Urban Waters Federal Partnership: Proctor Creek, Atlanta, Georgia
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 Proctor Creek is in collaboration with the City of Atlanta and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
The Proctor Creek Watershed is located in downtown Atlanta and includes neighborhoods with underserved and disadvantaged communities. The watershed drains to the Chattahoochee River, and sections are included on the state's list of impaired and threatened waters (303(d) list) for fecal coliform. Intermittent discharge of untreated sewage can occur in the basin, however large efforts have been made to prevent these occurrences. Green infrastructure installations in the watershed are being implemented for the purpose of reducing flooding during storms.
Related links
Pathogen and bacterial assessment in Proctor Creek
- Objective: Assess the effect of a green infrastructure installation in the Hunter Hills neighborhood on presence and levels of pathogens and fecal bacteria in Proctor Creek.
- Methods: water and dead-end ultrafiltration samples will be analyzed for Escherichia coli, a human microbial source tracking marker, adenovirus, human polyomavirus, enterovirus, and Norovirus GIA, GIB, and GII.
- This project is in collaboration with the City of Atlanta.
Microplastics
Microplastics project objectives:
- Develop capabilities within the USGS Water Science Centers (WSCs) to collect microplastics samples accurately and reproducibly for determining particle count, polymer type, and mass per volume (concentration) that can ultimately be related to discharge in urban streams.
- Provide data to cooperators and stakeholders that can be directly comparable to their trash collection efforts, total maximum daily loads (TMDL), and other water-quality monitoring.
- Establish a baseline of microplastic concentrations in low-flow to medium-flow conditions in a more representative and reproducible manner.
Project Scope
- Microplastics: Development of standardized microplastics sampling, (particle count, polymer type, mass per volume)
- Collaboration with other Urban Water sites.
Sampling Methods
- 1 site, 2 locations (upstream and downstream)
- 8 sample sets, June-September 2022
- American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International method D8332-20
- Baseflow (non-storm conditions, low and medium flow)
- Equal Discharge Increment (EDI)
- Field Parameters
- Target volume: 100-200 gallons
- Sieve sizes: 20 micrometers (>20 µm) and 300 µm
- Samples will be shipped to New York Water Science Center for isolation and analyses preparation
Analyses Methods
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) Laboratory will perform laser-direct infrared imaging on size fractions greater than 20 micrometers (>20 μm) using ASTM method D8333-20 for particle count and polymer type.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will perform pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) on size fractions >300 μm on samples that have been further sieved and sorted for polymer type and relative mass.
- Select split samples at similar size fractions will be analyzed by both laboratories for interlaboratory comparison.
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 Proctor Creek is in collaboration with the City of Atlanta and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
The Proctor Creek Watershed is located in downtown Atlanta and includes neighborhoods with underserved and disadvantaged communities. The watershed drains to the Chattahoochee River, and sections are included on the state's list of impaired and threatened waters (303(d) list) for fecal coliform. Intermittent discharge of untreated sewage can occur in the basin, however large efforts have been made to prevent these occurrences. Green infrastructure installations in the watershed are being implemented for the purpose of reducing flooding during storms.
Related links
Pathogen and bacterial assessment in Proctor Creek
- Objective: Assess the effect of a green infrastructure installation in the Hunter Hills neighborhood on presence and levels of pathogens and fecal bacteria in Proctor Creek.
- Methods: water and dead-end ultrafiltration samples will be analyzed for Escherichia coli, a human microbial source tracking marker, adenovirus, human polyomavirus, enterovirus, and Norovirus GIA, GIB, and GII.
- This project is in collaboration with the City of Atlanta.
Microplastics
Microplastics project objectives:
- Develop capabilities within the USGS Water Science Centers (WSCs) to collect microplastics samples accurately and reproducibly for determining particle count, polymer type, and mass per volume (concentration) that can ultimately be related to discharge in urban streams.
- Provide data to cooperators and stakeholders that can be directly comparable to their trash collection efforts, total maximum daily loads (TMDL), and other water-quality monitoring.
- Establish a baseline of microplastic concentrations in low-flow to medium-flow conditions in a more representative and reproducible manner.
Project Scope
- Microplastics: Development of standardized microplastics sampling, (particle count, polymer type, mass per volume)
- Collaboration with other Urban Water sites.
Sampling Methods
- 1 site, 2 locations (upstream and downstream)
- 8 sample sets, June-September 2022
- American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International method D8332-20
- Baseflow (non-storm conditions, low and medium flow)
- Equal Discharge Increment (EDI)
- Field Parameters
- Target volume: 100-200 gallons
- Sieve sizes: 20 micrometers (>20 µm) and 300 µm
- Samples will be shipped to New York Water Science Center for isolation and analyses preparation
Analyses Methods
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) Laboratory will perform laser-direct infrared imaging on size fractions greater than 20 micrometers (>20 μm) using ASTM method D8333-20 for particle count and polymer type.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will perform pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) on size fractions >300 μm on samples that have been further sieved and sorted for polymer type and relative mass.
- Select split samples at similar size fractions will be analyzed by both laboratories for interlaboratory comparison.