Title:
Dissolved Constituent Concentrations at 21 Stream-Water Monitoring Sites in the City of Atlanta from 2003 to 2006

dc.contributor.author Peters, Norman E.
dc.contributor.corporatename Geological Survey (U.S.) en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2013-06-30T00:30:52Z
dc.date.available 2013-06-30T00:30:52Z
dc.date.issued 2007-03
dc.description Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 27-29, 2007, Athens, Georgia. en_US
dc.description.abstract During the summer of 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Atlanta, began routine manual stream-water sampling of 21 sites with drainage areas ranging from 3.7 to 232 square kilometers (km2). During approximately 12 manual sampling visits per year, concurrent equal width increment (EWI) and grab or point samples are collected to evaluate the homogeneity of the stream-water chemistry in the cross section. In addition, real-time water-quality and discharge monitoring at 11 sites is augmented by automatic samplers for collection of samples during storms. For the routine samples, 2,441 have been collected through June 2006; the samples were analyzed for a broad suite of dissolved and sediment-associated constituents. This paper summarizes an evaluation of inorganic properties including specific conductance (KSC, a general measure of the amount of dissolved solutes in the stream water) dissolved oxygen, pH and turbidity, and concentrations of major dissolved ions, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and bacteria among sites and with respect to watershed characteristics. The concentrations of all major dissolved constituents and nutrients were the same in EWI and grab samples for each site indicating that the streams are well-mixed. However, the concentrations are statistically different among sites for several constituents, despite high variability both within and among sites. Mean KSC varied with respect to the percentage of commercial and industrial land use. The highest mean KSC were in two streams with drainages having the highest percentage of industrial and commercial land use; the lowest mean KSC were in streams draining high percentages of residential-plus-forested areas. Although the maximum nitrate-nitrogen concentration (3 milligrams per liter—mg l–1) was much less than the public health standard for potable water (10 mg l–1), the average concentration at two sites was greater than 1 mg l–1, which was significantly higher than any other sites. The drainage area for one site contains the highest percentage of high-density residential area and golf course area. Most of the sample concentrations were below reporting limits for dissolved total phosphorus (51 percent) and phosphate (83 percent). Fecal coliform bacteria concentrations of several individual samples at each site exceeded Georgia’s waterquality standard for any water-use class including public water supply, recreation, or fishing. The bacteria concentrations at most sites were statistically indistinguishable due to the large within-site concentration variability. Statistically significant differences for some properties and constituents were identified among sites. en_US
dc.description.sponsorship Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibility This book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397) or the other conference sponsors.
dc.embargo.terms null en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/48170
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries GWRI2007. Riverbasin and Stream Studies en_US
dc.subject Water resources management en_US
dc.subject Water monitoring en_US
dc.subject Stream sampling en_US
dc.subject Water quality en_US
dc.subject Water contamination en_US
dc.title Dissolved Constituent Concentrations at 21 Stream-Water Monitoring Sites in the City of Atlanta from 2003 to 2006 en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Proceedings
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.corporatename Georgia Water Resources Institute
local.contributor.corporatename School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
local.relation.ispartofseries Georgia Water Resources Conference
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 8873b408-9aff-48cc-ae3c-a3d1daf89a98
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 88639fad-d3ae-4867-9e7a-7c9e6d2ecc7c
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
relation.isSeriesOfPublication e0bfffc9-c85a-4095-b626-c25ee130a2f3
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