine how the restoration of more natural water level regimes in the St. Lawrence will impact water quality, although great effort has been made to develop adaptive management as the proper strategic approach. Water quality sensor arrays will be continuously operated in the Moses-Saunders hydropower dam to provide data that can relate change in water quality to changes in water levels. Mercury will be measured in water flowing through sensor arrays as well as in wetlands upstream that have the potential to release Hg with changing water level scenarios. The objective is to collect water quality data and relate this to water levels, to assess the potential for changing water levels to release Hg into the river and to produce three audience-appropriate videos to describe this important endeavor.
Mohawk River Water Quality: Risk Evaluation of Combined Sewer Overflow and Runoff Events
Rodak, C.; Wei, X.; Schneider, J. (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
During the Summer of 2016 nine locations along the Mohawk River in the Utica-Rome area were sampled for general water quality parameters and microbial indicators of fecal contaminations (E. coli and enterococci). When compared to the 2012 RWQC, microbial counts frequently exceeded the beach action value thresholds at sample locations in Utica, NY while violations in the Rome tailwater were less common. Microbial counts correlated well with rain events, demonstrating elevated microbial counts following rain events at sampling locations directly downstream of known CSO locations. At one sampling location in Utica, extremely high microbial counts were ultimately attributed to a broken sewer pipe which also appears to have impacted the water quality of other sample locations up 3.5 miles downstream. These microbial counts decreased significantly once the leaking pipe was identified and repaired on July 29th 2016. The performance indicators of reliability, resilience, and vulnerability were explored as a quantitative metric for communication of the frequency, duration, and severity of contamination events. Sampling locations in Rome had high reliability and resilience indicating infrequent, short-term elevated microbial counts compared to those in Utica which had frequent, long-term, contamination events well above the recreational thresholds.
Evaluating Septic System Inputs into Sodus Bay using Oblique Imagery, Optical Brighteners, and DNA-based tracers.
Richards, Paul L. (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)
Sodus Bay is an important Bay in Lake Ontario that has been heavily impacted by nonpoint source pollution. The Bay is considered to be a Class B stressed, priority waterbody according to the NYSDEC. Pollution in it has resulted in eutrophication, algal blooms, and excessive weeds in parts of the watershed (1). These issues have led to several studies which have determined that nutrient contributions from developed parts of the watershed are the source of these water quality issues. Nonpoint source pollution from septic fields are an important contributor of nitrogen and phosphorous to groundwater, shorelines, streams, and lakes (2). It has also been implicated in bays and water bodies associated with Lake Ontario (3). Addressing it with watershed policy has been difficult for two reasons: 1) identifying where leach fields are hydrologically connected to water bodies is difficult to do, and 2) determining the magnitude and residence time of septic field pollutant fluxes within watersheds is difficult. Our lack of knowledge in this issue of hydrologic connectivity greatly restricts the kind of management practices and policies we can employ to prevent nonpoint source pollution from septic systems.

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