Water Quality and Emerging Contaminants

The US EPA Office of Research and Development is carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the potential impacts on water quality and water supply resulting from the increased use of biofuels. Contamination resulting from releases of biofuel from underground storage tanks may impact ground water that is available for municipal water supply. This concern is greatest for regions of the country that...

Results of water-quality sampling in tributaries and major rivers of New Jersey have revealed that arsenic levels that exceed the human-health-based Surface Water Quality Standard (SWQS) are widespread. Exceedances of the mercury SWQS are prevalent, although less widespread than arsenic exceedances.

Since 1982, mercury (Hg) concentrations that exceed the State and USEPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 2 g/L have been reported for water withdrawn from more than 600 domestic wells finished in the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system in southern New Jersey. Actions have been taken to protect well owners from further exposure by providing treatment systems or hookups to public-water...

Mercury accumulates in biological tissue through complex reactions (bioaccumulation). Bacteria convert environmental inorganic mercury into methyl mercury (Me-Hg). This Me-Hg form is more toxic and more difficult to remove from bacterial systems than inorganic mercury. As humans consume fish, the Me-Hg in the fish is also consumed. Neurotoxicity is the most important health concern with mercury...

Few studies have evaluated or compared contaminant mass removal by Pump-and-Treat (P&T), Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA), or Enhanced Biodegradation (EB) in fractured-rock aquifers, partly because of the perceived hydrogeologic complexity, the lack of understanding of the processes controlling the migration and transformation of contaminants, and the lack of sufficient field data for...

Numerous organic chemicals are used every day for industrial, commercial and household purposes. Recent investigations have indicated that a number of these chemicals have found their way into many of the nation’s wastewater treatment facilities, receiving waters, aquifers and drinking water treatment facilities. This project will evaluate a variety of treatment processes (different design and...

The Federal Clean Water Act, Sections 303(d) and 305 (b) mandates that states develop a list of water bodies summarizing the state’s water quality and a sub list identifying impaired water bodies for which total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) may be necessary. The USGS will collect, analyze, and publish water quality and streamflow data during 12 events at 19 stream sites (8 in the Saddle River basin...

Elevated levels of bacteria, nutrients, and suspended sediments exceeding MCLs is of concern for a number of New Jersey streams. Uncontrolled, non-point (NPS) pollution from increasing commercial and residential land development throughout the State is of special concern. For effective placement of appropriate best management practices (BMPs) and the establishment of TMDLs, water-resource managers...

In the summer of 2007 the Penobscot Indian Nation was approved for a grant from EPA to establish a data-sharing node at their location. This node will be part of the EPA WQX data-exchange network. In FY08 the USGS will again assist the PIN with the remaining changes needed for the main database, updating the 2007 applications as needed after a full season of field use, providing additional...

Arsenic concentrations in the waters of Raccoon Creek commonly exceed the New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standard (SWQS) of 0.017. It is currently not known how much of the arsenic measured in streamwater and in bed sediments is contributed by stormwater runoff. Runoff also can contribute trace metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc, and nutrients to streams; these contaminants typically...

The USGS in cooperation with the USEPA, the Passaic Valley Water Supply Commission (PVWC) and the New Jersey American Water Company initiated a pilot EWS. The objectives of this collaborative effort are to lay the ground work for developing an EWS field site at an operating water utility by deploying an array of water quality sensors to characterize baseline water quality variability at the intake...

A database was developed by the USGS for the Penobscot Indian Nation (PIN) in 2000 to store water-quality and associated data. A data-entry application in MS Access was also provided. The resulting database and data-entry application are referred to as the Penobscot Indian Nation Environmental (PINE) database.