Surface Water Contamination

The Research Triangle area, located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River basins, is one of the most rapidly developing areas in the Nation. Growth has increased demand for water from public suppliers, the majority of which draw water from streams and lakes in the region. Growth also brings the threat of greater loads of contaminants and new contaminant sources that, if not properly managed...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) geographic area has two Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) watersheds: Proctor Creek in Atlanta, GA, and Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC. The local efforts in Walnut Creek are supported by many partner organizations, including but not limited to: Partners for Environmental Justice, the Carolina Wetlands Association, the...

The South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) geographic area has two Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) watersheds: Proctor Creek in Atlanta, GA (Figure 1) and the newly established partnership for Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC. SAWSC is working on two UWFP projects in the Proctor Creek Watershed focused on fecal-associated pathogens (Figure 2) and microplastics (Figure 3). This work in...

There is evidence that bridge deck runoff has a relatively high loading of a variety of constituents such as nutrients, solids, pesticides, metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Information on the quality of bridge deck runoff in North Carolina is, however, lacking. Stormwater permits are designed to reduce nonpoint source loadings of anthropogenically derived constituents to...

Background: How safe is it to swim, wade, and boat in the Chattahoochee River today? For a highly urbanized river such as the Chattahoochee, much of the answer depends on bacteria levels in the water. This website provides "real time" turbidity data, the estimated Escherichia coli (E coli) bacteria count, the most recent E. coli bacteria counts (sample collected each Thursday), and National Park...

The effects of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on water quality were investigated at 54 agricultural stream sites throughout the North Carolina Coastal Plain during 2012 and 2013. Three general watershed land-use types were examined during the study, including 18 background watersheds with no active CAFOs, 18 watersheds with one or more active swine CAFOs but no poultry CAFOs, and...

The contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) umbrella covers several broad classes of contaminants that include: pharmaceuticals and personal care products, organic wastewater compounds, antimicrobials, antibiotics, animal and human hormones, as well as domestic and industrial detergents. The potential impacts of CECs on the environment, in general, and on natural surface-water and riparian...

Past stormwater monitoring has indicated that bridge deck runoff has relatively high concentrations of a variety of constituents such as nutrients, solids, pesticides, trace metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The objective of this investigation is to quantify the downstream changes in receiving water-quality conditions during periods of observable stormwater runoff from selected...

This collaborative project between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the USGS was conducted as part of a larger research program being undertaken by USEPA and the U.S Department of Agriculture at several research sites throughout the United States. Goals included: 1. Obtain detailed data concerning the survival of pathogenic microorganisms from manure applied to soil under...

Data collected between 1997 and 2008 at 48 stream sites were used to characterize relations between watershed settings and stream nutrient yields throughout central and eastern North Carolina. The focus of the investigation was to identify environmental variables in watersheds that influence nutrient export for supporting the development and prioritization of management strategies for restoring...

Land application of municipal wastewater biosolids is the most common method of biosolids management used in North Carolina and the United States. Biosolids have characteristics that may be beneficial to soil and plants. Land application can take advantage of these beneficial qualities, whereas disposal in landfills or incineration poses no beneficial use of the waste. However, recent studies have...

This proposed investigation aims to increase the frequency of surface-water quality data collection and initiate stream-flow data collection near existing DHEC ambient sites in Horry County. State-of-the-art water-quality and flow sensors that can collect and report water quality and stream-flow data in near real-time will be installed at 3 sites that are currently on the 303(d) list for SC in the...