Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Wastewater reuse and predicted ecological risk posed by contaminant mixtures in Potomac River watershed streams

March 10, 2023

A wastewater model was applied to the Potomac River watershed to provide (i) a means to identify streams with a high likelihood of carrying elevated effluent-derived contaminants and (ii) risk assessments to aquatic life and drinking water. The model linked effluent discharges along stream networks, accumulated wastewater, and predicted contaminant loads of municipal wastewater constituents while accounting for instream dilution and attenuation. Simulations using 2016 data suggested that nearly 30% (8281 km) of streams were wastewater impacted. Low- to medium-order streams had the largest range of accumulated wastewater (ACCWW%) values. ACCWW% exceeded a 1% threshold at >39% of drinking-water intakes (varied by temporal condition). Risk assessments of municipal wastewater-contaminant mixtures indicated that 22% (1479 km) of streams impacted by municipal wastewater (5.5% of all reaches modeled) may pose high risk to aquatic organisms under mean-annual conditions, with fish more susceptible to chronic-exposure effects relative to other taxa. Risk varied temporally and by stream order, with the greatest risk occurring in the summer in small streams. These findings suggest that wastewater may be an important factor contributing to environmental degradation in the Potomac River watershed.

Publication Year 2023
Title Wastewater reuse and predicted ecological risk posed by contaminant mixtures in Potomac River watershed streams
DOI 10.1111/1752-1688.13110
Authors Kaycee E. Faunce, Larry Barber, Steffanie H. Keefe, Jeramy Jasmann, Jennifer L. Krstolic
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Journal of the American Water Resources Association
Index ID 70241155
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization VA/WV Water Science Center