Municipal and Industrial Wastewaters

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and provides critical resources to fish, wildlife and people. For more than a decade, recreational fish species have been plagued with skin lesions and intersex conditions (the presence of male and female sex characteristics in the same fish) that biologists attributed to exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)...

Organic contaminants that were present in Wolf Creek near a wastewater disposal facility were not evident farther downstream where Wolf Creek enters the New River. Wolf Creek and the New River are used for drinking water and recreational purposes.

The hydrology and chemistry of a wastewater-impacted stream and adjacent groundwater responded rapidly (had fewer chemicals at lower concentrations) following wastewater treatment facility shutdown. However, the adjacent shallow groundwater remained a continuing source of some wastewater-derived contaminants to the stream at least 1 year post-shutdown.

A comprehensive study by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and scientists from the University of Oklahoma finds distinct microbial assemblages (microbiomes) in landfill leachate across the United States and investigates factors related to microbiome formation.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were transported 2 kilometers downstream of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfall in a coastal plain stream. EDCs persisted downstream of the outfall with little change in the numbers of EDCs and limited decreases in EDC concentrations.

Landfill leachate contains a variety of chemicals that reflect our daily activities, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists concluded as a result of a nationwide study. Landfills are a common disposal mechanism for our Nation's solid waste from residential, commercial, and industrial sources. The scientists found that pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, and other contaminants of emerging...

A team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Colorado measured seven neuroactive pharmaceutical compounds in treated wastewater and downstream receiving waters at 24 sites across Minnesota. The analysis of samples collected upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants indicated that wastewater treatment plants were the major source of these chemicals.

Waters produced as a byproduct of oil and gas development were found to yield high concentrations of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) when treated. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampled stream waters upstream and downstream of the outfall of Publicly Owned Wastewater Treatment Works (POTWs), POTWs that receive and treat waters produced by conventional and unconventional oil and gas development...

In two separate studies, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists demonstrated that hormones such as estrogen can biodegrade in stream and groundwater environments. This is an important finding because the science, regulatory, and environmental communities have concerns about the environmental fate of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as hormones, in the human wastewaters discharged to the...

Many areas of the Nation are faced with water shortages due to significant demand for water. As a result, supplies are being augmented with treated wastewater for uses such as irrigation. In a study recently published in the journal "Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry," a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists reported that pharmaceuticals in wastewater used for irrigation persist in...

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world, and is widely used to control weeds in both agricultural fields and in urban and suburban settings. In 2002, USGS scientists sampled the wastewater discharged into streams from 10 wastewater treatment plants. Although the observed concentrations were small, these results are the first to demonstrate that the discharge from wastewater...

The USGS's National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals in U.S. Streams is making an impact in the scientific and regulatory communities.