/"%
.11
.iviron
xeimeth M. Mackenthun
Director, Technical Support Staff
EN < M ENTAL PKOTEC7 ION AC t; S'CY
OFFICE OF AIR A Vl'K^ FKtXr/UMS
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Toward
a Cleaner
Aquatic
Environment
Kenneth M. Mackenthun
Director, Technical Support Staff
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF AIR AND WATER PROGRAMS
1973
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402—Price: $2.05 (paper cover)
Stock Number 5501-00573
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'• •
The scenic grandeur of unspoiled nature.
II
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Foreword
PROTECTION from pollution and quality enhancement of the
environmental resources of this Nation are challenges that must be
met by our modern society. We have an innate obligation to those who
follow in our footsteps to deliver to them a water resource that can
meet the use demands of their generation. Positive actions to ensure
the attainment of this goal must be accelerated to compensate for
continued pressures of population and industrial growths, urbaniza-
tion, and technological changes.
One key to our success will be the extent to which we, as a society,
can define and understand the quality and behavior of the aquatic
environment. To correct situations already bad, we must be aware
of the alternatives available for correction, and we must be in a posi-
tion to weigh the potential environmental effects of each alternative
before reaching a sound decision for an appropriate course of action.
Determination of the quality of the aquatic environment, the effects
of pollutants on that quality, and the causes and control of plant and
animal nuisances that result in costly problems are critical elements
in the scientific efforts needed for decision making. This book is devoted
to a definition of those causes and effects and will be a valuable con-
tribution to assist those who are involved in the applied aspects of
water pollution control.
Robert W. Fri, Acting Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
in
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ireface
THIS book was prepared to provoke concern for the control of water
pollution and to serve as a guide in the investigation and definition
of problems associated with the aquatic environment. It has been
written principally for use in the curriculum for the upper grades in
high schools and in colleges. Hopefully, in addition, it will be found of
value by the aquatic biologists inexperienced in field investigative
activities, as well as by sanitary engineers, chemists, attorneys, water
pollution control administrators, and others who may have need to
broaden their understanding of investigative techniques and water
quality and technical problems encountered in such studies.
This book is divided into 21 chapters that address: characteristics of
the aquatic environment, insults on the aquatic environment per-
petrated by man, controls for such insults, constraints on governmental
actions, investigations of aquatic problems, reporting the investigative
results, biological nuisances, health-related aquatic problems, keys to
common algae and rooted aquatic vegetation, and government abate-
ment and control programs. Investigative techniques are described in
detail for the pond, stream, and lake environments, and for special
studies. The ability to present a clear, understandable concept of the
results of a field investigation by different methods of data display
is evaluated. Methods of correcting the causes of slime, plant, and
animal nuisances are discussed.
The investigation of water-associated problems always is a fascinating
challenge to the initiative and imagination of the investigator. Water
and the life within it presents a dynamic panorama of action, inter-
action, and reaction to forces imposed upon the aquatic environment.
The physical constraints of the waterway, as well as the regulating
actions of temperature, light, wind, and precipitation impose their
effects on the unpolluted aquatic ecosystem. These effects may be
accentuated when pollution is introduced as an additional factor of
concern. As Henry Baldwin Ward wrote in 1918, "From the tiniest
rivulet to the mightest river one may find every possible intermediate
stage, and between the swiftest mountain torrent and the most sluggish
lowland stream there exists every intermediate gradation." No two
waterways will be found to be similar and each supports a population
of Biota that has adjusted to its particular quality conditions for
existence.
The investigator of water quality problems should possess the tenacity
and persistence of a detective combined with the thoroughness of an
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attorney preparing a major case for court. The capabilities of even
the experienced investigator frequently are taxed to the limit in resolv-
ing some of the puzzling features of the complex reaction and inter-
action of pollution in a receiving waterway.
Clearness in thought and understandability have been the goals in
presenting this book's contents. Reference citations have been kept to
a minimum, but a short chapter devoted to helpful references should
assist the investigator in obtaining the information necessary for a
basic study of the aquatic environment. Many such studies can be
completed on a local waterway by the individual researcher or in
fulfillment of a class project in high school or college. This book
hopefully will serve as a reference guide to aid in the successful com-
pletion of such projects. It is with these future professional investigators
that this generation entrusts the future solution of aquatic problems.
Kenneth M. Mackenthun
Washington, D. C.
January, 1973
VI
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D
ownstream
Its waters were clear as the finest crystal, some say;
But this was two score and five years ago,
Before we ceased to care where rusty parts, and old tires lay,
That now are our rejected symbols of progress and a nation's alter ego.
What once was clean, now is a mixture of translucent grays,
That slide more than flow as in the past,
And prevent the sun's unique and penetrating rays,
From giving life's gift to those creatures who might have been, alas!
In the river's far upstream reaches, life happily yet competes,
Mayflies, caddisflies and an occasional stonefly each have their day;
Finny friends seek food, spawn, and the cycle repeats
Among aquatic pastures where the damsel- and the dragonfly play.
Downstream, life's harsh realities encounter degradation,
Caused by sewage, inadequately treated, and other waste flows,
Which kill, destroy homes, blanket and result in deprivation
Of life, for all except the most tolerant of pollution's woes.
Abundant sludge, foul smelling, soft, deep and more,
Blankets all but the channel of the swiftly-flowing stream,
Covering the bottom with dull, red, undulating sludgeworms and
bloodworms galore,
Eliminating the less tolerant and happy-water insect larvae, as well
as the bream.
With the anticipated coming of pollution control's new dawn,
Downstream and upstream quality will hopefully approach the same;
With all the happy waters, and finny friends with spawn,
Clean and pure; an investigator's report can then cast no blame.
VII
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Acknowled
gments
O PECIAL acknowledgment and appreciation for invaluable assistance
^-J in this book's preparation are given Mrs. Dianne L. Seay for
her diligence and perseverance in the demanding tasks of typing,
arranging and proofing copy; Dr. John L. Buckley, Deputy Director,
Office of Research, Environmental Protection Agency, and Dr. Frank
F. Hooper, Professor of Fisheries and Zoology, University of Michigan,
for their critical review of the draft manuscript; and Mrs. Dorothy
Mackenthun for her review, proofing and helpful comments on nar-
rative structure, as well as her encouragement throughout manuscript
preparation.
Acknowledgments are given for permission to use the following
plates and figures: Plates 1, 5, 7, 12 and 23, The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency; Plates 3, 11 and 16, Mr. Thomas W. Bendixen, Office
of Solid Waste Management, EPA, Cincinnati, Ohio; Plate 10, Mr.
Herbert Kelly, U. S. Soil Conservation Service; Plate 25, Horn Photo,
Clatskanie, Oregon; Plate 26, Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana,
Illinois; Plates 27 and 28, Mr. Carl A. Werner, California Department
of Water Resources; Plates 29 and 30, Dr. Harold Rehder and Dr.
J. P.E. Morrison, U. S. National Museum; Plates 31 through 34, Dr. C.
M. Palmer, "Algae in Water Supplies" (1959); Plates 35 through 60,
U. S. Department of Agriculture from Bull. No. 634 "Food of Game
Ducks in the United States and Canada" by Martin and Uhler (1939);
Plate 61, Aquatic Controls Corporation, Hartland, Wisconsin; Plate 62,
Dr. John E. Gallagher, Amchem Products, Ambler, Pennsylvania.
IX
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"The nineteen-seventies
absolutely must be
the years when America
pays its debt to the past
by reclaiming
the purity of its air,
its waters and
our living environment.
It is literally
now or never."
President Richard M. Nixon
January 1, 1970
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c
ontents
Page
FOREWORD iii
PREFACE v
DOWNSTREAM viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
I. THE ENVIRONMENT 1
Aquatic Environments 1
Lakes 2
Regulating Factors 4
Ecology 6
Pollution 7
Society's Goal 8
II. ENVIRONMENTAL INSULTS 9
Definition 9
Aesthetic Qualities 9
Quality Constituents 11
Dead Fish 12
Floating Solids 13
Settleable Solids 14
Color 15
Solid Wastes 15
Oil 16
Tastes and Odors 17
Slimes 18
Algae 19
Vascular Plants 21
Sludgeworms, Bloodworms and Associates 22
Toxic Streams 22
Control 22
Postscript 23
III. CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENTAL INSULTS 24
Some of the Problems 24
Citizens Groups 27
Education Needs 27
Citizen Action 28
The Role of Industry and Agriculture 31
The Role of Governments 31
IV. LEGAL CONSTRAINTS 33
River and Harbor Act of 1899 33
Early Water Pollution Control Legislation 33
Federal Water Pollution Control Act 34
Water Quality Act of 1965 35
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 36
Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 37
xi
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Page
Federal Law 38
Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of
1972 40
V. POLLUTION CAUSED ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES 43
The Varieties of Pollution 43
Aesthetic Insults 43
Toxic Substances 44
Silts and Settleable Solids 45
Organic Wastes 47
Organism's Effects on Pollution 50
Heat Pollution 51
Nutrients 53
Oil 55
VI. HELPFUL REFERENCES 57
VII. INVESTIGATIVE PREPARATION AND TECHNIQUES 62
Objectives 62
Planning 64
Data Collection 68
Sample Analyses 78
VIII. STREAM SURVEYS 83
Study Plan 83
Wastes Mixing 84
Waste Sources 84
Water Use Considerations 86
Station Location 87
Sampling Periodicity 92
Laboratories 94
IX. POND AND LAKE INVESTIGATIONS 96
The Pond as a Study Habitat 96
The Standing Water Environment 97
Effects of Water Inflows and Discharges 101
Biotic Considerations and Sample Station Selections .... 103
Physical Considerations and Sample Station Selection ... Ill
Sample Station Selection Ill
Sampling Frequency 115
X. SPECIAL STUDIES 116
Particular and Singular Problems 116
Fish Kills 117
Water Supplies 122
Pond or Lake Eutrophication 126
Sewage Treatment Systems 128
XI. RECOVERY FROM CATASTROPHE 133
Concepts 133
Influencing Factors 134
Infiltrating Mechanisms 136
Environmental Catastrophes 138
XII. INTERPRETING THE FINDINGS 143
Data Evaluation 143
Data Organization 144
Selected Case Histories 146
xii
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Page
XIII. REPORTING THE RESULTS 159
Outline 160
Organization 161
Report Development 163
Revision 164
Review and Final Report 165
XIV. SLIME NUISANCES 167
Iron Bacteria 168
Sewage Fungus 169
Sulfur Bacteria 169
XV. PLANT NUISANCES 172
Assets 172
Liabilities 173
Conditions of Existence 175
Limiting Factors 175
XVI. ANIMAL NUISANCES 178
Sponges 178
Midges 178
Mayflies and Caddisflies 179
Mosquitoes 181
Other Insects 182
Leeches 183
Other Organisms 185
XVII. OTHER HEALTH RELATED AQUATIC ANIMALS AND PLANTS .. 187
Swimmer's Itch 187
Schistosomiasis, the Blood Fluke Disease of Man 192
Fish Parasites Important to Man 193
Swimming-associated Amoebic Meningoencephalitis .... 194
Health-associated Algae 194
XVIII. KEY TO COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED ALGAE 196
XIX. KEY TO COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED VASCULAR PLANTS .... 202
XX. CONTROL OF EXCESS PRODUCTION 230
General Control 230
Slimes 231
Plant Nuisances 232
Algal Control 234
Vascular Plants 237
Animal Nuisances 238
Swimmer's Itch Control 240
XXI. FEDERAL PROGRAMS FOR POLLUTION ABATEMENT AND CONTROL 243
Enforcement 243
Research 245
Municipal Wastes 246
Training 247
Industrial Wastes 248
Non-Point Source Wastes 248
Feedlot Wastes 249
Forestry and Logging 249
Irrigation and Agricultural Run-Off 249
xiii
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Page
Pesticides : 250
Construction Site Siltation 251
The Subsurface Environment 251
Vessel Wastes ...: 252
Water Quality Standards 253
Toxic and Pretreatment Effluent Standards 254
Ocean Dumping 254
Other Activities 255
References Cited 255
Glossary 260
Appendix 265
Subject Index 271
Pi
ates
Frontispiece The scenic grandeur of unspoiled nature ii
1 Canoeing over calm, clear waters is a recreational
pursuit made more enjoyable in unblemished
surroundings 3
2 Sludgeworm eggs with embryos 5
3 An open dump contributes to air pollution and
is an aesthetic insult 7
4 Acid mine discharges kill natural stream bed
organisms 11
5 A dramatic visible indication of an environmental
catastrophe 12
6 An insult to a waterway with otherwise excellent
aesthetic potential 14
7 Construction site siltation harms both land and
receiving waterway 16
8 Biological slimes defile a stream and destroy a
habitat for benthic organisms 19
9 A nutrient-stimulated algal bloom, Lake Sebasti-
cook, Maine 21
10 Uncontrolled erosion in a housing development is
the genesis of a waterway's sediments 26
11 A stream-bank dump pollutes the receiving water-
way for miles 29
12 Wastes that must be treated to protect the receiv-
ing waterway 40
13 Benthic zones of pollution 46
14 Response of organisms toward organic pollution
in days of stream flow and miles of stream 48
15 Zones of pollution with animals, algae and physical
indices 49
xiv
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Page
16 Trash deposited on an area subject to flooding ... 52
17 Biological collecting equipment 72
18 A multiple-plate artificial substrate colonized by
aquatic organisms 76
19 Clean water stream bed animals 88
20 Intermediately tolerant stream bed animals 90
21 Very tolerant stream bed animals 91
22 Analyses in a wet laboratory of samples collected
from a field investigation 94
23 Trickling filter operation 129
24 Slimes form waving masses in polluted streams ... 168
25 Massive slime accumulations on commercial fisher-
man's net 170
26 Mosquito (Psorophora ciliata) one of Illinois'
largest 180
27 Interim Canal, California, with Asiatic Clams com-
pletely covering canal bed 184
28 Closeup of undisturbed canal bed, Interim Canal,
California, with multitudes of Asiatic Clams ... 185
29 Snails known to harbor swimmer's itch cereariae . . 190
30 Snails known to harbor swimmer's itch carcariae . . 191
31 Nuisance Algae—Rivularia, Nodularia, Anabaena,
Oscillatoria, Lyngbya, Aphanizomenon 197
32 Nuisance Algae—Stephana discus, Cyclotella, Phor-
midium, Zygnema, Spirogyra, Scenedesmus, Uloth-
rix, Oedogonium, Fragilaria 199
33 Nuisance Algae—Melosira, Hydrodictyon, Dinob-
ryon, Rhizoclonium, Stigeoclonium, Caldophora,
Pediastrum 200
34 Nuisance Algae—Anhistrodesmus, Synura, Coelo-
sphaerium, Microcystis, Ceratium, Sataurastrum .. 201
35 Duckweeds (Lemnaceae) 204
36 Watershield (Brasenia schreberi) 205
37 American lotus (Nelumbo) 205
38 Musk grass (Chard) 206
39 Bladderwort (Utricularia) 207
40 Watermilfoil (Myriophyllum) 208
41 Coontail (Ceratophyllum) 209
42 Water buttercup (Ranunculus) 210
43 Water star grass (Heteranthera) 211
44 Floating-leafed pondweed (Potamogeton natans) .. 212
45 Large-leafed pondweed (Potamogeton amplifolius) 213
xv
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Page
46 Curly-leafed pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) ... 214
47 Robbing pondweed (Potamogeton robbinsii) .... 215
48 Flat-stemmed pondweed (Potamogeton zosteri-
formis) 216
49 Sago pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus) 217
50 Wild celery (Vallisneria) 218
51 Bushy pondweed (Najas) 219
52 Waterweed (Anacharis) 220
53 Spike rush (Eleocharis) 221
54 Bulrush (Scirpus) 222
55 Wild rice (Zizania) 223
56 Bureed (Sparganium) 224
57 Alligatorweed (Alternanthera) 225
58 Smartweed (Polygonum) 226
59 Waterhyacinth (Eichhornia) 227
60 Waterchestnut (Trapa) 228
61 Mechanical weed cutting and removal 236
62 Helicopter application of a granular herbicide ... 239
igures
1. Field Collection Card tor Jsenthic Samples 69
2. Lake zones with seasonal temperature and dissolved oxygen
changes 98
3. Diagram of a long, narrow shallow water reservoir showing
suggested sampling stations 112
4. Diagram of a natural lake basin showing suggested sampling
sites 113
5. Tributary stream station selection for a lake eutrophication
study 126
6. Lake station selection for a lake eutrophication study 127
7. Principles of waste stabilization in areas affected by cold
winter climate 131
8. Brule River benthic organisms 147
9. Bottom organism populations—Iron Mountain-Kingsford
area, Menominee River, August 1963 148
10. Comparison of bottom organism populations in two upper
Menominee River reservoirs 150
11. Genera and population numbers of bottom animals per square
foot in Potomac River, September 1952 151
xvi
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Page
12. Dissolved oxygen in the Chattooga River showing the per-
centage D.O. below 4 mg/1, August 1962 152
13. Stream bed animal population in Chattooga River, Ga.,
August 1962 153
14. Vertical temperature and dissolved oxygen curves, Lake Se-
basticook, Maine 155
15. Chlorophyll entering Lake Sebasticook, July 29, 1965 156
16. Lake Michigan sludgeworm populations 157
17. Life cycle of swimmer's itch cercariae 188
18. Cercariae of the type causing swimmer's itch 190
19. Equipment for algal control 233
20. Chemical Dosage Chart 235
lables
I. Pounds of Phosphorus Contributed to Aquatic Ecosystems .. 54
2. Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Freshwater Environ-
mental Constituents 105
xvii
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1
1 he Environment
THE LAND, the air, and the water are inseparably bound together
and interrelated one with the other to form the environment in
which we live. When a portion of the universe is degraded because of
pollution, another portion is likewise affected. It is well known that
pollution from the lands enters watercourses and results in their
degradation. Likewise, certain elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus
may occur in the atmosphere because of natural phenomena or because
of industrial pollution. These elements may in turn be deposited in
the immediate drainage basins or on water bodies, and contribute to
the fertilization and subsequent stimulation of organisms undesired by
man. It has been shown that the nitrogen present in waste matter
from confined cattle feeding areas may escape as ammonia to the air
and be reabsorbed by surface waters in concentrations above those
considered as threshold for the development of eutrophication. On
the other hand, there is a loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere from
lakes and other standing waters during the processes that comprise
the nitrogen cycle and, similarly, there is loss of nitrogen and other
nutrients to the soils of the lake bed.
Aquatic Environments
Aquatic environments are as numerous as the very waters themselves.
Rising in snowcapped mountains, small streams collect the snow melt
and transport it to the plains. As these streams meander through the
countryside, they take from the lands that which is released to them.
Small streams soon form larger ones that eventually join to form the
great rivers and these in turn terminate in coastal estuaries. Each
change in size and shape forms a habitat that becomes a unique
microcosm and supports an assemblage of organisms that is adapted
to life in that particular environment.
Reservoirs, built by man on rivers, in turn form a particular habitat
that is influenced principally by the reservoir's morphometric features.
The reservoir in turn may influence the downstream environment
because of the depth of the penstock that releases water of lower
1
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temperature, or of less dissolved oxygen, or of a different mineral
quality, than the waters that receive it.
The landscape is dotted with ponds and with many larger lakes of
varying sizes and shapes. There are over 1,586,000 lakes, ponds, and
reservoirs in the United States (Anon., 1962). Over 90 percent of these
are private farm ponds, primarily encouraged and developed for limited
withdrawal uses. The populace lives in contact with fresh surface
waters of which 90 percent by area are lakes:
Great Lakes — 33,878,000 acres
Alaskan Lakes — 7,363,960 acres
Other U. S. Lakes — 19,493,000 acres
Total 60,734,960 acres
Organisms that may be found in great numbers in the stream en-
vironment are often not adapted to life within the lake or reservoir
environments, and visa versa. There are many features that tend to
make a particular aquatic environment suitable or unsuitable, com-
pletely or to some degree, to a particular organism or group of closely
associated organisms.
Lakes
Lakes are temporary water-holding vessels on the landscape. Nearly
all are very young on the geological time scale but very old on the
human time scale. Lakes will disappear. Natural processes tend to
destroy lakes, and man's actions tend to accelerate this destruction.
Destruction may result from erosion of the natural dam or sill that
controls the lake's minimum level. Erosion contributes materials that
settle in quiescent waters to eventually fill the lake basins. Poor land
practices can increase erosion; thus the rate of sedimentation is increased.
Terrestrial disposal of waste materials may seriously affect a lake
where drainage from dumps transport undesirable nutrient and solid
materials to waterways. Dumps containing large quantities of organic
garbage contribute especially large quantities of such materials. Manure
disposal has become a problem because farmers rely more on synthetic
fertilizers and waste the natural, less efficient fertilizers. This water pol-
lution problem is intensified in northern climes where runoff over
frozen ground may carry these nutrient-rich organic materials to lake or
stream. Large cattle feed lots are frequently located directly on a stream
bank to ensure water supplies for livestock, but this inappropriate prac-
tice greatly increases the contaminants entering the water.
Common practice in many areas is to use a lake as a community
dump. Frequently this is justified as a land fill by the local populace to
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create valuable industrial or residential sites. Besides the addition of
nutrients to the water, the lake volume is reduced and less water is left
for other purposes.
Location of a waste water treatment plant often contributes to
eutrophication problems. Discharging treated effluent downstream from
a lake removes nutrients and other materials in this waste water from
the lake but may contribute to downstream problems. Locating the plant
on an upstream tributary might provide for some nutrient assimilation
before the waste stream enters the static water. Discharge of waste waters
immediately upstream from, or directly to, a lake is the least desirable
of alternatives.
Runoff from mismanaged lands carries large quantities of sediments
and nutrient-rich top soils and fertilizers. Highway construction can
leave extensive areas open to erosion for long periods of time. Similar
situations occur in suburban residential developments where the land
is stripped for sub-dividing.
Industrial plant locations can create many problems because wastes
from some industrial sites are direct sources of nutrients. Frequently
Plot* 1. Canoeing over calm, clear waters i* a recreational pursuit made more enjoyable
in unblemished surroundings.
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land fills are economical methods of obtaining new acreage in congested
areas. Industrial sites often do not include sufficient space for expansion
or a waste water treatment facility.
Financing sewer systems to intercept waste waters from waterfront
properties, especially in recreational areas, can be a problem because of
the high per capita costs. Ground water tables near the surface can
complicate the development of sewer and other drainage facilities. In
hilly regions, impounded waters have very irregular shorelines and this
too complicates sewer development. Increased lake frontage must be
covered to adequately intercept the waste waters, and more pumping
stations are required for the varied elevations. In many of these situa-
tions, the practical alternative seems to be individual septic tanks.
Residences may be positioned so close to the lake that it is impossible
to develop a sufficiently large tile field to prevent seepage to the lake.
Placement a couple of hundred feet from the lake might reduce nutri-
ents entering the lake since many critical nutrients are adsorbed to the
soils. Eventually the soils may become saturated with nutrients and then
nutrients may again seep to the lake. Preserving and restoring our lakes
may well depend more upon good, practical land zoning than upon the
more frequently considered nutrient removal or control aspect. Obvi-
ously people cannot be barred from the lake. If they were, its value
would be reduced, but a lake destroyed by indiscriminate use is always
a possibility.
Biota convert dissolved nutrients to settleable organic solids in the
lake basin and a portion of these is incorporated in the bottom sedi-
ments. Nutrient additions can increase biological productivity and sedi-
mentation. The factors contributing to a lake's aging, and eventual
death, function in unison and as a composit are termed eutrophication.
Regulating Factors
Life in waters is influenced by water temperatures, dissolved oxygen,
pH, color, turbidities, total dissolved solids, total alkalinities, nutrients,
mineral composition, concentrations of heavy metals, and concentra-
tions of pesticides or other toxicants. Maximal values, and in some cases
minimal values also, of these constituents often create an environment
that becomes intolerable to particular organisms and will limit their
production or interfere subtly with physiological processes, that in turn
reduce their ability to compete with others within the environment.
A waterway can be termed a living thing, a thing of energy, of move-
ment, of change. It may be harnessed and made to do useful work but
it struggles when an attempt is made to confine it. It is a living thing
also because of the life within such an environment. A waterway must
have certain physical-chemical qualities before a bountiful life will
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develop. There must be a plentiful supply of oxygen to support life, a
virtual absence of biochemical oxygen demanding substances, a pH
that approaches neutrality or is slightly alkaline, and a temperature
amenable to organism reproduction and the continuation of various
life stages of the organisms present.
A food web is established that ranges from the smallest to the largest
organisms in the aquatic community. The natural land drainage fur-
nishes the basic food material in the form of humus extracts, organic
particulate matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and other essential nutri-
ents, and various organic salts leached from the soil. Bacteria and algae
begin the cyclic process by their ability to convert these materials to
food for growth and reproduction. Single-celled protozoa live upon the
bacteria, many-celled rotifers live upon the protozoa, and the more
complex invertebrates can use both algae and microscopic animals as
food. Ultimately the food web is consumated in various species of fish
within the aquatic environment and these become the dominant
organisms.
Plate 2. Sludgeworm eggi with embryos.
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Competition for food and space is encountered by each individual
organism within the aquatic habitat. Many organisms are adapted for
life in riffles or in pools, upon a rubble substrate or in the soft mud
where they burrow and live in tubes. The reproductive potential for
each species is much greater than the number required to fill their
niche in the aquatic society. However, natural mortality, predation, and
the fact that only a given number of organisms can exist in one locality
makes life in such a stream a true survival of the fittest. The natural
conditions for existence for a given species form a constraining barrier
to species distribution. Competition among organisms for food, space
and other necessities of survival produces a natural community that is
characterized by a great many different species with relatively few indi-
viduals representing any given species in the community. When condi-
tions for existence deteriorate because of some types of pollution, pre-
daceous and other species are eliminated. When an abundant food
supply is present, those remaining species, which are reduced in num-
ber, will flourish and multiply in great numbers and may be a nuisance
to man in his use of water.
Ecology
In our present vocabulary the term "ecology" is very common. It was
not always thus. Ecology was born near the turn of the twentieth cen-
tury. It came into being with a host of great names in biology, including
those of Victor E. Shelford, Stephen A. Forbes, Henry B. Ward, R. E.
Richardson, E. A. Birge, Chauncey Juday, and others. The science
flourished as a period of observational biology and great strides were
made in a comparatively short time in exploring and explaining in
general terms the phenomena of both land and water.
As scientific knowledge and methods advanced, the generalists gave
way to the specialists, and research was directed toward the intricate
parts of the whole. The science of ecology relates these parts and seeks
to uncover the subtle mechanisms of interdependence that maintain the
life system.
Now the word "ecology"—unknown to all but a scientific few a
quarter of a century ago—has become a dinner-table word. It is of a
timely interest with the occurrence of the rapid environmental changes.
The question of the day is: "How do we fit the human organism into
his environment so that each can coexist in harmpny and in full respect
for those things that, if altered, may result in destruction of all?"
Steven A. Forbes in 1887 noted the complexity and interrelationships
of organisms through community studies in water quality explorations.
He concluded, "If one chooses to become acquainted with the black
bass ... he will learn but little if the limits himself to that species."
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Forbes further called attention to the close community of interest that
exists among species with the reasoning that to exist a species' birth rate
must at least equal its death rate and that when a species is preyed upon
by another, it must produce regularly an excess of individuals for this
destruction. Forbes went on to say that on the other hand the dependent
species must not appropriate, on the average, any more than the excess
of individuals upon which it preys.
Pollution
Another dinner-table word with no official, or universal definition is
the term "pollution." Webster's Third New International Dictionary
states that to pollute is to make unclean or impure, to defile, or to
desecrate. Reduced to its simplest definition, pollution is the addition to
water of any matter that can interfere actually or potentially with a
reasonable water use. Interference may take the form of actually deny-
ing the water use or of simply making conditions less desirable for the
use.
Pollutants alter detrimentally the physical, chemical, or biological
properties in water for a present or potential water use. They may be
Plate 3. An open dump contributes to air pollution and is an aesthetic insult.
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actually or potentially harmful or injurious to the public health or
welfare; to animals, wild or domestic, aquatic or others; or to plants
that are important to man. Pollution relates both to the quality and
quantity of the waste. A given quantity of a substance introduced into a
particular volume of water will result in a concentration of the par-
ticular substance. The concentration or quality is often a measure of
the immediate degree of harm and the quantity of the substance intro-
duced is an accurate measure of the waste's potential to pollute.
Pollution includes matter that floats, settles, remains suspended for a
time, is dissolved, or that is altered biologically or chemically to become
harmful. Some pesticides, heavy metals, and radionuclides undergo a
phenomenon known as biological magnification within the water en-
vironment. A classic example of biological magnification is that of the
insecticide DDD, which was introduced into Clear Lake, California, in
1949, 1954, and 1957 to control the Clear Lake gnat, a nuisance orga-
nism to lake shore inhabitants. Following the latter chemical applica-
tions, western grebes were found dead along the lake shore. Subsequent
investigations revealed that the insecticide, applied at a concentration
of 0.02 parts per million parts of water, had been taken up and accumu-
lated in the microscopic waterborne plants and animals with a concen-
tration of 5 parts per million (250X). Fish that ate the microscopic
organisms concentrated the DDD in their fat to levels that exceeded
2,000 parts per million (lOO.OOOX over the water concentration). Grebes,
which are diving birds, fed on the fish and died. The highest concentra-
tion of DDD in grebe tissue was 1,600 parts per million.
A similar situation exists with mercury pollution. Fish, in a number
of waters, have accumulated mercury through the food chain so that
the eating of too much of their flesh may be a hazard to health. Algae
have been found to concentrate arsenic by a factor of 2,000 and lead
by a factor of 40,000. Radionuclides have been concentrated by aquatic
organisms by a factor of 200,000 times.
The environment has received belated, wide-spread publicity and
public emphasis in the past few years. In its first Report to the Presi-
dent, the Council on Environmental Quality stated that "Historians
may one day call 1970 the year of the environment." Water uses must
be protected for the benefits of public health, including municipal
water supplies; recreation, including boating and water skiing; swim-
ming and sport fishing; aesthetic enjoyment; commercial fishing; agri-
culture; and industrial water supplies.
Society's Goal
The goal toward which this generation must exert its combined and
coordinated energies must be to leave to posterity an environment that
is aesthetically more pleasing and physiologically more healthful than
the one that now provides us abundant life.
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2
.Environmental Insults
MAN daily insults the air, land, and water environments in which
he lives. The smoke and chemicals billowing from a discharge
stack or the sometimes colorful effluent coming from a sewer each con-
tribute a load of pollutants to the receiving environment. When such
pollutants are degradable, the receiving environment must expend a
portion of its latent, and often renewable energies, in the degradation
process. This process of degradation reduces the effectiveness of the
environment to serve man in other ways. When pollution is of a repeti-
tive rather than of an ephemeral nature, environmental degradation
continues and the natural processes of recovery are prevented from
fulfilling their cleansing actions.
Definition
Environmental insults may be defined in a number of different ways.
Perhaps the simplest of these is to classify them as visible or non-
visible. The visible insults of the water environment include the sludges,
silts, oils, and other rejectamenta from the manufacture of articles of
commerce or from the waste barrels of civilization. The non-visible
insults would include certain inorganic or inert materials that are
permitted to enter the receiving watercourse. Each of these has its
distinctive and ascertainable effect upon the water and the plant and
animal life that reside therein. Heat pollution also can be termed a
nonvisible insult as can other pollutants such as acid mine drainage,
pesticides and other poisons, and fertilizing nutrients that stimulate
biologic production to excess. The action of sublethal levels of some
otherwise toxic pollutants is insidious in that physiological changes are
produced within the aquatic organism that may not kill directly but
may interfere or change the physiology of reproduction to an extent
sufficient to eliminate the species from the particular waterway.
Aesthetic Qualities
The type of environmental pollution that is most observed by the
citizen is that which can be seen either casually in passing or by inspec-
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tion with the unaided eye. This type of pollution becomes an insult
upon the aesthetic quality of the environment.
Water that should be a source of tranquil, aesthetic enjoyment often
becomes a defiled conveyor of civilization's wastes, and a refuge for
biological pests and nuisances. The National Technical Advisory Com-
mittee on Water Quality (Anon, 1968) addressed itself to aesthetic
values with these words: "It is not surprising that water has occupied
an important position in the concerns of man. The fate of tribes and
nations, cities and civilizations has been determined by drought and
flood, by abundance or scarcity of water since the earliest days of
mankind.
"Artists have reflected man's fascination with water. Literature and
art of a variety of cultures dwell upon brooks, waves, waterfalls, and
lakes as superlatives among the delights of the environment.
"Aesthetically pleasing waters, add to the quality of human experi-
ence. Water may be pleasant to' look. up®*,, to walk or rest beside, t&
contemplate. It may provide a variety of active recreation experiences.
It may enhance the visual scene wherever it appears, in cities or wilder-
ness. It may enhance values of adjoining properties, public and private.
It may provide a focal point of pride in the community.
"The appearance of pollution and the fear of pollution reduces
aesthetic value; the knowledge that water is clean enhances both direct
and indirect aesthetic appreciation."
Lake Tahoe is the recognized jewel of the West and Mark Twain
eulogized its aesthetic uniqueness with these words: "When the boat
drifts shoreward to the white water and he lolls over the gunwale and
gazes by the hour down through the crystal depths and notes the color
of the pebbles and reviews the finny armies gliding in procession a
hundred feet below. ..."
A report on water pollution in the Missouri River stressed the great
value of relaxation and mental well-being achieved by viewing and
absorbing the scenic grandeur of the great and restless Missouri. Many
people crowd the "highline" drives along the bluffs to view this mighty
river to achieve a certain restfulness from the proximity of nature.
Conversely, Porterfield (1952) listed ". . . neuroses caused by noxious
odors from polluted streams . . . ." among the effects on man from
severe water pollution. Headaches and nausea are not uncommon com-
plaints from those who live by algal laden waters, when the algal mass
floats and decomposes in the hot sun and pigpenlike odors permeate
the gentle breezes along the leeward shore.
The Water Quality Act of 1965 provided for the establishment of
water quality standards for interstate waters. Under the terms of this
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Plate 4. Acid mine discharges kill natural stream bed organisms. Note acid polluted
stream bed on viewer's left compared to relatively unpolluted stream bed on viewer's right.
Act, the States assigned applicable uses to the individual interstate
waters and adopted standards of quality to ensure that those uses would
be protected. Subsequently, these standards totally or in part were ap-
proved by the Secretary of the Interior and became Federal-State water
quality standards subject to the provisions of the Act. The purpose of
water quality standards is not only to maintain, but also to enhance
water quality throughout the Nation.
In their standards, each of the States adopted minimum water quality
criteria applicable at any place at any time. Many of these minimum
criteria relate specifically to maintaining the aesthetic quality. These
minimum criteria specify that surface waters should be free from sub-
stances attributable to waste discharges that settle to form objectionable
deposits; that produce objectionable color, odor, taste or turbidity;
that are toxic to humans, fish and other animal life, and plants; and
that float as debris, oil, scum, and other matter.
Quality Constituents
The pollution of the water aesthetics involves the defilement with at
least a dozen discrete water quality constituents. It may be helpful to
consider each of these separately within the context of their particular
cause and effect relationship.
II
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A DEAD FISH
When fish die in large numbers at one time, it is usually a sign of an
unnatural phenomenon within the aquatic environment. Fish die of old
age like all other animals but usually the number so afflicted at any one
time is so small that they go unnoticed. Fish populations become af-
flicted with death-dealing diseases or parasites but such is often confined
to a single species of the total population at any given time. When
several species involving several age groups are killed, the cause is often
attributable to a catastrophic spill or discharge of a toxic compound, a
drastic temperature change that traps fish in a lethal environment, or a
reduction in the dissolved oxygen to levels 'that induce mortality. Re
duced dissolved oxygen can be caused by the decomposition of organic
materials from waste discharges, from the die-off of an abundant crop
of algae or rooted aquatic plants, or the insidious conditions associated
with winter kill under ice cover in northern climes.
Fish are significant indicators of water quality. Except for potential
bacterial hazards, there is a general concept th.it a water which supports
an ecologically balanced fish population is suitable also as a domestic
water supply. The destruction of fish not only indicates a severe prob-
lem occurring in tlu* aquatic environment, but also reduces a natural
Plot* 5. A dramatic vitible indication of an environmental catastrophe.
12
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resource of recreational and often economic value. And dead fish offend
the aesthetic of sight, as well as the sense of smell on a hot summer day.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes an annual
Fish Kill Summary, which is a statistical listing of the reported number
of fish killed by stream, State and waste source. The EPA has acceler-
ated its program of reporting and responding to significant fish kills.
A facet of this program was the development and publication of a
leaflet on the technical aspects of fish mortality investigations. The
purpose of this accelerated program is to more specifically determine
the cause of fish mortalities and to permit abatement of their causes
through appropriate actions. The identification of the cause of a fish
mortality often involves rapid and precise investigation, highly sophisti-
cated analytical testing, and a generous mixture of art sprinkled with
experienced judgment.
B. FLOATING SOLIDS
Like dead fish, floating solids are a visible evidence of pollution or
of a disregard by man for nature's unblemished beauty. Depending on
their origin, floating materials may or may not offend the aesthetic of
smell, or serve as a haven for mosquitoes, flies or other nuisances. Float-
ing solids may accumulate as the rejectamenta from a passing motorist
or bicyclist, or waterside stroller. The beer can, child's boot, paper sack
and glass bottle are examples of the wanton toss. Why is it that the
flowing stream is such an attractive receptacle for the empty container?
Floating solids may come from other sources that can affect the water
quality more severely than discarded trash. Such solids may be attribut-
able to discharges from the manufacture of an article in commerce,
from odorous sludges that are carried to the surface ephemerally by
gases of decomposition, or from accumulated living and decaying
vegetation.
Solids from domestic and industrial wastes can and will be controlled
through adequate waste treatment and the better operation and main-
tenance of waste treatment facilities. The EPA is now accelerating its
program of plant operator training and is offering technical assistance
to the States to enhance the operation and maintenance of sewage treat-
ment plants.
The control of the discarded beer can, paper sack and glass bottle
must be carried out through an accelerated educational program, origi-
nating in the schools, and a more effective enforcement of local litter
laws. Stream clean-up days should become routine. Through local edu-
cation and leadership, a sense of pride and protection must be instilled
in people in their local waterways.
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C. SETTLEABLE SOLIDS
Solids may be suspended in water for a time, and then settle to the
bed of the stream or lake. These settleable solids discharged with man's
wastes may be inert, slowly biodegradable materials, or rapidly decom-
posable substances. While in suspension, they increase the turbidity of
Plate 6. An insult to a waterway with otherwise excellent aesthetic potential.
i !
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the water, reduce light penetration and impair photosynthetic activity
of aquatic plants, and make a sparkling clear water a murky, liquid
mass.
Solids in suspension are aesthetically displeasing. When they settle
to form sludge deposits on the stream or lake bed, they are often much
more damaging to the life in water, and they retain the capacity to dis-
please the senses. Solids, when transformed to sludge deposits, may do a
variety of damaging things: They blanket the stream or lake bed and
destroy the living spaces for those bottom associated organisms that
would otherwise occupy the habitat. When of an organic and therefore
decomposable nature, solids use a portion or all of the dissolved oxygen
available in the area. Organic materials also serve as a seemingly in-
exhaustible food source for sludgeworms and associated organisms. Thus
an assemblage of burrowing worms replaces the larval stages of caddis-
flies, mayflies, dragonflies, hellgrammites and other organisms that add
ephemeral pleasures to those who take the opportunity to observe them,
and marvel at their delicate features, during their individually brief
sojourn as adults on earth.
The minimum water quality for interstate waters, as prescribed by
the Federal-State water quality criteria standards, specify that such
waters are to be free from all objectionable solids that interfere with
designated uses. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act recognizes
the primary responsibility of the States to maintain water quality and
enforce water quality standards within their individual boundaries.
There are certain provisions when the Federal government may take
actions to abate pollution and enforce compliance with the water qual-
ity standards.
D. COLOR
Water is the most aesthetically pleasing in its natural color. The
pea-soup appearance of a blue-green algal scum; the red-paint color
from the red Euglena or from Oscillatoria rubescens; the dull brown
color from a diatom bloom; the brillant red, green, and purple hues
from textile dye wastes; the dead red color imparted by acid mine wastes
are all aesthetically displeasing. Color is imparted to water from the
soil through which it flows, from an overabundance of an aquatic crop
that is stimulated perhaps as an indirect effect from the fertilizers pres-
ent in some forms of pollution, and from direct pollution. In addition
to aesthetic impairment, color reduces light penetration, which in turn
affects the physiological responses of aquatic life.
E. SOLID WASTES
For the purposes of this discussion, solid wastes are defined as the
masses of discarded materials, commonly referred to as dumps, that are
deposited adjacent to or in the flood plain of waterways. The deposit
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of refuse matter of any kind or description whatever into the water or
on the bank of any navigable water or on a bank ol a tributary thereof,
where the i el use is liable to be wa.shed into the navigable water, is
prohibited by the River and Marboi Ait of IH99. The courts have
traditionally given a libei.d interpretation to the kinds of matters that
may impede or obstruct navigation within the meaning of this Ad, so
that floating debris, -.illation, or other small objects, when washed into
the water regularly and in sufficient c|uantily. have been found to violate
this provision. The River and Harlxjr A
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loss of body heat insulation, or, unable to fly, the birds may slowly
starve to death or be eaten by predators.
Successful treatment of rescued birds is extremely difficult. A month
after oil was spilled by the TORREY CANYON, The Nature Con-
servancy in London reported that 7,000 birds had been rescued and
treated but that only a few hundred lived.
When surface feeding fishes swim into the floating oil, their bodies
and gills become coated. If death does not result from such contacts,
their flesh absorbs the taste and odor-producing fractions of the oil,
rendering them unfit for human consumption for a long time afterward.
As an oil mass moves landward, toxic oil fractions can bring death
to both larval and adult forms of invertebrate marine life that inhabit
the shallow, near-shore areas. Marine life, valuable to man as a food
resource, may be totally destroyed or, at the least, is likely to acquire
disagreeable tastes and odors from the oil. Beds of seaweeds, valuable
as a food or industrial material, can be totally destroyed by the oil.
Finally, as the oil hits the shorefaces and collects in harbor or port
areas, it blankets everything in its path. The usefulness of beaches for
recreation suddenly ends. Navigational and fire hazards are created in
harbors, ports, and marinas. Shorefront properties are despoiled, and
the air reeks with the fumes.
In less heavily affected areas the odor may be less, but grime and
stain abound. Snow-white cruisers and picturesque sailboats show a
dark smear at the waterline; small children after playing on the beach
come home with oily feet; swimmers are coated with oil patches which
cling to their skins and mat their hair. Removal requires thorough
scrubbing with detergent and kerosene.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act prohibits the discharge of
oil into or upon the navigable waters of the United States, adjoining
shorelines, or into or upon the waters of the contiguous zone in harmful
quantities. Liabilities have been established for failure to notify the
United States Government of such a discharge by the facility discharg-
ing, as well as for violation of the Act.
G. TASTES AND ODORS
Most waterworks officials consider algae to be the most frequent cause
of tastes and odors in water supplies, with other types of decaying vege-
tation second in importance. Decay or decomposition is brought about
by fungi and bacteria, including the actinomycetes. The odors that are
produced through the activities of fungi and bacteria may be either
from the intermediate products formed during the decomposition or
from special substances that are synthesized within the cells of micro-
organisms. The latter appears to be true in the case of the actinomyce-
17
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tales. Tastes and odors that have been related to various algal genera
include such sensations as bitter, metallic, slick, sweet, fishy, grassy,
musty, septic, nasturtium and cucumber.
Algae are not the only cause of organoleptic sensations; industrial
wastes are a contributor in many areas. The EPA currently is' conduct-
ing a study in such an industrialized area where a large number of com-
plex organic compounds are contributing to serious taste and odor
problems in the receiving water supply. Investigative and analytical
techniques to identify contributing compounds and their sources are
sophisticated and complex. As many as 300,000 gallons of water are
pumped through a special, large carbon filter. Later the organic ma-
terial is extracted from the carbon and then the process of individual
compound identification begins through sophisticated organic chemistry
analyses. Identified compounds are tagged to specific industrial waste
outfalls through similar techniques.
Fish and shellfish absorb off-flavoring materials from the water en-
vironment and this produces great concern among the fishermen. Fish
and shellfish products cannot be marketed or are reduced in value as
a result. Studies by this Agency have linked a change in the degree of
off-flavor in fish flesh to particular river reaches that receive discrete
waste sources.
Fish flavor testing is done by placing unaffected fish in holding nets
both upstream and downstream from a suspected pollution source.
After five days, the fish are removed, filleted, quick frozen, and sent to
a professional taste testing panel where individual fish flavors are rated
against control specimens. Fish readily absorb many of the wasted
by-products of industry's contribution to civilization.
H. SLIMES
Upon the introduction of waste sugars, nitrogen and other nutritive
materials into watercourses, biological slimes may develop to the extent
that visible masses appear. These are woolly, slimy coatings on sub-
merged objects or tufts and strands, sometimes 15 inches or more long,
streaming in the current from their point of attachment. They vary in
color from milky white in fresh new growth to dull grey-white, brown
or rusty-red, depending on age, nutrition, and the type and amount of
solids they entrap from the passing water.
Numerous problems arise from the presence of slime growths in
streams. Where commercial or game fishing exists, drifting slimes may
foul gill nets rendering them ineffective, interfere with fish hatching by
coating fish eggs, and smother aquatic animals that serve as food for
fish. Biological slimes and the materials they entrap, such as plant
fibers, wood chips, and debris, blanket the stream bed and destroy the
homes of organisms that compose the aquatic food web.
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Plate 8. Biological slimes defile a stream and destroy a habitat for benthic organisms.
Biological slimes bring about a visually unpleasant stream. To the
public, they are an obvious sign of stream pollution. Prolific growths
destroy the recreational potential of the water, and interfere with one
of the major public associated uses of water. Slimes, in floating down-
stream with the currents, may clog intake screens of power plants and
other installations. In areas polluted by paper mill wastes, for example,
slimes have a secondary effect. The stream slime community is composed
of a variety of microorganisms that are held together as a mat princi-
pally by Sphaerotilus. Such interwoven mats entrap silt, sand, fibers and
chips. The filamentous masses offer shelter and support for other orga-
nisms such as bacteria, protozoans, nematodes, rotifers and occasionally
midge larvae. During the process of decomposition, or because of physi-
cal disturbance, mats sometimes as large as three feet in diameter "boil"
to the water's surface in an unsightly foul-smelling eruption. These
"boils" may settle at or near the point of origin or be carried down-
stream to areas where the flow velocity permits settling. Here, sludge
banks are formed that give rise to anaerobic conditions with subsequent
offensive effects. These sludge banks may be formed many miles down-
stream from the initial pollution source, and thus increase the stream
reach affected by pollution.
I. ALGAE
Algae appear as floating scums; suspended matter giving rise to
murky, turbid water or water having a "pea soup" appearance; attached
filaments; and bottom dwelling types that may be confused with the
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aquatic vascular plants. Algae are found in every nontoxic aquatic
habitat. When stimulated by abundant nutrients, sunlight and warm
temperatures, algae multiply rapidly to become a nuisance to water
users. Nitrogen and phosphorus are the principal nutrients that are
added with waste waters that stimulate algal growths, but carbon, iron,
and often trace elements are sometimes involved in stimulating these
growths.
Much is currently written about "dying lakes", which are lakes that
have much life left but that have been changed to the extent that they
now give rise to prolific algal production. Much effort and many re-
sources must be expended to enhance the quality of the lakes so afflicted
and to conserve our other waters so that they will not rapidly attain
that eutrophic state.
Plant nuisances may curtail or eliminate bathing, boating, water ski-
ing, and sometimes fishing; perpetrate psychosomatic illness in man by
emitting vile stenches; impart tastes and odors to water supplies; shorten
filter runs or otherwise hamper industrial and municipal water treat-
ment; impair areas of picturesque beauty; reduce or restrict resort trade;
lower water front property values; interfere with the manufacture of
a product in industry, such as paper; on occasion become toxic to cer-
tain warm-blooded animals that ingest the water; foul irrigation siphon
tubes and trashracks; and cause skin rashes and hay fever-like symptons
in man.
When present in great numbers, algae may give an unsightly blue-
green or green appearance to the water, form a massive floating scum
that obstructs navigation or impairs water uses, in decay produce nox-
ious odors that drive people from the area, remove dissolved oxygen
from the water when decomposing and kill aquatic life as a result, foul
fish harvesting equipment and water intake devices and reduce the
carrying capacity of water distribution systems. Stigeoclonium, Oedogo-
nium, Ulothrix and Cladophora have been problems in irrigation sys-
tems where they have restricted flow in the canals, and fouled pumps
and tubes. Cladophora has been a problem of great concern in Lakes
Ontario, Erie, and Michigan where abundant growths have become
detached through wave and wind action to be washed upon a beach
where they decompose to make the area uninhabitable.
Blue-green algae have been severe nuisance problems, especially to
those engaged in water oriented recreation in most eutrophic lakes.
Chara, a branched erect alga that becomes encrusted with calcareous
deposits giving the plant a rough surface, has become a problem in
many lakes and ponds with a high alkalinity. Should the lake or pond
bed be composed of a peat-type material, Chara can become detached
from its moorings and bring substantial quantities of bottom with it
when it rolls to the surface in 9-inch thick rafts that obstruct navigation,
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Plate 9. A nutrient-stimulated algal bloom. Lake Sebasticook, Maine.
destroy aquatic aesthetics, and emit vile odors. The author has witnessed
dead tree stumps, with root systems that measure 20 feet in diameter,
embedded in these floating Chara rafts.
J. VASCULAR PLANTS
There is beauty associated with the intricate design of aquatic vegeta-
tion. When such vegetation becomes too dense, beauty ceases and a
nuisance has developed. Submersed aquatic plants can cause many of
the nuisance problems described for algae. They are particularly trouble-
some to boaters, swimmers, and water skiers.
Like algae, aquatic vascular plants relish a liberal supply of nutrients.
Most of the vascular plants have roots and many are able to take a por-
tion of their needed nutrients from the soil in which their roots pene-
trate. Submersed plants must have sunlight following seed germination
and during their active growth period. This restriction limits their
distribution to that zone with a depth of about 20 feet in most fresh-
water bodies.
The depth of water determines the adjustment of aquatic seed plants
into three principal categories. Emersed plants are those that occupy
shallow water, are rooted in bottom mud, and support foliage, seeds
and mature fruit one or more feet above the water surface. Cattails and
rushes are familiar examples. Surface or floating plants generally grow
L'l
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in deeper water in front of (and oftentimes commingling with) the
emersed plants. The larger floating plants are water lilies that may be
rooted in the mud of the bottom and bear large leaves that float upon
the surface. Submersed aquatic growths often form a belt or zone of
herbage farthest from shore. The pondweeds are examples of this group.
K. SLUDGEWORMS, BLOODWORMS AND ASSOCIATES
"And the stream turned red like some giant brush had stroked the
bottom with paint!" This is not rhetoric but was a complaint once filed.
The cause of the problem was the red sludgeworms and bloodworms
living happily in the rich sludge covering stream beds that received
organic wastes. These organisms burrow in the sludge and use it as a
food source. In so doing, they function as one component of a treatment
system because after they have used the sludge it is a little more stabi-
lized than before. Thousands of these creatures, individually no larger
than the fine lead of a pencil, can live in a square foot of sludge-laden
stream bed.
Sludgeworms live with their heads buried in the sludge and their
tails waving in the current. When disturbed, they disappear into their
burrows to reappear when the suscepted danger is past. In streams re-
ceiving pulp and paper wastes, this author has observed sludgeworms
to form balls that may attain the size of a clenched fist.
Midge larvae are shorter and thicker than sludgeworms and construct
tubes around them through which they circulate the water to obtain
food, as well as take opportune advantage of all available oxygen. Many
are blood red in color. They hatch into hordes of principally non-biting
adults that resemble large mosquitoes. During their swarming period
they may become a very noticeable nuisance around homes and in their
habit of getting into ears and nasal passages of children. They have been
known to stop traffic on roadways because of the denseness of the flying
masses.
L. TOXIC STREAMS
There is no pleasure in an environment without life. The water may
be crystal clear, and it may portray a tranquil scene in riffles and pools,
but without life, water is dead. Toxic substances kill aquatic life, either
a few at a time if the substances are dilute or many at once if the toxic
materials are strong. In either case, the reach of water receiving these
materials is rendered useless for many water uses.
Control
The purpose of this chapter is not to discuss in detail the control of
those things that defile the aesthetic properties of water. Suffice it to
state that the implementation of the following would make possible the
giant step towards control's success:
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1. A universal citizen awareness and concern about the problem with
an innate desire to make conditions better tomorrow than they were
today.
2. Community sponsored lake and stream clean-up campaigns peri-
odically undertaken.
3. An evaluation of local litter laws coupled with a meaningful en-
forcement program.
4. Accelerated water pollution control efforts to ensure adequate
treatment of all wastes to meet water quality standards and protect
receiving waters for the many uses they perform.
Postscript
If a postscript is to be stated in defense of water aesthetics,
It should be sufficient to pause for a moment and recall
The crystal clear depths of Lakes Tahoe or Crater;
The shimmering waters of a Bois Brule, or the grandeur of a waterfall.
Must one in all honesty defer to memory alone
To visualize a stream or a lake unblemished by human deeds,
Where finny friends, and caddis fly, and crayfish alike,
Without stress from pollution or unencumbered by trash, conduct
nature's needs?
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3
Controlling Environmental Insults
Some of the Problems
IT has been estimated that 15,000 spills of oil and hazardous materials
occur annually in U. S. navigable waters. Presently 75 percent of
these spills involve petroleum products. The potential for oil spillage
is expected to triple over the next 30 years. This potential is related to
the projected increased demand for petroleum products.
The major effects of spills of oil and hazardous materials are injury
or death to aquatic life and aesthetic and economic damages to beaches,
boats, and shoreline property. Essentially all navigable and coastal
waters of the Nation are vulnerable to oil spills because of the wide
dispersion of oil and petroleum product transport, storage, refining, and
use. Many of the Nation's non-navigable surface waters and ground-
waters are subject to oil spill damage because of pipeline breaks, tank
truck accidents, rupture or leakage from gasoline stations and other
small tank storage facilities, and the deliberate dumping of waste oil.
In 1970, 25 million cattle were marketed from about 184,000 feedlots,
each holding over 1,000 animals at a time. Nearly 9 million cattle were
marketed from 350 feedlots. The daily manure production averages 60
pounds per head for each 1,000 pounds of live weight animal. An esti-
mate of the national production, of livestock manure in the United
States is 2 billion tons annually. On a pound-for-pound basis, the po-
tential for phosphorus pollution to the receiving waterway from a steer
and a human is comparable. Winter runoff concentrations from a cattle
feedlot have reached as high as 750 mg/1 phosphorus and 2,000 mg/1
ammonia nitrogen. Runoff can be toxic to aquatic life, remove needed
oxygen from the water, and supply food for the development of nuisance
biological pests.
Sediments produced by erosion are the most extensive pollutants of
surface waters. It has been estimated that loadings of suspended solids
reaching our waters are at least 700 times the loadings from sewage
discharges. The dirty brown or grey appearance of a river or reservoir
after a rainstorm is due to sediments washed in from crop land, un-
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protected forest soils, over-grazed pastures, or the bulldozed "develop-
ments" of urban areas. The presence of sediments generally increases
the cost of water purification and reduces the value of water recreation.
Nutrients adsorbed on sediment particles contribute to undesirable con-
ditions in standing waters. Erosion is a serious problem on at least
300,000 miles of the Nation's stream banks and along many of the
470,000 miles of rural and secondary roads. Over 1 billion tons of sedi-
ment reach the rivers of our country each year. Approximately ten
percent of this quantity is contributed by erosion from lands under-
going development or highway construction. Sediment quantities in
streams flowing from urbanized drainage basins vary from approxi-
mately 200 to 500 tons per square mile per year. In contrast, the urban-
ized areas have quantities varying from 1,000 to 100,000 tons per square
mile per year.
In some areas, serious water quality degradation has occurred as a
result of runoff from irrigated lands. Water returned from irrigated
areas usually has a much higher concentration of dissolved solids than
does stream flow because the diverted water leaches additional solids
from the fields, and because evaporation from the soil and transpiration
by the crops concentrate the dissolved solids into a smaller flow of
water. Particular problems have been encountered in the Colorado
River Basin because of the increased salt content in irrigation return
flows.
Both active and abandoned mines pose problems of water pollution.
Acid mine pollution is a well-publicized result of mining activity and
contributes 4 million tons of pollutants annually. There are about
12,400 miles of stream that are significantly affected by mine pollution
in the United States. Most of these are degraded by coal mining opera-
tions, but mining for copper, lead and zinc, uranium, iron, sand and
gravel, phosphates, and other minerals are important factors. Stream
degradation by mining activities in the Appalachian coal region ac-
counts for 84 percent of the stream miles polluted by mine wastes. Mine
pollutants include such dissolved constituents as acid, iron, copper,
arsenic, cadmium, nickel, sulfate, phosphate, radioactive minerals, sus-
pended sediments, and colloidal iron.
Sediment yields from strip-mined areas have reached nearly 30,000
tons per square mile annually. This is 10 to 60 times the amount of
sedimentation from agricultural lands. At this rate the two million acres
of strip-mined land in need of reclamation could be a source for 94
million tons of sediment a year.
In addition to mine drainage, refuse piles, and tailing ponds, washery
preparation residues are also important indirect sources of pollution
from mining. For many minerals, such as phosphates, the pollution from
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Plate 10. Uncontrolled erosion in a housing development ii the genesis of i
waterway's sediments.
processing operations exceeds that resulting directly from the mining
operation. The pollution from coal mines in Indiana and Illinois, for
example, arises primarily from refuse piles, tailing ponds, and prepara-
tion plants. No national estimates are available that show the volume
or related importance of pollution from these sources.
Industry is a very big polluter of water and water is one of this
Nation's most valuable resources. The waste water discharges from the
processing of food, textiles, paper and chemical products, petroleum
and coal, rubber, primary metals, and machinery and transportation
equipment exceed 14 trillion gallons annually. By comparison the
waste water volume of domestic sewage from the population of the
United States served by sewers is slightly more than 5 trillion gallons.
Waste water volumes from two industries only, chemical and allied
products and primary metals, which include glass furnaces and steel
mills, exceed that of domestic sewage by a substantial margin. The great
preponderance of American industrial water use, as measured by waste
water discharges, occurs in the Northeast, North Atlantic, the Great
Lakes areas, and the Ohio River Drainage Basin.
The April 1971, United States Department of Commerce publication
on "Water Used in Manufacturing," reported 241,000 water-using in-
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dustries. Of these, 9400 or 3.9 percent consume 20 million gallons or
more of water. About 80 percent of the water used by industry is fresh;
the remainder is brackish. Of the industrial waste waters discharged,
4.3 trillion gallons or 31 percent were treated prior to discharge. Over
one-half of the waste water volume is from four major water-using
groups and these include primary metals, chemicals and allied products,
paper and allied products, and petroleum and coal products.
The above are but some examples of the many forms of pollution
entering the Nation's waterways. The control of these environmental
insults must be a cooperative and integrated effort on the part of the
individual citizens, organized citizen groups, local governmental units,
small business managers, corporate industrial executives and production
managers, State and Federal Governments, and the legislators.
Citizens Groups
The growing interest of individual citizens and citizens' groups has
been a major factor in causing government and industry to move more
rapidly in the implementation of pollution abatement and control
programs and in devising a successful recycling program in the Nation's
battle against solid wastes. Litter continues to mar our Nation's high-
ways and city streets, our parks, and public buildings. Anti-litter cam-
paigns and the creation of local reclamation centers have focused
public attention on the potential value of recycling these waste products.
While the total number of bottles, cans, and paper collected and sep-
arated at home and local recycling centers may constitute only a small
percentage of the total produced, this is at the very least a beginning
toward a solution of a very large problem.
Unfortunately, many false hopes have been raised about the likelihood
of large scale recycling as a solution to our solid wastes problems in the
immediate future. There will have to be some fundamental and long-
ranged changes in our life styles and in the structure of our economy to
achieve such a goal. Too often citizen groups have rushed into setting
up local reclamation centers only to find that poor planning, lack of
existing markets and a tapering off of voluntary participation force
them to close. Having started with high expectations, many people have
become discouraged about the potential of recycling. The publicity and
glamourization of recycling has also had a negative effect on efforts to
construct less glamourous types of conventional disposal facilities, which
are needed now.
Education Needs
There is still a tremendous need for education on waste reduction of
all kinds: Waste of electricity, gasoline, and other forms of energy
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resources; waste of water and food; waste of paper, metals, minerals,
glass and our other natural resources. The Environmental Protection
Agency is working with the Office of Consumer Affairs, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, and other Federal agencies to
launch an active public education campaign for the reduction of con-
sumer wastes. Similar programs on waste avoidance for business, in-
dustry, and State and local governments are likewise urged.
Several environmental education programs recently have been
launched by the Federal Government. In October 1971, the Environ-
mental Merit Award Program, now administered by the Environmental
Protection Agency and supported by the U. S. Office of Education, was
initiated. This program provides national recognition to successful
student environmental project. It has already involved over 2,000 high
schools across the country.
The National Park Service has done impressive work in developing
curriculum materials through the National Environmental Education
Program. Study sites have been established on Federal park lands and
the program is now being extended to natural and man-made sites, both
public and private. As often as possible the environmental study sites
are being located in or near major urban areas.
The Forest Service has established an effective teacher-training pro-
gram. The program uses forest service field personnel to conduct en-
vironmental workshops for teachers from widely separated disciplines.
The Department of Agriculture recently established an "Environmental
Thrust" campaign to provide organizational and technical guidance to
community projects in environmental quality.
A most significant Federal activity in the realm of environmental
education was the Environmental Education Act of 1970, including the
establishment of an Office of Environmental Education within the
U. S. Office of Education. A National Advisory Council was appointed
to oversee the implementation of the Act. Some 74 grants, totalling over
$1.7 million, were processed during fiscal year 1971 and these supported
a wide range of projects principally outside the context of formal edu-
cation. These projects stress community-based environmental education
and are focused oil local environmental problems.
Citizen Action
As a result of this increased awareness and interest toward environ-
mental cleanup on the part of the individual citizen, the question is
often asked, "What can the average citizen do to protect and enhance
the environment?"
Voluntary citizen organizations have long been a part of the way of
life in the United States. Individuals with common interest in social,
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civic, cultural, religious, political, business and professional pursuits
have united together in clubs, societies, associations, and groups to share
their common interests. Thousands of such groups exist. Among them
now are at least 3,000 conservation and environmental organizations.
This number includes approximately 250 national and regional groups
and about 400 State organizations. On the local community level, there
are approximately 2500 organizations of individuals concerned about
one or more conservation or environmental problems. In addition,
there are uncounted civic, church, labor, business, youth, school, and
women's groups that devote at least some of their efforts toward the
solving of environmental problems.
Environmental organizations vary in size and range of activity. Some
employ professional staffs. Some, especially on the local level, operate
solely with volunteers. Some are concerned with a single issue while
others are concerned with any and all environmental problems. While
the scope and degree of their efforts vary, in total, they engage in a
multitude of activities on behalf of a better environment. The groups
work for water pollution control, cleaner air, noise control, better
methods of solid wastes management, conservation of natural areas,
preservation of wildlife, transportation reform, pesticide control, and
sound resource management.
Plate 11. A stream-bank dump pollutes the receiving waterway for miles.
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Such citizen organizations serve as the active articulate voices of a
public which has become increasingly concerned about environmental
quality. These groups fulfill a watchdog role. They exert a pro-environ-
mental influence on public opinion, on the press, on industry, and on
government. Through their individual concern and relentless prodding
of industrial and governmental officials, these citizen groups mold and
hasten actions that result in a better and cleaner environment. Through
a stimulus from these groups, other citizens are motivated to join the
crusade for environmental actions. It is most important, however, that
these actions be directed toward achievable, technical accomplishments
with -a sound appraisal of the problem and various alternatives avail-
able rather than to be misdirected by emotional or political motives.
The planet earth serves as man's parlor and it should be treated with
the same respect and thoughtfulness as the innermost sanctuary of one's
dwelling. Each citizen should make it his duty to become informed
regarding the problems of water pollution and its control, the alterna-
tives of control actions, and the long-range water resource and waste
water control management plans, founded on technical concepts and
judgments, that have been developed for the area in question. Unless
a citizen becomes well informed on these critical matters, his efforts
may be unintentionally misdirected and impede rather than assist the
development of a feasible control management program. A citizen can
become informed on these matters by obtaining and reading technical
and semi-technical authentic reports and by questioning government
officials and technical experts who are working with the problems.
There are a number of actions a citizen or a citizens' group can take
to foster the pollution control efforts. Examples of such actions would
include:
1. Encourage industries and municipalities at all opportunities to
adopt and implement pollution abatement or control measures.
2. Don't discard unwanted things in areas where they will receive
inadequate disposal or where they will clutter the environment.
3. Don't litter; assist in picking up and disposing of litter that may
have been discarded by others.
4. Promote through individual efforts, private organizations, or a
community effort, all attempts to cleanse the environment of the
rejectamenta of civilization and promote campaigns and educa-
tional programs to prevent contamination of the environment
with such materials.
5. Support local and other governmental efforts in the adoption and
implementation of realistic pollution abatement and control
programs.
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6. Support and encourage efforts to recycle waste materials into
products of use to civilization.
7. For sake of economy and environmental preservation, use no
more than the minimal amount that has been determined to ful-
fill the intended useful purpose of a given product.
8. Do not waste electricity, gasoline, and other forms of energy
resources; water or food; and paper, metals, minerals, glass, and
other natural resources.
9. Seek to influence government decisions to protect, preserve, con-
serve, and enhance environmental quality.
10. Remember always that a discharge valve cannot be shut instantly.
To use currently available technology requires planning and
construction. Often gigantic strides toward accomplishment of
defined goals are made with small incremental positive steps
taken in the right direction.
Strive to become an informed citizen regarding the current pollu-
tional problems, the actions that have been taken to correct the prob-
lems, the facets of the problems that need yet to be corrected, the
technology currently available for the correction of the problems, and
the efforts being pursued by municipal, industrial, and governmental
agencies that will result in problems correction.
The Role of Industry and Agriculture
Industries, municipalities, and agricultural enterprises have an obli-
gation to society and to posterity to preserve all facets of the environ-
ment so that it may be used and enjoyed in an undiminished and un-
degraded condition by all who follow. Decision makers in these groups,
therefore, have an obligation to plan pollution control actions far into
the future to ensure that production changes can be accommodated
without environmental degradation. Decision makers have an addi-
tional obligation to control present pollution and to promote programs
that include the immediate use of pollution abatement and control
technology that are currently available rather than await a legislative
mandate or an action on the part of government, or by the courts, to
force implementation of pollution control procedures. The decision
makers in industry, for municipalities, and in other enterprises should
take the forefront in pollution abatement and control.
The Role of Governments
The role of governments in the pollution abatement program is to
investigate pollution damage and identify the causes, to research and
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support research directed toward the development of new and innova-
tive treatment or control technologies, to demonstrate the feasibility of
control technology, to adopt standards of performance and of environ-
mental quality, and to regulate and enforce laws and regulations foster-
ing treatment and control efforts. The first step toward a control meas-
ure is the identification and quantification of particular sources of
pollution. This investigative procedure largely has been accomplished
for those sources that are obvious. Likewise, the gross effect of various
types of pollutants are generally known but research continues to
determine the subtle effects of sublethal changes on the physiology of
various life forms that inhabit the receiving waterways.
Research efforts to develop new, more effective, and less costly
methods for pollution abatement and control will always be required.
Likewise, the feasibility and technological reliability of developed
methods must be demonstrated before they can be adopted fully by
industry. The demonstration of- environmental improvement tech-
niques and management practices are also essential for the enhance-
ment of environmental quality and these demonstrations have largely
been lacking in the past. For example, we need to demonstrate on a
field-scale level the reliability of certain eutrophication control measures
before such measures can be adopted as tools in the control of the
broad-scale eutrophication problem facing this Nation.
The governments must develop, adopt, and promulgate criteria and
standards to define those levels of environmental quality that must be
maintained by this society. Such standards further must be promul-
gated to define those limits on pollution that will maintain through
time the necessary environmental quality.
Legislators must adopt laws that will permit appropriate actions and
interactions among governments to insure the maintenance of adequate
environmental quality. Following the adoption of such laws, the ap-
propriate governments must be responsive in the development of man-
dated programs and in the enforcement of laws and regulations that
may evolve from such legislative actions.
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4
Legal Constraints
River and Harbor Act of 1899
The dynamic philosophy of legal constraints against water pollution
had its genesis in the River and Harbor Act of 1899. This Act consti-
tuted the first specific Federal water pollution control legislation. Sec-
tion 13 of the Act made it unlawful to throw, discharge, or deposit any
refuse matter of any kind or description other than that flowing from
streets and sewers and passing therefrom in a liquid state into any
navigable waters. This section made it equally unlawful to deposit
material of any kind on the bank of any navigable water or its tributary
where the same shall be liable to be washed into the navigable water.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers could grant permission
for the deposit of any material that might otherwise violate the language
of Section 13. The Department of Justice was given authority to enforce
the provisions of the River and Harbor Act of 1899 as they pertain to
water pollution. A statement within the penalty provisions provided
that one-half of any fine collected for violation of this Act shall be paid
to the person or persons giving information which shall lead to convic-
tion. The provisions of the River and Harbor Act of 1899 have assumed
major significance in the fight against water pollution in recent months
and the United States Department of Justice has prosecuted a signifi-
cant number of cases to abate water pollution under its provisions.
Early Water Pollution Control Legislation
The Public Health Service Act of 1912 contained provisions authoriz-
ing investigation of water pollution relating to the diseases and impair-
ment of man. In 1924, the Oil Pollution Act was enacted to control oil
discharges in coastal waters that might be damaging to aquatic life,
harbors and docks, and recreational facilities. This Act made it unlaw-
ful for any person to discharge or suffer or permit the discharge of oil
by any method, means, or manner into or upon the coastal, navigable
waters of the United States from any vessel using oil as fuel for the
generation of propulsion power or any vessel carrying or having oil
thereon in excess of that necessary for its lubricating requirements.
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Legislation was first enacted for the control and abatement of water
pollution in some States in the late 1930's. As early as 1941, for example,
additional enabling legislation was passed in Wisconsin for the purpose
of controlling biological growths. It instructed the State Committee on
Water Pollution ". . . to supervise chemical treatment of waters for
the suppression of algae, aquatic weeds, swimmer's itch, and other nuis-
ance-producing plants and organisms. To this end, the committee may
conduct experiments for the purpose of ascertaining'the best methods
for such control. It may purchase equipment and may make a charge
for the use of same and for materials furnished, together with a per
diem charge for any services performed in such work. The charge shall
be sufficient to reimburse the committee for the use of the equipment,
the actual cost of the materials furnished, and the actual cost of the
services rendered, plus ten percent for overhead and development
work."
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
In 1948, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act was passed as
Public Law 845 by the 80th Congress. It provided pollution control
activities in the Public Health Service of the then Federal Security
Agency and in the Federal Works Agency. The Act declared it to be
the policy of Congress to recognize, preserve, and protect the primary
responsibilities of the States in controlling water pollution, to support
and aid technical research, to devise and perfect methods of treatment
of industrial wastes which are not susceptible to known effective methods
of treatment, and to provide Federal technical services to States and
interstate agencies and to industries, and financial aid to States and
interstate agencies and to municipalities in the formulation and execu-
tion of their abatement programs. Section 2 of this Act stated: "In
the development of such comprehensive programs due regard shall be
given to the improvements which are necessary to conserve such waters
for public water supply, propagation of fish and aquatic life, recrea-
tional purposes, and agricultural, industrial, and other legitimate
uses."
Comprehensive water pollution control legislation was enacted by
the 84th Congress, which passed the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act, Public Law 660, on July 9, 1956. The 1956 Act extended and
strengthened the 1948 Act and was administered by the Surgeon Gen-
eral of the Public Health Service under the supervision and direction
of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. The Act provided
grants for State water pollution control programs and authorized the
granting of Federal funds to any State, municipality, or intermunicipal
or interstate agency for the construction of necessary treatment works
to prevent the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage or
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other wastes into any waters and for the purpose of reports, plans, and
specifications in connection therewith.
A definition of comprehensive planning was contained in one of
the recommendations of the National Conference on Water Pollution
held in Washington, D. C., December 12 to 14, 1960. This recommenda-
tion stated:
"Planning for the comprehensive development of each major basin
or water resource area should be established as a fixed national
policy. By comprehensive development we mean the application of
integrated multiple-purpose design, planning and management which
include the joint consideration of ground and surface waters, system-
atic conservation by water users, and the treatment and manage-
ment of waters having substandard quality. Consideration of every
appropriate technique would be a routine part of planning for such
development.
"Such planning insofar as feasible, should include consideration of
all important industrial plant sites. An early and important objective
should be a systematic program of flow regulation. State initiative
toward comprehensive planning should be encouraged, and partici-
pation by all major interests should be encouraged. The objective
should be one of eventually producing maximum total benefits from
all economic and social use."
Further amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
were signed into law on July 20, 1961 as Public Law 87-88, 87th
Congress. The 1961 amendments improved and strengthened the Act
by extending Federal authority to enforce abatement of pollution in
interstate, as well as navigable waters. It provided that in the plan-
ning for any reservoir, consideration shall be given to inclusion of
storage for regulation of stream flow for the purpose of water quality
control, except that any such storage and water releases shall not be
provided as a substitute for adequate treatment or other methods of
controlling wastes at the source.
Water Quality Act of 1965
The Water Quality Act of 1965 established the Federal Water Pollu-
tion Control Administration within the Department of Health, Educa-
tion, and Welfare. With the presidential reorganization plan effective
on May 10, 1966, the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
was transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Water Quality
Act of 1965 provided for the establishment of water quality standards
to enhance the quality of all of the Nation's interstate and coastal
waters.
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In setting the water quality standards, the States were mandated to
determine after public hearings the uses to be made of particular
reaches of interstate water. Following this determination, criteria were
to be adopted that would define the levels or ranges of bacterial pollu-
tion, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and other water quality constitu-
ents that would provide for these uses. In addition, the States were to
develop and submit to the Federal Government a specific and enforce-
able implementation plan to meet the criteria that were established.
These water quality standards have been submitted by the individual
States and, on the whole, have been approved by the Federal Govern-
ment. With this action, they became Federal-State water quality stand-
ards enforceable by either level of government with the individual
States having primary responsibility for enforcement. Water quality
standards represented a major step forward in defining the quality of
water that would be acceptable to meet certain designated water uses.
The prescribed water uses, developed through public hearing and
participation of the public, were the result of direct involvement in
water pollution control regulatory activities by the private citizen.
The goal behind the water quality standards provision was that the
quality of this Nation's waters shall be enhanced through implementa-
tion of appropriate treatment or control measures to abate water
pollution. A further provision of the Water Quality Act of 1965 ex-
tended Federal enforcement powers and authorized Federal action
when substantial economic injury results from the inability to market
shellfish or shellfish products in interstate commerce because of pollu-
tion. A substantial effort was expended by the individual States, as well
as the Federal Government, in responding to the mandate of this Act
for the establishment of standards of quality on all interstate and
coastal waters.
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
A very significant piece of legislation was embodied in the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Public Law 91-190 of the 91st
Congress enacted January 1, 1970. This Act created the Council on
Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President whose
responsibility it is to formulate and recommend national policies to
promote the improvement of the quality of the environment. In addi-
tion, the Act provides for the development and filing of an environ-
mental impact statement for any Federal action significantly affecting
the quality of the human environment. The Environmental Impact
Statements shall detail the environmental impact of the proposed ac-
tion, any adverse environmental effect which cannot be avoided should
the proposal be implemented, alternatives to the proposed action, the
relationship between local, short-term uses of man's environment and
the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and any
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irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be
involved in the proposed action should it be implemented. As a result
of this Act, the Environmental Impact Statements filed by other Federal
agencies related to the effects and potential effects of the designated
action on the air, land, and water quality are reviewed in detail by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970
The Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 was passed by the
91st Congress as Public Law 91-224 on April 3, 1970. This Act amended
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and changed the name of the
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration to the Federal Water
Quality Administration. A new and comprehensive section was added
on the control of pollution by oil. This section prohibited the discharge
of harmful quantities of oil into or upon the navigable waters, ad-
joining shorelines, or the contiguous zone of the United States. It
provided that a person who is in charge of any vessel must immediately
notify the Federal Government whenever any discharge of oil occurs
and if he fails to do so he is subject to a fine of $10,000 or imprisonment
for not more than one year or both. This Section provided a revolving
fund to finance the removal of oil and other hazardous materials. In
addition, the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 provided for
the control of hazardous polluting substances and directed that such
substances be designated that are dangerous to the public health or
welfare when discharged into the navigable waters of the United States.
A Section was provided on the control of human body wastes from
vessels and mandated the Environmental Protection Agency to promul-
gate standards of performance to control these wastes. In addition the
Act provided that each Federal agency engaged in any Federal public
works activity must comply with applicable water quality standards,
as well as the purposes of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
Reorganization Plan No. 3, effective July 1970, transferred all Federal
water pollution control programs to the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. This independent agency, reporting to the
President, has Federal jurisdiction over water pollution control pro-
grams, air pollution control programs, solid wastes abatement programs,
radiological and pesticidal programs, and noise abatement. The Federal
effort includes the granting of Federal funds for the construction of
pollution treatment or control devices; technical support to State,
interstate agencies, and other groups or individuals; regulatory and
enforcement activities; and research, demonstration, and development
of new or innovated processes for the control or treatment of waste
products. The establishment and subsequent functioning of the En-
vironmental Protection Agency provides a united front within the
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Federal Government directed toward the purposes of prevention, con-
trol, or abatement of pollution or insults to the air, land, and water
environments. The Environmental Protection Agency is organized with
an Administrator and Deputy Administrator who direct the Agency's
activities. Assistant Administrators are charged with responsibilities for
air and water programs; categorical programs, including pesticides,
radiation, and solid wastes; research and monitoring; general counsel
and enforcement; and administration.
Federal Law
In the chronology of Federal laws to control water pollution, it has
been a declared policy of Congress to recognize, preserve, and protect
the primary responsibilities and rights of the States in preventing and
controlling water pollution. Provision has been made for the granting
of Federal funds for a number of special purposes. Federal funds on a
matching basis may be granted to a planning agency at the request of a
State for the purpose of developing a comprehensive pollution control
and abatement plan for a basin. Such a plan must be consistent with
applicable water quality standards and must recommend treatment
works and sewer systems that will provide the most effective and eco-
nomical means of waste water management. Grants may be made to
States and interstate agencies to assist them in meeting the costs of
establishing and maintaining water pollution control programs, includ-
ing the training of personnel of public agencies. Substantial sums of
money have been allocated also for grants to any State, municipality, or
intermunicipal or interstate agency for the construction of necessary
treatment works to prevent the discharge of untreated or inadequately
treated sewage or other wastes into any waters and for the purposes of
reports, plans, and specifications in connection with this program.
These funds have been allocated on a matching basis with State funds.
Federal grants for research, demonstration, and development may be
made to assist in the development of any project which will demonstrate
a new or improved method of controlling the discharges into any waters
of untreated or inadequately treated sewage or other wastes from sewers
which carry storm water or both storm water and sewage, and to assist
in the development of any project which will demonstrate advanced
waste treatment and water purification methods. Further, such grants
may be made to persons for research and demonstration projects for
prevention of pollution by industry including, but not limited to, treat-
ment of industrial wastes. Such grants must be approved by the appro-
priate State water pollution control agency and no grant shall be made
unless it is determined that such project will serve a useful purpose in
the development or demonstration of a new or improved method of
waste treatment or pollution prevention and that such method shall
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have wide and general applicability for the industry or nation as a
whole.
Provision has been made in Federal water pollution control law for
technical assistance to conduct investigations and research and make
surveys concerning any specific problem of water pollution confronting
any State or community or industrial plant with a view of recommend-
ing a solution of such problem. The Federal Government is authorized
to collect and make available through publication and other appro-
priate means information on water quality and water pollution control
measures and to collect and disseminate basic data. Federal authoriza-
tion has been provided also for the maintaining of field laboratory and
research facilities and at the present time such laboratories are located
in strategic locations within the ten regional offices of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. Provision has also been made for training
activities both from the standpoint of training Federal personnel, as
well as State and other personnel in water pollution, analytical, and
management techniques.
The Federal agencies' enforcement prerogatives for water pollution
abatement have historically been constrained by the language within
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Federal actions to abate
pollution may be taken when the health or welfare of persons is
endangered in a State other than that in which the discharge or
discharges originate. Federal actions may be taken also when requested
by the Governor of any State or the State water pollution control
agency when the health or welfare of persons is endangered in a State
other than that in which the discharge or discharges originate. The
Governor of any State may request Federal intervention to abate pollu-
tion of interstate or navigable waters when the health or welfare of
persons is endangered in the requesting State from pollution arising
therein. In addition, the Federal Government may take enforcement
actions against violators of Federal-State water quality standards where
such violations have not been corrected by the State authorities. Federal
actions may be taken against polluters where substantial economic
injury results from the inability to market shellfish or shellfish products
in interstate commerce because of pollution.
The United States Department of Justice has undertaken prosecution
of a number of water pollution cases in violation of the River and
Harbor Act of 1899. In addition, the Corps of Engineers and the En-
vironmental Protection Agency have been cooperating in the evaluation
of permit applications for the discharge of industrial wastes as provided
for in that Act. Essentially three alternatives are evident when a par-
ticular application is reviewed within the context of environmental
damage. One alternative would be to recommend approval of the ap-
39
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Plate 12. Wastes that must be treated to protect the receiving waterway.
plication as received. Another would recommend conditional approval
based upon the implementation of a waste treatment or control pro-
gram with defined and acceptable implementation dates that would
bring the waste water discharge into compliance with water quality
standards and general environmental acceptability. The third alterna-
tive is to disapprove the application as presented and request a resub-
mission that would detail a new program approach for waste water con-
trol or treatment.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
Amendments of 1972
Many of the past efforts to abate water pollution have not demon-
strated dramatic and visible accomplishments. This has been due to a
number of reasons not the least of which is the accelerating demand
placed upon American industry to produce more products and an
increasing number of types of products. The expanding population and
the expanding industrial development have resulted in a dramatic
increase in the pollution load upon the receiving waterways. Were it
not for the substantial efforts toward pollution abatement that have
been made by governments at all levels, industry, and the private
citizen, water quality would be far worse than it is at the present time.
10
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In a great many cases, unfortunately, these past efforts have kept pace
only with increased production and have not served to clean up areas
with a long history of pollution. The inability of past water pollution
control efforts to demonstrate visible improvements in water quality
has led to citizen demand for more stringent and more encompassing
Federal legislation and involvement in water pollution control efforts.
As a result of such public outcry for action, the 92nd Congress enacted
on October 18, 1972, a series of very comprehensive amendments to the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
In this legislation to form the basis of future Federal water pollution
control efforts, it is the expressed national goal that the discharge of
pollutants into the navigable waters of the United States be eliminated
by 1985 and that the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts be
prohibited. Further, an interim goal of water quality which provides
for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and
provides for recreation in and on the water is to be achieved by July 1,
1983. The legislation provides for a number of significant changes in
Federal water pollution control laws and would extend and expand
Federal authority in the control of industrial wastes, toxic materials,
non-point source wastes and ocean dumping and discharges.
The new philosophy of legal controls provides for Federal involve-
ment in ground water quality, as well as that of the contiguous zone
and the oceans, in sedimentation and the prevention and abatement of
pollution from agriculture and other non-point sources, in thermal
pollution, in acid mine drainage, and with toxic substances. The
Federal Government is mandated to develop and publish guidelines
for effluent limitations identifying the best practicable control tech-
nology currently available for classes and categories of point sources,
other than publicly owned treatment works, and guidelines for identify-
ing and evaluating the nature and extent of non-point pollutants and
processes, procedures, and methods to control pollution resulting from
agricultural and silvicultural activities, mining activities, construction
activities, disposal of pollutants in wells and changes that may be
produced in ground waters. National standards of performance to
control the discharge of pollutants are to be proposed and published as
regulations for some 27 new sources of industrial waste water categories.
Toxic pollutants are to be identified and a regulation is to be published
with a proposed effluent standard or a prohibition for such pollutants
or combinations thereof. A section on clean lakes provides for State
identification and classification of lakes according to their eutrophic
condition and permits Federal support in undertaking methods and
procedures to restore the quality of such lakes. Federal criteria are to be
developed and published for the discharge of materials into the terri-
torial sea, the waters of the contiguous zone or the oceans. Permits may
be issued for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable
41
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waters at specified disposal sites providing criteria are met that were
developed to define acceptable materials for disposal. The new legisla-
tion also would authorize very substantial increases in government
funds to support construction of waste water treatment facilities and
provides for loans to small business concerns to meet water pollution
control requirements established under the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act.
4
In the early history of water pollution control legislation, the con-
cern of the Nation was centered on the control of oil pollution on the
high seas and later on assisting the States with Federal monies for the
planning of pollution abatement facilities and for the construction of
waste water treatment plants. Municipal waste water treatment facilities
received principal emphasis. More recently, national attention has
focused on maintaining ambient water quality suitable to support
the desirable and designated water uses for the Nation's waters. At-
tention has focused also on the industrial waste component of the total
pollutional complex. A need has remained to focus attention on non-
point source wastes arising from confined animal feeding areas, irriga-
tion return flows, logging practices, construction site siltation, and
rural sewage treatment devices. The need has existed also to focus on
problems of eutrophication in specific lakes and to manage the wastes
entering these drainage basins in such a manner that lake quality will
be preserved for the uses of posterity. These needs are fulfilled in
present legislative acts. The control philosophy is likewise changing to
one of exerting maximal control of pollution at the source through the
institution of effluent limitations rather than efforts to maintain a
particular water quality without specific regard for each source of
pollution that may affect the receiving water quality. We must now
move forward as a society to translate the will of the people into a
pollution control action program that will enhance environmental
quality and insure its continued maximal usefulness.
42
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5
.Pollution Caused Environmental
Changes
EFE in water is influenced by water temperatures, dissolved oxygen,
pH, color, turbidities, suspended and total dissolved solids, total
alkalinity, nutrients, mineral composition, and a host of other physical,
chemical, and biological entities.
Maximal values, and in some cases minimal values also, of these
constituents often create an environment that becomes intolerable to
particular organisms. This results in limiting productivity or interferes
subtly with physiological processes that in turn reduce the organism's
ability to compete with others within its environment throughout its
life span.
The Varieties of Pollution
The effects of pollution upon the water environment assumes many
characteristics, as well as an infinite variation in degree. The specific
environmental and ecological responses to a given pollutant depend
largely on its volume combined with the characteristic of the waste
water, and the volume and characteristics of the receiving water into
which it flows. Pollutants may provide an aesthetic insult, a toxic action,
a blanketing effect that destroys the stream or lake bed, a biodegradable,
organically-decomposable material that removes the dissolved oxygen
from the water, a hazard to the health of man and other animals that
use the water, a substance that magnifies in concentration as it becomes
escalated through the aquatic food web, an alterant of water tempera-
ture which is the prime regulator of natural processes within the water
environment, and a supplier of fertilizing nutrients that stimulate ex-
cessive production among some aquatic species.
Aesthetic Insults
The discarded object that results in an aesthetic environmental insult
can be an asset as far as life in water is concerned. In some situations
43
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the discarded automobile tire or baby carriage may provide additional
substrate area for some types of organisms to colonize, provided other
aspects of the physical and chemical characteristics of the waterway
support such biotic development. Many streams naturally lack appro-
priate substrates for the attachment of various macroorganisms that
can supply food for a fishery in these areas. Artificial materials are often
introduced in lakes as a management practice both to furnish a site for
the development of fish food organisms and to act as a harbor of
security for the fish population that is attracted to the device. In these
cases, notably rare, the aesthetic liability of the discarded material must
be weighed against its assets for the production of a higher-use
waterway.
Many aesthetic insults on the aquatic environment do not possess
possibilities for biotic improvement within the waterway. Colors that
are introduced may decrease substantially the light penetration that is
necessary for photosynthetic oxygen production and they tend to dis-
courage sport fishing and interfere with the functioning of the gear
used by the commercial fishermen. Increased turbidity through the
introduction of clays has a similar detrimental effect and in addition
the clays may carry nutrients or toxic substances as adsorbed materials.
Bacterial slimes are a classic example of aesthetic insults and are a result
of other direct and immediate pollutional conditions rather than a
result of direct discharge of slime material, except as an unnecessary
discharge from a waste water treatment operation.
Toxic Substances
Wastes containing concentrations of heavy metals or other toxic sub-
stances either individually or in combination may be toxic to aquatic
organisms and thus have a severe impact on the water community. Fish
kills are often the result of direct toxicity. Such acute toxicity may be
so broadly effective that many life forms are damaged at one time, or
it may be highly selective. Acute toxicity may result from a low con-
centration of a highly toxic material or a high concentration of a less
toxic material. Often acute toxicity appears as a "slug" or a high
concentration resulting from a dump or a stream of a toxic material.
Such a concentration of material may be followed by normal, relatively
non-toxic conditions, as the mass of water containing the poison 'flows
downstream or is deflected by tidal movements.
Toxic actions that may require weeks or months to be noticed may
be referred to as low-level, cumulative, or chronic toxicity and is most
often observed as a reduction in the production of a particular type of
organism. Slowly toxic materials may be more deleterious to a par-
ticular developmental stage rather than to the adult organism. Low
44
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level toxicities may change the entire population balance by a number
of processes:
1. Susceptible species of either fish or fish food organisms may gradu-
ally die off thereby permitting tolerant species that are less desir-
able to man to flourish because of a lack of competition.
2. If algae or invertebrate food organisms are killed by a low-level
toxicity, fish may die or move out of the area because of an inade-
quate food supply.
3. Weakened individuals surviving near the threshold of their toler-
ance are more susceptible to attack by parasites and disease such
as the aquatic fungus, Saprolegnia.
4. Reproductive potential may be altered because eggs or very young
individuals may be more susceptible to the low-level toxic sub-
stance than are the adults. The end result of such toxicity can be
a slow and subtle alteration of the characteristics of the biological
stream or lake inhabitants.
Sublethal concentrations of chemicals such as phenol, benzene oil,
2-4, D and others may impart an unpleasant flavor to fish flesh even
when present in very dilute concentrations. This can be as detrimental
to a fishery as a more direct fish kill because the waterway will not be
used in the recreational pursuit for which it would otherwise be
adapted. Shellfish are affected by organoleptic producing pollutants as
are fin fish.
Fish may be repelled or driven out of an area by chemicals they find
obnoxious. This may result in their scarcity or absence from a given
locale or it may prevent their migrating to another area to spawn.
In either case the species will soon disappear and be lost to the fishing
community.
Silts and Settleable Solids
Deposition of inert precipitates and silts tend to smother bottom
organisms. The general effect on the aquatic environment of inorganic
silts is to reduce, severely both the kinds of organisms present and their
individual numbers. As particulate matter settles to the bottom it
blankets the substrate and forms an undesirable, physical environment
for organisms that would normally occupy such a habitat. Erosion silts
alter aquatic environments chiefly by screening out light, changing heat
radiation, blanketing the stream bottom, retaining organic materials,
and carrying nutrients or toxic substances.
Developing eggs of fish and other organisms are smothered by de-
posits of silt. Fish food invertebrates are either destroyed or driven from
45
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the area because a stream bed that once was composed of rubble and
filled with living spaces now has been paved with an innocuous sub-
stance that cannot be penetrated by the fragile creatures. Blanketing
materials may be biodegradable organic substances and as such may
have additional undesirable qualities in that oxygen is removed from
the superimposed water during the decomposition of the sludge beds
and, additionally, a food supply is afforded sludge-dwelling organisms,
which multiply in great numbers.
The organic fraction of settleable solids includes greases, oils, tars,
animal and vegetable fats, feedlot wastes, paper mill fibers, synthetic
plastic fibers, sawdust, hair, greases, and various settleable materials
from city sewers. In addition to depleting the dissolved oxygen, such
materials produce hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane or other
noxious gases when undergoing decomposition.
The inorganic components of settleable solids include silts from
construction activities and clays originating from such sources as ero-
sion, placer mining, mine tailing wastes, strip mining, gravel .washing,
dusts from coal washeries, loose soils from freshly plowed farmlands,
highway construction, and other building projects. Under poor farming
practices, for example, as much as 11 tons of silt per acre per year may
be washed by surface water into a drainage basin. Dredging of tidal
rivers becomes a necessity for the continuation of navigation. The
disposal of dredge spoils, often containing high concentrations of pollu-
tional substances, becomes a matter of grave concern and a financial
I ACTIVE DECOMPOSITION
ZONE
I RECOVERY
ZONE
Plate 13. Benthic zones of pollution (organic wastes).
46
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burden that could be prevented in large measure through universal
adoption of control measures to prevent or reduce the amounts of silts
and clays reaching the waterways.
Organic Wastes
Organic or biodegradable wastes are attacked by bacteria upon en-
tering the water environment and during this process of decomposition
the dissolved oxygen, so necessary for life within water, is used and
reduced. When the organic load to the receiving waterway is heavy,
all of the dissolved oxygen may be so used and the waterway becomes
anaerobic and, from the standpoint of aquatic life, virtually dead. In
addition to the oxygen-consuming properties associated with organic
wastes, solids may settle to the waterway's bottom forming sludge banks
that not only continue to exert an oxygen demand during the decom-
position process but also furnish an ideal habitat for the development
and reproduction of tremendous numbers of sludgeworms. Some types
of organic wastes such as fibers from paper mills, for example, may form
cohesive mats and with associated waste products, become lifted from
the remaining sludge banks by the gases of decomposition. These
"boils" of sludge can be transported downstream where they may
settle in a new area and extend the zone of pollution. Organic wastes
are often associated also with nutrients such as high concentrations of
nitrogen and phosphorus. When the waterway has been cleansed of its
visible signs of pollution through natural and biological actions, and
the water clears, the nutrients often persist to stimulate obnoxious
growths of plants or animals in downstream areas.
Upstream from the introduction of organic wastes, classic description
details a clean-water zone or one that is not affected by pollutants. At
the point of waste discharge, and for a short distance downstream,
there is formed a zone of degradation where wastes become mixed with
the receiving waters, and where the initial attack is made on the wastes
by bacteria and other organisms in the process of decomposition.
Following the zone of degradation, there is the zone of active de-
composition that may extend for miles, or days of stream flow, depend-
ing in large measure on the volume of dilution that is afforded the
waste by the stream and the water temperature that affects the rate
of biological decomposition. The biological processes that occur within
this zone are similar in many respects to those that occur in a waste
water treatment plant utilizing a biological process of waste treatment.
Within this zone, waste products are decomposed and those products
that are not settled as sludge are assimilated by organisms in life
processes.
A zone of recovery follows the zone of active decomposition. The
recovery zone is essentially a reach of water in which the quality is
47
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gradually returned to that which existed prior to the entrance of pol-
lutants. Water quality recovery is accomplished through physical,
chemical, and biological interactions within the aquatic environment.
The zone of recovery may extend also for many miles and its extent
will depend principally upon morphometric features of the waterway.
Finally, the zone of recovery terminates in another zone of clean
water or an area unaffected by pollutants that is similar in physical,
chemical, and biological features to that which existed upstream from
the pollution source.
A general axiom of water pollution biology is that water pollution
is associated with a reduction in the numbers of species of organisms
that otherwise would be present in a particular aquatic situation. In
field examination, this species reduction can be demonstrated by
comparing samples taken from a polluted area with those samples
taken from a similar aquatic habitat in an area not so affected.
Depending upon the type of pollution, the reduction in species is
associated also with either a tremendous increase or a reduction in the
numbers of individuals representing a given species within the habitat.
An increase in such numbers, such as sludgeworms or midges or even
a species of algae, is indicative of an environment that restricts all but
the most tolerant aquatic species and in addition furnishes a seemingly
unlimited food supply for the growth and development of those species
that are able to survive. A reduction in the number of individuals
representing a given species would be indicative of conditions that
THE BIOTA
Plate 14.
345678
DAYS
12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
MILES
Response of organisms toward organic pollution in days of stream flov
and miles of stream.
IS
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are toxic or restrictive to all but the most tolerant types of organisms.
An additional food supply is not present.
Within the zone of active decomposition, conditions of existence
for aquatic life are at their worst. The breakdown of organic products
by bacteria may have consumed available dissolved oxygen. Sludge
deposits may have covered the stream bed thus eliminating dwelling
areas for the majority of bottom-associated organisms that could be
found on a similarly unaffected area. Fish spawning areas have been
eliminated but perhaps fish are no longer present because of the
diminished oxygen supply and the substantially reduced available
natural food. Here, aquatic plants will not be found in large numbers
because they cannot survive on the soft, shifting blanket of sludge.
Turbidity may be high and floating plants and animals destroyed.
Water color may be substantially changed. When organic materials are
decomposed, a seemingly inexhaustible food supply is liberated for
those particular organisms that are adapted to use this food source.
Thus, bacteria and certain protozoan populations may increase to
extremely high levels. Those bottom-associated organisms such as
sludgeworms, bloodworms, and other worm-like animals may also in-
crease to tremendous numbers because they are adapted to burrowing
within the sludge, deriving their food therefrom, and existing on
sources and amounts of oxygen that may be essentially nondetectable
ZONES OF POLLUTION
Clean water
DISSOLVED
OXYGEN
SAG
CURVE
ORIGIN OF I—^-
POLLUTION |—y
PHYSICAL
INDICES
Clear, no bottom
sludge
Degradation
Floating solids,
bottom sludge
Active
decomposition
Turbid, foul gas,
bottom sludge
Recovery
Turbid,
bottom sludge
Clean water
Clear, no bottom
sludge
FISH
PRESENT
Game, pan, food
and forage fish
Tolerant fishes-
carp, buffalo, gars
None
Tolerant fishes-
carp, buffalo, gars
Game, pan, food
and forage fish
BOTTOM
ANIMALS
ALGAE
AND
PROTOZOA
Plate 15. Diagrammatic presentation of the zones of pollution showing types of bottom
animals, algae, and physical indices associated with pollution.
49
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by conventional field investigative methods. Within the /one of active
decomposition the species that can tolerate the environment are few.
Under some conditions, those bottom-associated animals that are visible
to the unaided eye may be completely eliminated. Because of the
tremendous quantity of food that is available to those organisms that
are adapted to use it, the number of individuals of the surviving species
may indeed be great. For example, it is possible to find in excess of
50,000 sludgeworms living within each square foot of bottom areas
under conditions of severe organic pollution.
As organic wastes become more stabilized, other species of organisms
predominate within the aquatic animal community. Midge larvae have
been found to "paint" the stream bed with a brilliant red with their
undulating bodies. Caddisfly larvae populations greater than 1,000 per
square foot of stream bed or mayfly nymphs numbering more than
300 per square foot have been found on several occasions.
Organism's Effects on Pollution
The converse of the effects of pollution on organisms is the effects
of organisms on pollutants. Organic wastes especially supply food which
in turn produces an abundance of a few types of organisms greater
than that produced in an unpolluted environment. In consuming
such organic wastes, these organisms stabilize the waste material in a
manner similar to that encountered in a biological sewage treatment
plant. As stated above, the wet weight of sludgeworms in rich organic
sludge may be as much as 25 tons per acre of sludge and they may
move tremendous quantities of sludge per day by passing it through
their digestive tract. If it were not for the action of such organisms
on organic wastes, the extent of environmental damage from pollution
would be tremendously expanded. For example, the purpose of a
waste water treatment plant utilizing the biological process is to
accomplish in an artificially confined area the same type of waste
conversion that occurs in a natural stream. Such conversion is accom-
modated by supplying the right type of organism substrate for maximum
efficiency and by aiding the process with mechanical devices and some-
times with the addition of air for an oxygen supply.
Biological magnification is an additional chronic effect of toxic
pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, radionuclides, bacteria, and
viruses. Many animals and especially shellfish such as oysters have the
ability to remove from the environment and store in their tissues
substances present at nontoxic levels in the surrounding water. This
process may continue in the oyster or fish for example until the body
burden of the toxin reaches such levels that the animal's death would
result if the pollutants were released into the bloodstream by a
physiological activity. This may occur as in the case of chlorinated
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hydrocarbon pesticides such as DDT and endrin, which are stored in
fat deposits, when the animal's food supply is restricted and the body
fat is utilized. The presence of the toxin that enters the blood stream
causes the death of the animal. .Equally disastrous is the mobilization
of body fat to form sex products, which may contain sufficiently high
levels of the pollutant so that normal development of the young is
impossible.
Herbivorous and carnivorous fish at lower trophic stages may gradu-
ally build up DDT residues of 15 to 20 mg/1 without apparent ill
effect. Carnivorous fish, mammals, and birds preying on these con-
taminated fish may be killed immediately or suffer irreparable damage
because of the pesticide residue or infectious agent.
Heat Pollution
Temperature, a catalyst, a depressant, an activator, a restricter, a
stimulator, a controller, a killer, is one of the most important and
influential water quality characteristics to life in water. Temperature
determines those species that may be present; it activates the hatching
of young, regulates their activity, and stimulates or suppresses their
growth and development; it attracts, and kills when the water becomes
too hot or becomes chilled too suddenly. Colder water generally sup-
presses development; warmer water generally accelerates activity and
may be a primary cause of aquatic plant nuisances when other environ-
mental factors are suitable.
Temperature is a prime regulator of natural processes within the
water environment. It governs physiological functions in organisms and,
acting directly or indirectly in combination with other water quality
constituents, it affects aquatic life with each change. These effects
include chemical reaction rates, enzymatic functions, molecular move-
ments, and molecular exchanges between membranes within and be-
tween the physiological systems and the organs of an animal. Because
of the complex interactions involved and often because of the lack
of specific knowledge or facts, temperature effects as they pertain to an
animal or plant are most efficiently assessed on the basis of the net
influence on the organism.
Chemical reaction rates vary with temperature and generally increase
as the temperature is increased. The solubility of gases in water varies
with temperature. Dissolved oxygen is decreased by the decay or decom-
position of dissolved organic substances; the decay rate increases as
the temperature of the water increases reaching a maximum at about
30 °C (86 °F). The temperature of stream water, even during summer,
is below the optimum for pollution-associated bacteria. Increasing the
water temperature increases the bacterial multiplication rate when
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the environment is favorable and the food supply is abundant. In-
creasing the water temperature within the growth range of the bacteria
causes a more rapid die-off when the food supply is limiting.
Warm water fish can survive temporarily in waters heated artificially
to 33.9°C (93°F); some fish populations however such as those of
roach, perch, and carp are reduced at these high temperatures. In cold
weather, water temperatures must be substantially reduced at all
points to prevent fish mortalities when fish move through changing
temperature gradients. Cold water nonanadromous fish populations
such as trout should not be subjected to temperatures exceeding
13.5°C (58°F). Sudden changes in temperature can be more harmful
to some species of fish than continued exposure to a higher temperature.
Fish can adapt to higher temperatures faster than to lower temperatures.
The maximal temperature for a given species of fish varies with the
fish's rate of heating, size, and physiological condition. Fish may starve
at elevated temperatures because of their inability to capture food,
which will be accentuated by a reduced swimming speed and the
stress placed on physiological activities. Likewise, the toxic effects of
potential toxicants to fish increase with temperature.
There are restricted ranges of temperature within which fish can
reproduce successfully. Larval development especially requires very
Plate 16. Trash deposited on an area subject to flooding will pollute a
receiving waterway with the next flood.
52
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narrow ranges of temperature. A fish population may exist in a heated
area only by continued immigration of individuals from the outside.
Fish may be absent from such areas during warm summer months
but be attracted to the warmer temperatures in cold winter months.
Increased temperature may block the migration of anadromous fishes.
When water temperatures increase, the predominant algal species
may change from diatoms to green algae and finally at high tempera-
tures to blue-green algae because of species temperature preferentials.
The number and distribution of benthic organisms decrease as water
temperatures increase above 90 °F, which is close to the tolerance
limit for the population. Adult stages of many fish species are able
to tolerate higher temperatures than eggs or young.
Certain benefits, including open-water winter fishing in otherwise
ice covered areas and a cold water fishery downstream from deep
reservoirs in an otherwise warm water region, can be derived from
artificially induced temperature changes. The benefits of fish being
attracted to heated water in winter months may be negligible compared
to fish mortalities that may result when the fish return to the cooler
water.
Nutrients
Eutrophication is a term meaning enrichment of waters by nutrients
through either man-created or natural means. Present knowledge in-
dicates that the fertilizing elements most responsible for lake eutrophi-
cation are phosphorus and nitrogen. Iron and certain "trace" elements
are also important. Sewage and sewage effluents contain a generous
amount of those nutrients necessary for algal development.
Lake eutrophication results in an increase in algal and weed nuisances
and an increase in midge larvae, whose adult stage has plagued man
in Clear Lake, California, Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin, and several lakes
in Florida. Dense algal growths form surface water scums and con-
tribute to algal-littered beaches. Water may become foul-smelling.
Filter-clogging problems at municipal water installations can result
from abundant suspended algae. When algal cells die, oxygen is used
in decomposition, and fish kills have resulted. Rapid decomposition
of dense algal scums, with associated organisms and debris, gives rise
to odors and hydrogen sulfide gas that creates strong citizen disapproval;
the gas often stains the white lead paint on residences adjacent to the
shore.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are necessary components of an environ-
ment in which excessive aquatic growths arise. Algal growth is in-
fluenced by many varied factors: vitamins, trace metals, hormones,
auxins, extracellular metabolites, autointoxicants, viruses and predation
53
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and grazing by aquatic animals. Several vitamins in small quantities
are requisite to growth in certain species of algae. In a freshwater
environment, algal requirements are met by vitamins supplied in soil
runoff, lake and stream bed sediments, solutes in the water, and
metabolites produced by actinomycetes, fungi, bacteria, and several
algae.
Evidence indicates that: (1) High phosphorus concentrations are
associated with accelerated eutrophication of waters, when other growth
promoting factors are present; (2) aquatic plant problems develop in
reservoirs or other standing waters at phosphorus values lower than
those critical in flowing streams; (3) reservoirs and other standing
waters collect phosphates from influent streams and store a portion of
these within consolidated sediments; and (4) phosphorus concentrations
critical to noxious plant growths vary, and they produce such growths
in one geographical area, but not in another. Potential contributions
of phosphorus to the aquatic environment have been indicated in the
literature (Table 1). Phosphorus is temporarily stored in bottom sedi-
ments or transported as a portion of the stream's bed-load after its
removal from the flowing water. Long-term storage is effected when
the phosphorus is pooled in deltas or deposited on flood plains.
Table 1. Pounds of Phosphorus Contributed to Aquatic Ecosystems
Major Contributors:
Sewage and Sewage Effluents: 3 Ibs. per capita per year.*
Some industries, e.g., potato processing: 1.7 Ib. per ton processed.
Phosphate rock from 23 states (Mackenthun and Ingram, 1967).
Culivated agricultural drainage: 0.35-0.39 Ib. per acre drained per year
Engelbrecht and Morgan, 1961) (Sawyer, 1947) (Weibel, 1965).
Surface irrigation returns, Yakima River Basin: 0.9-3.9 Ibs. per acre per
year (Sylvester, 1961).
Benthic Sediment Releases.
Minor Contributors:
Domestic duck: 0.9 Ib. per year (Sanderson, 1953).
Sawdust: 0.9 Ib. per ton (Donahue, 1961).
Rainwater.**
Groundwater, Wis.: 1 Ib. per 9 million gals. (Juday and Birge, 1931).
Wild duck: 0.45 Ib. per year (Paloumpis and Starrett, 1960).
Tree leaves: 1.8-3.3 Ib. per acre of trees per year (Chandler, 1943).
Dead Organisms; animal excretions.
* Various researchers have recorded the annual per capita contribution
of phosphorus in pounds from domestic sewage as 2 to 4 (Bush & Mulford,
1954), 2, 3 (Metzler et al., 1958), 1.9 (Owen, 1953), and 3.5 (Sawyer,
1965).
** Influenced by pollution present in atmosphere "washed out" by rain-
fall.
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Once nutrients are combined within the ecosystem of the receiving
waters, their removal is tedious and expensive; removal must be
compared to inflowing quantities to evaluate accomplishment. In a
lake, reservoir, or pond, phosphorus is removed naturally only by
outflow, by insects that hatch and fly out of the drainage basin, by
harvesting a crop, such as fish, and by combination with consolidated
bottom sediments. Even should adequate harvesting methods be avail-
able, the expected standing crop of algae per acre exceeds 2 tons and
contains only about 1.5 Ibs of phosphorus. Similarly, submersed aquatic
plants could approach at least 7 tons/acre (wet weight) and contain
3.2 Ibs/acre of phosphorus. Probably only half of the standing crop of
submersed aquatic plants can be considered harvestable. The harvest-
able fish population (500 Ibs.) from 3 acres of water would contain
only 1 Ib. of phosphorus.
Dredging has often been suggested as a means of removing the
storehouse of nutrients contained within the lake bed sediments. These
sediments are usually rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, for they rep-
resent the accumulation of years of settled organic materials. Some
of these nutrients may be recirculated within the water mass and
furnish food for a new crop of organic growth. However, in an un-
disturbed mud-water system, the percentage of nutrients, as well as
the amount of phosphorus that is released to the superimposed water,
is very small.
Oil
The effects of oil substances on aquatic life in freshwater may be
summarized as follows:
(1) Free oil and emulsions may coat and destroy algae and other
plankton;
(2) heavy coatings of free oil on the surface may interfere with the
natural processes of reaeration and photosynthesis, while light
coatings would be less detrimental because wave action and
other turbulence would maintain adequate reaeration; and
(3) water soluble principles may exert a direct toxic action.
The deleterious effect of crude oil and lubricating oils on fish is due
to a film formed over the gill filaments of fish, which prevents the
exchange of gases and results in suffocation.
The effects of oils on marine animals may include the tainting of
fish and shellfish flesh, poisoning by ingestion of oil or soluble fractions,
such as phenol, ammonia, and sulfides, disturbances of marine food
webs, and physical fouling of animals with heavy coats of oil.
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Many thousands of waterfowl have been destroyed by the effects
of oil pollution. This wasteful loss has deprived nature lovers, water-
fowl hunters, and bird watchers of immeasurable enjoyment. The
destruction of many duck species, such as the canvas back, redhead,
and scaups, comes at a critical period for these species that are fighting
for survival against the forces of nature. In future years additional
waterfowl will be destroyed if oil dumping is continued, especially in
late winter. In this modern age of technical development, the discharge
of oil into a river system indicates man's lack of responsibility for
the preservation of our natural resources.
The effects of oil on birds depend upon a variety of factors including
the type of oil, extent of contamination of plumage, temperature of
the air and water, and the quantity of oil ingested. Migratory birds
may be affected indirectly by deposits of oil on the bottom, in shallow
water, or along the shore that reduce the available food supply by
destroying both plants and animals. Elements within the food chain
are eliminated by chemical or physical properties of the oils and
food for waterfowl may become unavailable by being coated or em-
bedded in the oily materials. Accumulation of petroleum sludge may
also prevent germination and growth of plants and the production of
invertebrates important as food, either by smothering or through
toxic effects.
Oil causes matting of the ducks' feathers so that ducks become
water-logged, lose their ability to fly and drown if they cannot get
out of the water soon enough. It breaks down the insulating power
of the feathers; body heat and stored energy reserves are lost rapidly.
Diving ducks may starve and, following the preening of oil from
contaminated feathers, bleeding ulcers may be produced in the digestive
tract causing mortality.
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6
llelpful References
' I 1 HERE are many references helpful to the investigators of water
-i- quality problems and to the interpretation of data that are
collected in investigations. This chapter contains a selected listing of
some of the more useful books that have been compiled to respond
to the needs in this field of endeavor. All or most of these books
should be available in a local library, but some of them should be
purchased and retained for day-to-day reference by the investigator
who must interpret and strive to correct water quality problems on
a recurring basis. Some of the references are of such significance to
the determination of water quality, to the particular water quality
requirements for specific uses, and to the interpretation of data obtained
from field investigations that they warrant special discussion.
A very comprehensive, useful, and authentic publication is that
of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater"
currently in its 13th edition, copyrighted 1971 by the American Public
Health Association, 1015 18th Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20036.
"Standard Methods" was first published in 1905. Its goal has been to
represent the best current practices of American water analysts, and
to be generally applicable in connection with the ordinary problems
of water purification, sewage disposal, and sanitary investigations.
The book is currently revised on a five-year schedule. The present
edition contains 874 pages that are devoted to chemical, microbiological,
and biological methods that have withstood the innumerable tests of
time and the scrutiny of analytical peers before being recognized as
standard procedures. The last approximately 100 pages of the volume
are devoted to biological methods for waterway investigations, which
were revised particularly for the 13th edition. The book contains a
key to major groups of aquatic organisms, a host of helpful plates
for gross identification of plants and animals, a key for the identifica-
tion of fresh-water algae, and a reproduction in color of six plates
of algae grouped according to habitat preference. "Standard Methods"
is an extremely helpful document both to the experienced investigator
who must ensure himself that the methods of his investigation will
withstand the scrutiny of the scientific community, and also to the
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novice investigator who will find the biological and other discussions
on methods of investigation, as well as keys in identifying animals and
plants, helpful in pursuing his investigations.
The definition of a water quality amenable for defined water uses
had its genesis in a 1952 publication by the State of California, in a
book entitled "Water Quality Criteria." This effort was expanded
and tremendously enhanced in a 2nd edition edited by Messrs. Jack
E. McKee and Harold W. Wolf and published in 1963 by the Resources
Agency of California, State Water Quality Control Board, Sacramento,
California. This edition, including 3,827 cited references, was a monu-
mental effort in bringing together under one cover the world's literature
on water quality criteria as of the date of publication. Criteria were
identified and referenced for a host of water quality characteristics
according to their effects on domestic water supply, industrial water
supplies, irrigation waters, fish and other aquatic life, shellfish culture,
and swimming and other recreational uses. Specific values were arranged
in ascending order, with appropriate references, as they had been
reported as lethal or damaging to fish or as not harmful to fish in
the indicated time and under the conditions of exposure. The results
of such a tabulation presented a range of values and, as would be
expected by those investigating such conditions, there was often an
overlap in values between those concentrations that have been reported
by some investigators as harmful and those concentrations that have
been reported by other investigators as not harmful. Such an anomaly
is due to differences in investigative techniques among investigators,
the characteristics of the water used as a diluent for the toxicant, .the
physiological state of the test organisms, and variations in the tempera-
ture under which the tests were conducted. Nevertheless, the tabulation
of criteria values for each of the water quality constituents has been
helpful through time to predict a range within which a water quality
constituent would have a deleterious effect upon the.receiving water-
way. The State of California "Water Quality Criteria" publication is
currently being enlarged and updated through a series of publications
developed through contracts with consultants by the Environmental
Protection Agency. These publications appear as volumes of a "Water
Quality Criteria Data" book. Volume I is subtitled "Organic Chemical
Pollution of Freshwater." Volume II is subtitled "Inorganic Chemical
Pollution of Freshwater." The third is subtitled "Effects of Chemicals
on Aquatic Life," and volume IV is "Recreational Water Quality
Criteria." These volumes appear as a Water Pollution Control Research
Series for the Environmental Protection Agency and are attainable
from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Each volume
contains a series of tables, one of which lists the concentrations of
particular pollutants that have been found in water based on a search
of the literature. Another table presents the pollutants' acute toxi-
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cological information for mammals. Another lists the mammalian and
chronic toxicity of potential pollutants of water. Another table presents
the concentration and effects of various pollutants in human and
animal tissues and additional tables depict the carcinogenicity, muta-
genicity, and teratogenicity of identified pollutants.
On April 1, 1968, the then Federal Water Pollution Control Ad-
ministration published a book entitled "Water Quality Criteria." This
book, obtainable from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington,
D. C., was a report of the National Technical Advisory Committee to
the Secretary of the Interior that constituted the most comprehensive
documentation to date on water quality requirements for particular
and defined water uses. The book was intended to be used as a basic
reference by persons in State water pollution control agencies engaged
in water quality studies and water quality standards setting activities.
Recommendations and water quality constituent criteria designed to
ensure a quality of water amenable to designated uses were recorded
for recreation and aesthetics, public water supplies, fish and other
aquatic life and wildlife, agricultural, and industrial uses. In some
respects, this volume represented a marriage between the best available
experimental criteria recorded in the literature and the judgment of
recognized water quality experts with long experience in associated
management problems.
The Environmental Protection Agency has contracted with the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineer-
ing to revise and bring up to date the information contained in the
1968 Water Quality Criteria volume. Committees of experts have been
laboring over the past year to complete this assignment. Final drafts
of the 1972 version of "Water Quality Criteria" have been assembled.
Publication is anticipated late in 1973. The revised volume represents
an accumulation of the latest data and scientific judgments on this
important and timely subject and, without question, will be a basic
reference in connection with the interpretation of investigative water
quality data for many years to come.
A selected alphabetical listing of additional references that should
be helpful to the investigator follows:
AMOS, W. H. 1967. The Life of the Pond. McGraw-Hill, New York.
BARDACH, J. 1966. Downstream: A Natural History of the River From Its Source to
the Sea. Grossett and Dunlap, New York.
BERNER, L. 1950. The Mayflies of Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville,
Florida.
BURKS, B. D. 1953. The Mayflies, or Ephemeroptera, of Illinois. Bull. Illinois Nat. Hist.
Surv.
CHU, H. F. 1949. How to Know the Immature Insects. Wm. C. Brown Co., Dubuque,
Iowa.
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EDMONDSON, W. T. 1959. Ward and Whipple's Fresh Water Biology (2nd ed.). Jqhn
Wiley and Sons, New York.
FASSETT, N. C. 1960. A Manual of Aquatic Plants (with Revision Appendix by E. C.
Ogden). University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.
FREY, D. G. 1963. Limnology in North America. University of Wisconsin Press,
Madison.
FRISON, T. H. 1935. The Stoneflies, or Plecoptera, of Illinois, Bull. Illinois Nat. Hist.
Survey.
HARVEY, H. W. 1955. The Chemistry and Fertility of Sea Waters. Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, American Branch, 32 East 57th Street, New York.
HAWKES, H. A. 1963. The Ecology of Waste Water Treatment. Pergamon Press, New
York. ,
HUTCHINSON, G. E. 1957. A Treatise on Limnology. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New
York.
HUTCHINSON, G. E. 1967. A Treatise on Limnology. Vol. 2: Introduction to Lake Biol-
ogy and the Limnoplankton. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
HYNES, H. B. N. 1960. The Biology of Polluted Waters. Liverpool University Press,
Liverpool.
INGRAM, W. M., K. M. MACKENTHUN and A. F. BARTSCH. 1966. Biological Field Investi-
gative Data for Water Pollution Surveys. U. S. Department of the Interior, Federal
Water Pollution Control Administration.
JACKSON, D. F. Ed. 1964. Algae and Man. Plenum Press, New York.
JACKSON, D. F., Ed. 1968. Algae, Man, and the Environment. Syracuse University
Press, New York.
JONES, J. R. E. 1964. Fish and River Pollution. Butterworth, Inc., Washington, D. C.
KITTRELL, F. W. 1969. A Practical Guide to Water Quality Studies of Streams. U. S.
Department of the Interior, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. *
KLEIN, L. 1959. River Pollution 1. Chemical Analysis. Butterworths, London.
KLEIN, L. 1962. River Pollution 2. Causes and Effects. Butterworths, London.
KLEIN, L. 1966. River Pollution 3. Control. Butterworths, London.
KLOTS, E. B. 1966. New Field Book of Freshwater Life. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New
York.
MACAN, T. T. 1963. Fresh-Water Ecology. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
MACAN, T. T. and E. B. WORTHINGTON. 1951. Life in Lakes and Rivers. The New
Naturalist, Collins, London.
MACKENTHUN, K. M. 1969. The Practice of Water Pollution Biology. U. S. Depart-
ment of the Interior, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration.
MORGAN, A. H. 1930. Fieldbook of Ponds and Streams. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New
York.
MUENSCHER, W. C. 1944. Aquatic Plants of the United States. Comstock Publishing
Co., Ithaca, New York.
NEEDHAM, J. G. and P. R. NEEDHAM. 1962. A Guide to the Study of Fresh-Water
Biology (5th Ed.). Holden-Day, Inc., San Francisco, California.
PENNAK, R. W. 1953. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States. The Ronald
Press Co., New York.
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PRATT, H. S. 1951. A Manual of the Common Invertebrate Animals Exclusive of
Insects. The Blakiston Co., Philadelphia.
PRESCOTT, G. W. 1962. Algae of the Western Great Lakes Area (rev. ed.). Wm. C.
Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa.
REID, G. K. 1967. Pond Life: A Guide to Common Plants and Animals o£ North
American Ponds and Lakes. Golden Press, New York.
Ross, H. H. 1944. The Caddis Flies, or Trichoptera, of Illinois. Bull. Illinois Nat. Hist.
Survey.
RUTTNER, F. 1963. Fundamentals of Limnology (3rd ed.). University of Toronto Press,
Toronto, Canada.
SMITH, G. M. 1950. The Fresh-Water Algae of the United States. McGraw-Hill, New
York.
TIFFANY, L. H. and M. E. BRITTON. 1952. The Algae of Illinois. The University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
TRYON, C. A. and R. T. HARTMAN. 1960. Ecology of Algae. Pymatuning Laboratory
of Field Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
USINCER, R. L. 1956. Aquatic Insects of California With Keys to North American
Genera and California Species. University of California Press, Berkeley.
WELCH, P. S. 1948. Limnological Methods. Blakiston Co., Philadelphia.
WELCH, P. S. 1952. Limnology. McGraw-Hill, New York.
WHIPPLE, G. C. (Rev. by G. M. Fair and M. C. Whipple). 1948. The Microscopy of
Drinking Water (4th ed.). John Wiley and Sons, New York.
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7
Investigative Preparation and
Techniques
Objectives
STUDY objectives are a necessary and important beginning to any
investigation. Careful thought and consideration should be given
to their development. The objective should encompass clear, concise,
positive definitions of the investigation's purpose, its scope, and its
boundary limits. Study objectives should be realistically oriented to the
number, competencies, and disciplines of the investigators. They should
be adjusted to budgetary limitations for the study, as well as to the
length of time allocated for the study, including the final report prepara-
tion. Ultimately, as the study progresses, and at its conclusion, the
study's success and accomplishments will be judged in part on the
extent to which it fulfilled the objectives stated at the study's instiga-
tion. Study objectives become important tools to guide subsequent
investigations and to delineate avenues of approach toward problem
solving.
Study objectives should be committed to writing as the first act in
formulating an essential study plan. When properly developed, they
will ensure adherence to essential investigation and discourage pursuit
of the interesting but nonessential bypaths or tangential considerations
that so often dominate and defeat a well intended purpose. Written
objectives fix the responsibility of those charged with supervision of
the study and they provide a basis for judging the extent to which
the results meet the needs that justified the initial undertaking.
Waterways are studied for many reasons. One very excellent reason
in the high school or beginning college curriculum is that of training
the future investigators of this Nation in the science and art of using
the tools of investigation successfully to formulate a sound judgment
that accurately depicts existing conditions.
Studies of waterways may be designed to consider water quality at
a single point or to determine changing water quality throughout a
reach of waterway. The former involves one or more unrelated sampling
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stations on a water system whereas the latter involves an examination
of data from a series of related sampling stations selected to reflect
both instantaneous changes in water quality caused by waste discharges
or major tributaries, as well as the more subtle changes that result
from natural purification processes. In either case, samples may be
collected from chosen stations on a periodic basis with the periodicity
of sampling being determined by the types of samples being collected
and the general needs of the study.
Objectives of water quality studies that require samples from a
single station or isolated stations would include:
• The establishment of a baseline record of water quality.
• Investigation of the suitability of an area for a water supply
source for municipal, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or
other uses.
• Investigation of the suitability of water quality for the propaga-
tion of aquatic life, including fish.
• Monitoring waste water discharges and their effects at a particular
site.
• Research or demonstration on analytical procedures for water
quality examination.
Objectives that require the examination of water quality from sta-
tions located at related points on the waterway include:
• Determination of the nature and extent of pollution from point
or non-point pollution sources.
• Determination of adherence to or violation of water quality
standards.
• Determination of characteristics and rates of natural purification
of waterways.
• Determination of causes of fish kills and other catastrophic events
involving water quality deterioration.
• Determination of existing water quality through a waterway reach
prior to some anticipated event that would be expected to alter
water quality.
• Research and demonstration of techniques of waterway investiga-
tion.
• Serve as an environmental training laboratory to train water
quality investigators.
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• Serve as a basis for predicting water quality changes that may be
caused by anticipated increased pollutional loads or the imple-
mentation of certain pollution abatement or control activities.
• Serve as a data base for projecting a cost-benefit analyses of a
water management effort.
Planning
Planning for a waterway investigation involves a myraid of details
that are essential for the completion of a successful study. The first
essential activity is to become familiar with available information
on the waterway under investigation that may relate to the present
activity. Seldom is the investigation of a waterway an original event.
Most lakes and streams in the Nation have been investigated to some
extent by someone and many prognostications and predictions have
been recorded by previous investigators relating to the quality of water
within a given reach of the waterway or the effects of significant anti-
cipated changes in the watercourse that may affect water quality.
The results of these investigations and prognostications have been
recorded in either published or unpublished reports, the latter of
which may reside in a now obscure file of an appropriate State
agency. Much time and effort in redoing what already has been done
can be saved on the part of the investigator by searching out and
becoming familiar with the past studies that relate to the waterway
in question.
Good field maps of the watercourse under investigation must be
secured and the points of access noted. Factors affecting the investiga-
tion should be recorded on the map and these include locations of
various water uses, geographical boundaries such as State limits or
other significant landmarks, and marked changes in waterway character-
istics such as the entry of free-flowing streams into reservoirs or lakes.
The approximate location of known waste sources such as industries,
municipalities or other significant contributors should be marked.
The approximate length of the waterway to be investigated should
be noted, as well as the area of the watercourse that will impact the
study. Tentative sampling stations should be selected from the maps
based on points of access and stream mile designations developed for
major landmarks on the waterway and the location of waste sources.
Development of these conditions necessitates that the selected maps
be accurate and of suitable scale.
Following a "desk top" analyses of available background data and
a perusal of information gathered on the waterway by other previous
investigators, a reconnaissance survey should be undertaken whenever
time permits. During a reconnaissance survey a judgment can be reached
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on the potential effects on water quality of individual and combined
waste sources, the reach or reaches of waterway that are of potentially
greatest concern in the particular investigation, and points of access
and anticipated sampling sites. Certain judgments should be reached
during the reconnaissance survey that will save much time and effort
at a later date. These would include the advantages and disadvantages
of sampling by boat as opposed to collecting samples from bridges
and by wading, or by a car top or trailered boat that may be lowered
into the water from several points of access along the waterway.
Reaching this decision will necessitate observations on stream width,
depth, nature and type of stream bed, relative flow, as well as any
morphometric features that would influence a sampling procedure.
The availability of boats for rental along the waterway and the avail-
ability of suitable access points for the types of samples to be collected
should be ascertained during such a reconnaissance. Also contacts may
be made with local officials or local investigators who may be encouraged
to participate in some manner with the actual investigation. Arrange-
ment should be made with landowners to cross private lands at times
when samples are to be collected from the waterway should this be a
necessity.
A minimal number of samples should be collected from readily
available access points along the waterway during the reconnaissance
survey to ascertain the relative water quality at various points and
to aid in the judgment of selecting sampling stations. This may
involve the collection of water samples or certain chemical analyses
and it should involve the examination of rocks, twigs, or submersed
debris to ascertain the types of biota that are able to exist in a given
reach of the waterway. Much can be determined about the water
quality through a cursory examination of the types of attached
organisms that may be found in a given area excluding the bacterio-
logical water quality. Observations of visible conditions along a water-
way associated with a brief examination of attached organisms on
submersed objects should be sufficient to delineate appropriate sampling
sites for future investigation.
Following the completion of a reconnaissance survey, and subject
to modification or change during the course of the actual field sampling,
decisions can be made on: (1) types of samples necessary to meet the
objectives of the study (i.e., various physical, chemical, and biological
samples); (2) sampling points for each of the selected types of samples;
(3) periodicity of sampling and approximate time necessary for col-
lection of a specific sample; and (4) approximate numbers of samples
necessary to meet the objectives of the study.
Often the objectives of the study will be sufficiently broad that a
number of investigative disciplines will be required to complete the
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investigation. It is axiomatic that the chemist, microbiologist, water
quality engineer, biologist, hydrologist, and others are equally essential
to the development of a sound perspective of water quality.
The next aspect of study planning involves the details necessary
to initiate the process of data collection. Decisions must be made
on methods of sample handling between the point of collection and
the point of analytical result, sample preservation, and transportation
of samples to a base laboratory. Often biological samples may be
preserved for examination at some future and more convenient time.
Certain samples for chemical analyses also may be preserved for a
short period of time until they can be analyzed at an appropriate
laboratory where precision instruments are available. Sample collection
containers must be obtained and the number of these will depend
upon the relative number of samples to be collected during the in-
vestigation. Sampling equipment, data cards, notebooks, and all of
the necessary paraphernalia associated with the collection, retention,
and shipment of samples must be obtained and organized. Arrange-
ments must be made to transport such equipment to the study site
and to ensure that it is at hand when the field investigators arrive.
Collecting and field analytical gear should be checked and rechecked
to determine that no essential piece of equipment has been omitted
from the materials necessary for the investigation and to determine
that the equipment is operable and functions according to designed
specifications. The planning of a local study as a part of a high
school or college curriculum should be equally comprehensive not
only because of its training value but also because the results of an
investigation are influenced to a great extent by the preliminary
planning that goes into the initiation of the investigation. Planning
should be associated closely with the objectives that define the study.
If the study is some distance from the base of operations, a portion
of the study planning involves the making of travel arrangements,
room accommodations, transportation of samples and equipment to
and from the sampling areas and arrangements for such items as
transportation during the investigation, procurement of outboard
motor gasoline, cartons or boxes for shipping collected samples, ice
to keep certain samples cold if this is a prerequisite for analyses, and
other considerations. Laboratories that will analyze collected samples
should be alerted and given an estimate of the number and kinds of
samples that will be submitted, the types of analyses required, how
the samples will be shipped and the approximate dates of arrival.
The laboratory should also be advised of the date their analytical
results will be required to meet the investigation's deadline.
A preliminary cost estimate can now be made of the investigation
under consideration and it may be that the first compromise of the
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ideal plan will be necessary. The cost must be adjusted to the available
budget. The compromise may be in a reduction in the number of
sampling stations, in the types of analyses to be made, in the number
of samples to be obtained from each station, or in combination of
these factors. Realistically, the conceived ideal for a field investigation
is seldom achieved because of resource limitation or an alteration in
time schedule that must be imposed upon the study at some point in
its persual.
There are a number of sources of information concerning investiga-
tions or problems connected with water quality in waterways. One
of the best sources is the State water pollution control agency. As
would be expected, this agency usually has the most complete collection
of information and data on factors involved with water quality within
a State. They have conducted surveys over a number of years and
have received complaints and statements from citizens over a long
period of time concerned with this subject. Other State agencies that
may have important data include the State Health Department, which
is generally responsible for supervising public water supplies; the State
Fish and Game Department; the State Geological Survey, which
cooperates with the U. S. Geological Survey in the stream gaging
program; and the Public Service Commission, which usually has juris-
diction over dams and obstruction to navigation. In addition, interstate
agencies such as the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River
Basin, the Delaware River Basin Commission, and the Ohio River
Valley Water Sanitation Commission usually have information similar
to that in State Water Pollution Control Agency files. Here the in-
formation may be confined to a river system rather than confined
to a particular State boundary. The Environmental Protection Agency
with its ten regional offices located in strategic cities throughout the
United States has a great deal of particular information on the water-
ways of the Nation. The regional office in question should be contacted
for water quality information as it may pertain to a particular study.
Federal river development agencies, such as the U. S. Corps of Engineers,
the Bureau of Reclamation of the U. S. Department of the Interior,
and the Tennessee Valley Authority are all fertile sources of information
on streams for which they have responsibility. The U. S. Geological
Survey operates stream gaging stations and reports daily stream dis-
charges throughout the Nation, usually in cooperation with the States.
The U. S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and the U. S. Marine
Fisheries Service collect data on fish and fishing. Municipal water
treatment plant operators have comprehensive records on the quality
of the water serving their source of raw water. Often these data include
both chemical and biological constituents and the record of time for
which these data have been collected extends through many years.
Waste water treatment plant operators often keep a log of the quality
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of their waste water and, in rare instances, have data on stream water
quality both upstream and downstream from their discharge point.
Often particular individuals have had an interest in a particular
statistic of water quality at a given point for a long period of time.
These data may be very accurate but also may be difficult to authen-
ticate. But, such data are a source of valuable information as back-
ground upon which to base further investigations.
Data Collection
The collection of data on a particular study involves talking to
people who are concerned with the problem in question and in
obtaining their views. Many of these citizens have had long experience
with the problems and may be dissatisfied with the speed of obtaining
visible water quality improvement. The views of laymen may indicate
approaches that should be pursued in the investigation that otherwise
might be omitted.
The collection of field data for a survey by a high school or college
team need not be sophisticated. Visual observations of water quality
conditions and abundant substantiating pictures of such observations
are important components to depict the story of waterway conditions.
A determination of the kinds of organisms attached to submersed
objects within the waterway is an important adjunct to a study of
this type. This determination can be made by use of such common
tools as a garden rake or a dip net to obtain the sample or by picking
up the submersed object by hand and washing or scrapping the
attached organisms from it. The organisms are then identified to major
groups and the numbers present in such groups should indicate in a
very general way the water quality of the area from which the samples
were obtained. Routine chemical samples can be analyzed by kits for
such analyses, which contain the necessary fixative and testing chemicals.
Field analytical kits have been found not to offer the precision that
can be obtained with stationary equipment in a laboratory but they
are entirely adequate for the type of study described above.
The collection of data and samples from a particular station involves
making a number of scientific observations. Flow measurements on
streams, inlets and outlets to standing bodies of water such as lakes
and reservoirs, suspected municipal and industrial waste sources, and
water use drawoff and return points, which can be correlated with
sampling dates, are of utmost importance. Such data permit a calcula-
tion of the amounts of particular water quality constituents passing a
point at a given time, and estimates can be made from these data on
daily, monthly, or annual contributions. Rainfall may be a contributing
factor to investigations concerning major aquatic plant nutrients and
should be sampled to determine annual contributing amounts of
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FIELD COLLECTION CARD
Date Hour Collector .
Field Designation
Station Location
Sample No. Stream Miles
Weather
inn Samnle Henth
Pepth
nn
ftlk Tot Alk
: Ek : Pet : Sq Ft
Current
pH
Cnnri
: Qual : :
Bottom: Rock: C. Gravel F : C. Sand F.
% : Sandy Loam: Silt Loam: Silt:
: C. Clay F : Organic Sludge:
Sample Location
River: Width
: Temp
: Phth
Sampler
No. of Samples: : : : : :
Fish: Gear : Shocker : Dip Net : Seine : :
Sample Time : : : : :
Sample Area : : : : :
Remarks:
Figure 1. Field Collection Card for Benthic Samples.
Desired items for a field biological collection card may be arranged on a 5" x 8" unlined
card for convenience. Cards can be carried in a field notebook; they may be filed after field
and laboratory use. The backside of the card may be ruled to itemize the organisms observed
in the laboratory examination of the collected sample.
nitrogen and phosphorus. A house-to-house survey of the area draining
to a watercourse may be indicated to determine types of waste treatment
and to project potential impact of wastes that are discharged to or
reach the watercourse. The types and amounts of fertilizers applied
to lands within the drainage basin, as well as the period of the year
when fertilizers are applied, may be of importance to the study.
Groundwater may be a factor and should be sampled from appropriate
adjacent wells for those constituents of importance.
On approaching a stream station a number of observations must
be made. Observations are made on water depth; presence of riffles
and pools; stream width; flow characteristics; bank cover; presence of
slime growths, attached algae, scum algae and other aquatic plants,
as well as red sludgeworm masses; and unusual physical characteristics
such as silt deposits, organic sludge deposits, iron precipitates, or
various waste materials from manufacturing processes.
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Organisms associated with the stream bed are studied most often
in the biological evaluation of water quality. These organisms are
valuable to relate water quality because they are not equipped to
move great distances through their own efforts and, thus, remain at
fixed points to indicate water quality. Because the life history of many
of these organisms extends through one year or longer, their presence
or absence is indicative of water quality within the past, as well as
the present. Bottom-associated organisms are relatively easy to capture
with conventional sampling equipment and the amount of time and
effort devoted to their capture and interpretation is not as great as
that required for other segments of the aquatic community.
The investigator should ask himself three basic questions: Based
on a knowledge of preferred organism habitats, what bottom fauna
should be expected at this station? Specifically, where would one expect
to find these creatures? What is the appropriate gear with which to
capture them? A close search of the respective areas should be made
by noting and collecting qualitatively the various types of organisms.
A commercial 30-mesh sieve is a handy exploratory tool.
The qualitative search for benthos should involve the collection of
organisms from rocks, plants, submersed twigs or debris, or leaves of
overhanging trees that become submersed and waterlogged. It is often
convenient to scrape and wash organisms from these materials into a
bucket or tub partially filled with water and then to pass this water
through the sieve to concentrate and retain the organisms. The collected
sample may be preserved for organism sorting and identification later.
The investigator should search until he is certain that he has collected
the majority of species that can tolerate the particular environment.
In some environments it is possible only to collect qualitative samples
because the physical nature of the waterway may be such that quantita-
tive sampling is not feasible.
Qualitative sampling determines the variety of species occupying a
reach of a waterway. Samples may be taken by any method that will
capture representatives of the species present. Collections from such
samplings indicate changes in the environment, but they generally do
not accurately reflect the degree of change. Mayflies, for example, may
be reduced in the stream because of adverse conditions from 1QO to 1
per square foot, whereas sludgeworms may increase from 1 to 14,000
per square foot. Qualitative data would indicate the presence of both
species, but might not necessarily delineate the change in predominance
from mayflies to sludgeworms.
The basic principle in qualitative sampling is to collect as many
different kinds of animals as practical. Obviously, because of the
rarity of some forms, the probability of collecting a specimen of every
70
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kind is remote and a limit must be imposed on the collector's efforts.
Two convenient limiting methods are:
(1) Presetting a time limit on the collector's effort at each sampling
point. A minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of an hour
is a convenient range in which to establish this limit.
(2) Sampling in an area until new forms are encountered so in-
frequently that "the law of diminishing returns" dictates aban-
doning the sampling point. This method requires professional
judgment—but if after 10 minutes only a single species or
organism is found, the sampler can move to the next sampling
site where he might continue to find new forms after searching
more than an hour.
A number of tools readily obtained in any community are valuable
in this type of sampling:
a. Pocket-knives are excellent tools to remove animals from crevices
in rocks, to peel bark from decaying logs thus exposing animals,
and to slip under animals to lift and transfer them to sample
containers.
b. Mason jars in y2 to 1 pint sizes serve as the most economical
sample containers and provide visibility of the preserved speci-
mens.
c. Common garden rakes are valuable to retrieve rocks, brush, logs
and aquatic vegetation for inspection.
d. Fine-meshed dip-nets are good devices for sweeping animals from
vegetation or out from under overhanging rock ledges.
e. Buckets are handy to quickly receive rocks and debris, thus
preventing escape of the swift running animals.
f. Sheet polyethyelene, 6x6 feet, can be spread on the stream
bank and substrate materials placed upon it. As the materials
begin to dry the animals will abandon their hiding places and
can be seen readily as they migrate across the sheet seeking
water.
g. U. S. Standard Series No. 30 soil sieves can be used to scoop
up fine sediments and sieve out its inhabitants. The entire
qualitative sample can also be screened to standardize the organ-
ism sizes taken at various sample sites.
h. Any other tools, such as forceps, scalpels, shovels, and forks are
legitimate devices and can prove their merit in individual
situations.
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Plate 17. Biological collecting equipment. From left, Kemmerer sampler, Ekman dredge,
U.S. Standard No. 30 sieve, washing bucket, and Petersen dredge.
Following these general observations, the investigator collects appro-
priate quantitative samples of the various kinds of organisms present
in the aquatic area. He makes certain that: (1) The sampling area
selected is representative of stream conditions, and (2) the sample
is representative of and contains those forms predominant in the
area and encountered during the qualitative search.
Bottom samples in soft areas usually may be collected with an Ekman
dredge, although the physical composition of the bottom determines to
a great extent the type of sampler that must be used to collect an
adequate sample. The Ekman dredge (Ekman, 1911) consists of a square
box of sheet brass 6x6 inches in cross section.* The lower opening of
this box is closed by a pair of strong jaws so made and installed that
they oppose each other. When open, the jaws are pulled apart so that
the whole bottom of the box is open; the jaws are held open by chains
attached to trip pins. To close the dredge, the trip pins are released by
a brass messenger sent down the attachment rope and the jaws snap
shut by two strong external springs. The hinged top of the box may be
equipped with a permanent 30-mesh screen to prevent loss of organisms
if the sample sinks into mud deeper than its own height. The sampler
is especially adapted for use in soft, finely divided mud and muck; it
does not function properly on sand bottoms or hard substrates. The
Ekman can also be mounted on a pipe for shallow stream sampling and
tripped by a thrust-through rod.
* Ekmans arc made also in 9" x 9" and 12" x 12" sizes, but because of size of
grabs, these are almost impossible to operate effectively on many occasions. Through
long experience the author recommends only the 6" x 6" size.
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The Petersen dredge (Petersen, 1911) is a most versatile stream bed
sampler to collect bottom life. It is widely used to sample hard bottoms
such as sand, gravel, marl, clay, and similar materials. It is an iron clam-
type dredge, samples an area of 0.6 to 0.8 square foot, and weighs
between 35 and 70 pounds depending on the rare use of additional
weights that may be bolted to its sides. By means of a rope, the dredge
is slowly lowered to the bottom to avoid disturbing and flushing away
significant lighter materials. As tension is eased on the rope, the mech-
anism holding the jaws apart is released. As the rope is again made
taut, a sample is secured. The operator controls the dredge by main-
taining tension on the rope until the dredge is placed. This is helpful
in sampling gravel or rubble, as the operator can determine through
sound and touch the type of bottom and by carefully manipulating the
dredge, can secure a better sample than would otherwise be possible.
In streams with gravel and rubble beds that permit wading, another
technique is for the investigator to place the dredge and then stand on
the jaws working them into the stream bed with his weight, thus
gradually closing them. When the dredge is surfaced, careful and rapid
placement and subsequent discharge, endwise, of the dredge into a
bucket whose lip is placed at the water's surface prevents loss of
material.
The orange-peel dredge is a multijawed, round dredge with a canvas
closure serving as a portion of the sample compartment. It is available
in a variety of sizes. Its sampling area is a function of depth of penetra-
tion and this area must be calibrated, usually with the volume of sedi-
ment contents. It has received wide use in marine waters and in the
Great Lakes, where it has advantages over other tools for sampling
sandy substrates.
The ponar dredge is receiving increased use in deep lakes. In com-
parative studies it is more efficient than the Petersen dredge when sam-
ples are secured from deep (> 100 feet) waters. In appearance it is simi-
lar to a Petersen dredge but it has side-plates and a screen on the top
of the sample compartment.
The Smith-Mclntyre dredge has the heavy steel construction of the
Petersen, but its jaws are closed by strong coil springs. Its principal
advantage is its stability or operator control in rough waters. Its bulk
and heavy weight requires operation from large boats equipped with a
powered winch.
Core samplers have been used to sample sediments in depth and
collect small areas (2-4 sq. inches) of the mud-water interface. Their
efficient use requires dense animal populations. Corer design varies from
hand-pushed tubes to explosive driven and automatic surfacing models.
The Phleger type is the most widely used corer in water quality studies.
73
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It is a gravity corer, relying on its weight (near 100 Ibs.) to drive its
sample tube into the substrate. The length of core retained will vary
with substrate texture; 30 inches is near the maximum length. A core
of this length is adequate for most physical, chemical or fossil examina-
tion to delineate recent environmental changes.
The Wilding, or stove-pipe, sampler is the only sampler that will
quantitatively sample the fauna inhabiting the bottom and/or the vege-
tation in areas with dense aquatic weed growths. Its operation may be
restricted to the vegetation, or mud-water interface sediment may be
included.
Drift nets may be suspended in flowing waters to capture inverte-
brates that have migrated into the water mass from the bottom
substrates and are temporarily being transported by currents. Their
principal uses have been to study migratory movements and to evaluate
sublethal toxicants, especially insecticides, on the fauna. Before toxi-
cants become lethal the animals are weakened and cannot maintain
their benthic position and thus are swept away by the currents and
carried into the nets.
These nets must be standardized in an individual study. As of now
no single style of net has been standardized among investigators. It is
recommended that these nets be designed with a 1 x 1 foot upstream
opening, with U. S. Standard Series No. 30 netting (or finer, with sub-
sequent screening for uniform organism size), and with a net-bag length
of 36 inches.
After suspension in the water, these nets require constant tending.
Within a fraction of an hour the nets' efficiency is reduced through
clogging of the net by drifting animals and detritus that soon results in
significant volumes of water and organisms being diverted around the
mouth of the net.
After the bottom sample is collected by one of the deepwater sam-
pling devices, it is brought to the surface and placed in a large pail or
tub. Water for sample dilution is added to the pail, and the sample is
mixed into a slurry with the slurry finally being passed through a U. S.
Standard No. 30 mesh sieve while the sieve is being rotated in the water.
The washing operation is repeated until all fine material has passed
through the sieve, and all organisms are retained in the sieve. The
organisms and coarser debris are then removed from the sieve and are
preserved. It is often easier to sort the organisms from the debris when
the organisms are alive. Time schedules and extensive field operations,
however, often dictate that sample collection and examination take
place at different times during the year. Wide-mouthed tapered pint
freeze jars, obtainable from most grocery stores, have proven to be
excellent bottom organism sample containers. When these jars are filled
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half full with 10 percent formalin before the day's activities of sample
collection, it is a time-saving process to transfer the concentrated sample
from the side of the sieve to the jar of preservative by lightly hitting
the sieve against the top of the jar. The investigator is assured always
of a minimum of 5 percent formalin in the sample container, a sufficient
strength to preserve the collected organisms. After the samples are pre-
served in the field they are returned to the laboratory where the or-
ganisms are separated from the debris, placed in respective groups,
identified, and enumerated.
To sample riffle areas in streams, a square-foot bottom sampler, origi-
nally described by Surber (1936), is widely used. It consists of two 1
foot-square brass frames hinged together at right angles; one frame sup-
ports the net which is held extended downstream by current velocities,
the other encloses the sampling area. In field operation, the sampler is
so placed that organisms dislodged by hand from the substratum within
the sampling frame will be carried into the net by the current. In
stagnant or in slowly moving water, it often is not practical to employ
this square-foot sampler.
In practice, it may be found convenient to remove the larger rocks
from inside the sampling frame, placing them in a bucket or tub par-
tially filled with water. Here, the organisms can be washed or scrapped
from the rocks, and concentrated by a sieve as described earlier, before
being combined with those from the Surber sampler in a sample jar
with preservative.
Artificial substrates have been successfully employed in studying
bottom-fauna in flowing streams. One multiple-plate sampler con-
structed of tempered hardboard (Hester and Dendy, 1962) has been
especially suitable for studying stream inhabitants in those streams that
do not possess a natural substrate suitable for the attachment of benthic
forms. A sampler constructed of eight 3-inch squares, separated by seven
1-inch squares, and held in place by a bolt or threaded rod exposes
slightly more than 1 square foot of surface to which organisms can
attach.
Artificial substrates are placed in the water for 3- to 6-weeks and then
carefully removed to prevent losing the organisms that have made them
a temporary home. As nearly as possible the substrates should be placed
at similar depths and in similar physical relationship to the stream at
all stations. Usually they are placed about 1-foot beneath the surface
or 1-foot off the stream bed. The multiple-plate sampler can be reduced
in size to three plates only and placed vertically near the surface, at
mid-depth, and near the bottom at a particular station. Loss of some
substrates because of vandalism or flooding should be anticipated.
Periphyton include the assemblage of organisms that grow on free
surfaces of submersed objects in water and cover them with a slimy coat.
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Plate 18. A multiple-plate artificial substrate colonized by aquatic organisms.
(Hester-Dendy type).
Cooke (1956) comprehensively reviews the literature on the subject.
Periphyton play an important role in flowing waters because these
organisms are the major primary producers in that environment. Thus,
they are an important part of a lake or reservoir study of both the
influent and receiving streams. A number of substrates have been pro-
posed with which to study attached organisms including glass slides,
cement blocks, wooden shingles, and plexiglass plates (Grzenda and
Brehmer, 1960). Growths on such substrates may be analyzed qualita-
tively or quantitatively.
The type of artificial substrate employed to collect organisms is not
terribly important as long as the same type is used at all such sampling
stations in a particular investigation. Any type will be somewhat selec-
tive to those organisms that are attracted to it. They do tend to favor
drift organisms or those that become detached from their dwelling areas
and float downstream with the current. When the same type of sampler
-------
is used at each station, data collected among the stations should be
comparable.
Patrick et al. (1954) developed a slide-carrying device, termed the
Catherwood Diatometer, to sample the diatom populations of streams.
It consists of a plastic base mounted on a lead bar shaped like a boat.
On the plastic base are mounted two floats designed so that the depth
to which the diatometer is sunk can be varied. Between the floats,
behind a plastic V-shaped vane, the plastic slide holder slotted to hold
six slides vertically is mounted edgewise to the current. The vane
prevents excess washing of the slides. It was stated that 1 week was
sufficient to expose the slides and that the population of an unpolluted
stream could be estimated as adequately with this method as with the
usual methods of collecting diatoms. Calculations upon which these
estimates are based must be corrected when dealing with polluted
streams.
A comprehensive review on limnological methods to investigate peri-
phytic communities has been prepared by Sladeckova (1962). She lists
448 references as a bibliography and portrays a large number of devices
on which attached organisms can grow and be sampled. In a summary
she states that there is no single, universal method for the quantitative
evaluation of periphyton for every purpose. An analysis of ecological
factors influencing the periphytic community may make methods for
the evaluation of this community on natural substrata preferable. On
the contrary, the use of artificial substrata is essential for the determina-
tion of periphyton formation on a unit area or for the study of coloni-
zation and stratification of attached organisms, especially in deep water.
The choice of exposure technique is often determined by circumstance.
The duration of exposure must be tested in advance. Lund and Tailing
(1957) completed an earlier review with 777 references; they also dis-
cussed methods with special reference to algae, both planktonic and
attached. Sladecek and Sladeckova (1964) discussed the glass slide
method for the determination of periphytic production in particular.
Methods were cited for the calculation of production rates.
In the study of attached organisms in waters receiving acid mine
drainage, it was found that extreme corrosion of the slide holding
device contributed to a substantial loss of samplers during the study
period. A type of putty (Plasti-tak *) has been found to be extremely
useful to secure microscope slides to clay bricks or to the upper fiber
board plate of a multiplate sampler (Thomas, 1968). Advantages to
this procedure include good holding power, noncorrosive aspects in
acid or salt water, ease of artificial substrate placement, low cost, and
removal of single slides without disturbing adjacent ones. The surface
* Mention of a commercial product does not constitute endorsement by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
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to which the adhesive is applied must be dry and clean and the adhesive
will release in fast water after about 3 weeks.
To obtain a history of sediment deposition or to permit selection of
strata within the sediments, sampling of these by a commercial core
sampling device is expedient. Much information of a historic nature
can be obtained and can be related to the problem under investigation
through the chemical and biological examination of sediment cores.
Samples collected for plankton analysis are most often similar to those
collected for the analyses of chemical water quality. They may be col-
lected with the aid of a Kemmerer sampler or similar device that per-
mits capture of a sample from a particular water strata.
Fish samples may be collected by nets, seines, poisons, and electro-
fishing. Electrofishing is conducted by means of an alternating or direct
electrical current applied to water that has a resistance different from
the fish. This difference in resistance to pulsating direct current stimu-
lates the swimming muscles for short periods of time, causing the fish
to orient and be attracted to the positive electrode. An electrical field
of sufficient potential to demobilize the fish is present near the positive
electrode, but decreases in intensity with distance. After the fish are
identified, weighed, and measured, they can be returned to the water
uninjured.
The electrofishing unit may consist of a 110-volt, 60 cycle, heavy duty
generator, an electrical control section, which is a modified commer-
cially sold variable voltage pulsator, and electrodes. The electrical con-
trol section provides selection of voltages from 50 to 700 volts a.c. and
25 to 350 volts d.c. The a.c. current acts as a standby for the d.c. cur-
rent and is used in cases of extremely low water resistance. The variable
voltage allows control of field size in various types of water.
Meaningful samples of littoral vegetation may be difficult to secure.
Sampling, per se, is often not necessary. It is usually sufficient to map,
identify, and estimate abundance of the principal components of the
aquatic vegetation population.
Sample Analyses
When samples are collected of animals associated with the lake or
stream bed the organisms and debris are usually preserved with 10 per-
cent formalin. The formalized sample is washed in the laboratory to
remove the strong formalin solution. From this point it is necessary to
remove and segregate the animals on which an interpretation will be
made from the debris within the sample jar. A number of flotation
methods have been proposed by various authors to reduce the time
expended in this operation. When an investigation includes stream
78
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reaches that are heavily polluted with organic sludges or that produce
prolific growths of slimes and other attached organisms, flotation meth-
ods do not work well. Thus, as a routine measure the somewhat labo-
rious effort of separating organisms from debris through hand sorting
must be employed.
A white enamel pan with a depth of approximately H/2" is often
used in the hand picking operation. It is convenient to fill half the pan
with water and then place 2 or 3 tablespoons of material from the
sample jar in the center of the pan. By teasing the sample to all sides
with the aid of forceps, small animals can be removed without difficulty.
It is helpful for later identification to keep the removed organisms
separated into the taxonomic groups that are discernible with the un-
aided eye. When it is noted that organisms within the collected sample
are limited to a few (2 to 4) kinds and are extremely abundant as they
often are when sludgeworms reproduce in great numbers in organic
sludge, samples may be split to reduce time and labor in removing
organisms. This is accomplished by placing the sample in the white
pan without water, leveling the sample surface, and randomly selecting
Vz> /4» Vi6> or Vs2> °f trie sample for organism removal. When this is
done, the entire sample should be examined for those larger organisms
that may not be numerous. In reports written principally for those
outside of the biological discipline, bottom fauna abundance is ex-
pressed usually as the number of a particular kind of organism per
square foot. Organisms from 6" x 6" Ekman dredge samples, for ex-
ample, would be multiplied by 4 to arrive at the number per square
foot. When the sample is split and only an aliquot examined, the
appropriate conversion multiplication must also be used. Further iden-
tification through the use of a stereoscopic microscope and counts to
ascertain numbers within a particular group are made to facilitate
interpretation of water quality.
Slimes and other attached growths are identified and estimates made
of relative abundance. Quantitative methods are often employed.
Chlorophyll determinations may be used as an indicator of those plants
that possess this material and the determination is often helpful to
separate attached algal quantities from slimes.
Chlorophyll, an enzyme present in green plants, in the presence of
light converts carbon dioxide and water to basic sugar, a process that is
termed photosynthesis. Chlorophyll increases in lakes as the lakes be-
come more eutrophic; thus chlorophyll measurements provide compara-
tive data on eutrophication.
Chlorophyll-bearing cells may be filtered from the water with mem-
brane filters (0.45 micron pore). Filters and cells are placed in vials of
acetone for extraction of the pigments and for solution of the filters
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(Creitz and Richards, 1955). Samples are then centrifuged to remove
particulate suspended materials. The clear supernatant pigment-bearing
acetone is examined on a recording spectrophotometer. Spectrums are
evaluated and the quantity of chlorophyll determined as outlined by
Richards with Thompson (1952).
Some waters contain sufficient plankton (phyto- and/or zooplankton)
so that samples must be diluted to obtain adequate numerical informa-
tion; however, with a sparse plankton sample, concentration should be
used. The phytoplankton in samples from most natural waters require
neither dilution nor concentration and should be enumerated directly.
Correspondingly, zooplankton often are not sufficiently abundant to be
counted without concentration. Selection of methods and materials used
in plankton enumeration depends on objectives of the study, density of
plankters in the waters being investigated, equipment available, and
experience of the investigator.
The Sedgwick-Rafter cell has been and continues to be the most
commonly employed device for plankton enumeration because it is
easily manipulated and provides reasonably reproducible information
when used with a calibrated microscope equipped with an eyepiece
measuring device, usually a Whipple ocular micrometer. It can be used
to enumerate undiluted, concentrated, or diluted plankton samples.
The biggest disadvantage associated with the cell is magnification. The
cell cannot be used for enumerating very small plankton unless the
microscope is equipped with special lenses that provide sufficient mag-
nification (400 x or greater) and clearance between objective lenses and
the cell.
The Sedgwick-Rafter cell is 50-mm. long by 20-mm. wide by 1-mm.
deep. Since the total area is 1,000 mm.2, the total volume is 1X 1012
cubic ft,, l.OOO.3 or 1 ml. A "strip" the length of the cell thus constitutes a
volume 50-mm. long, 1-mm. deep, and the width of the Whipple field.
Two or four strips usually are counted, depending on the density of
plankters. Counting more than four strips is not expedient when there
are many samples to be enumerated; concentrating procedures then
should be employed, and counts made of plankters in the concentrate.
1,000
No. per ml. = Actual Count x^n FTTS—=—^-7 =r
^ Volume of Strip (mm.3)
If the sample has been concentrated, the concentration factor is di-
vided into the actual count to derive the number of organisms per ml.
For separate field counts (usually 10 or more fields):
1,000
No. per ml. = avg. count per field x -^rr cc u—™ Jg ,,—
r 6 r Volume of field x No. of fields
When special lenses are not used and there is a need to enumerate
80
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small plankton, unusually abundant, other procedures may be employed
in conjunction with and related to counts obtained from the Sedgwick-
Rafter cell.
Lackey (1938) used a drop counting method in his examination of
Scioto River, Ohio, phytoplankton. In this method, the sample is first
centrifuged and ". . . after thorough agitation by alternately sucking
it in and spurting it out of the pipette, the exact number of drops was
counted and a sufficient number of drops of the decanted portion was
added, so that one drop of catch bore a definite relationship to the
amount centrifuged." One drop of sample is put on a glass slide and
a cover glass added; 5 low-power fields and 10 high-power fields are
examined, and the number of each species is recorded at the magnifica-
tions used. Enumeration is repeated on 3 such mounts for a total of
15 low-power fields and 30 high-power fields.
No. per ml = avg. no. per field x no. of fields per drop or per cover
slip x no. of drops per ml -H- the concentration factor.
The concentration factor = ml of original sample-^ ml of concentrate
X (100 —percent of preservative in sample).
Lackey's method has the advantages of including all organisms in the
catch, simplicity and ease of manipulation, and instant use of the high
power magnification where identification with the low power is ques-
tionable. Certain disadvantages are inherent in the method: (1) because
water normally is used as a mounting medium enumeration must be
accomplished relatively rapidly to prevent dessication and subsequent
distortion of organisms; (2) results are not sufficiently accurate when
only one slide-mount is examined thus, it is necessary to prepare and
enumerate at least three or more slide-mounts; and (3) the investigator
should be sufficiently familiar with plankton to rapidly identify and
count the specimens encountered.
Plankton samples have been successfully concentrated by settling with
a liquid detergent and counted by the drop technique. To concentrate
the phytoplankton, 500 ml. of sample were placed in 1-liter glass settling
cylinders to which were added 20 ml. of commercial formalin to pre-
serve the sample, and 10 ml. of a detergent to settle the sample. Sedi-
mentation of the plankton was complete in 24 hours, after which the
supernatant was carefully siphoned from the cylinder, and the concen-
trate was washed into screw-capped storage vials and brought to the
nearest 5 ml. by the addition of 4 percent formalin and the use of a
volume standard. In making the drop count, 5 low-power fields and
10 high-power fields were observed on this slide, and the magnification
as well as number of each species of organisms was recorded. This pro-
cedure was repeated on 3 such mounts so that totals of 15 low-power
fields and 30 high-power fields were observed. The number of a par-
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ticular type of organism in 1-liter of water was determined by the
following formula:
(Avg No./Held) (No. fields/coverslip) (No. drops/ml) x 1,000
'' ~~ Concentration factor
ml. of original sample
The concentration f actor=-
(ml. of concentrate) (0.94)
where 0.94 accounts for the dilution of the sample by the addition of
formalin and the detergent.
The average volume in cubic microns of each species was obtained
by measuring 20 individuals. The volume contributed by each species
was expressed in parts per million by use of the following formula:
Volume (ppm) = (No. org/1) (avg species vol in /t3) X 10~9.
Segments of lake bottom core samples may be analyzed microscopi-
cally to determine the diatom composition of the layered segments. To
examine diatomaceous sediments in lake bed core sediments, an aliquot
solids sample based on a packed volume of a selected core segment is
oven-dried, suspended in equal parts of water and concentrated nitric
acid, gently boiled for 45 minutes, and allowed to cool. Potassium
dichromate crystals (0.1 gram) are added, the mixture cooled, washed
into a centrifuge tube, and water added. The sample is washed 3 times
by alternately centrifuging, decanting, and adding water. The inorganic
residue is then diluted to a specific volume of water (200 ml. per gram
of original sample), then 2 drops of liquid household detergent are
added, the sample is stirred, and 2 drops of sample are withdrawn by a
large bore pipette and placed on a cover slip. The sample on the cover
slip is evaporated to dryness on a hot plate. Following drying the hot
plate temperature is increased to 350°F, a clean microscopic slide is
placed thereon, and a large drop of suitable microscopic mounting
media such as Harleco * or Styrax * is placed on the slide. After 10
minutes, with slight cooling, the cover slip with the dried sample is
inverted onto the mounting medium drop and pressed firmly into place.
The slide is then examined for diatom skeletons.'
* Mention of commercial products does not constitute endorsement by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
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8
[Stream Surveys
Study Plan
A STY field investigative technical study should be preceded by a study
plan. A study plan, which should be recorded in writing, should
delineate the steps taken in preparing for and conducting a study. The
study plan begins with a clear STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM or
need that prompted the investigation. It should include a description
of the problem, the importance of resolving the problem, the requestor
for the study, and the previous actions that have been undertaken to
resolve the problem.
The statement of the problem is followed by a clear statement of
AUTHORITY for conducting the study. STUDY OBJECTIVES should
follow with clear, concise, positive definitions of the investigation's
purpose, its scope, and its limitations. Study objectives provide a basis
for judging the extent to which the results of the study meet the needs
that justify the undertaking. The next sequential step in developing a
study plan is to identify the APPROACH of the investigation. The
approach contains a definition of the boundaries and location of the
study area and a map showing proposed sampling stations, approximate
distances, and other pertinent features. A description of sampling or of
data collection is included, which indicates the projected inclusive dates
of field sample collections, the types of samples to be collected, the loca-
tions from which samples will be collected, the periodicity of sample
collection, the number of replica samples for particular sampling types,
the general method of sample collection, and the number of sampling
cruises necessary to complete the collection. Data collection is followed
by a statement on laboratory analyses including the kinds of analyses
to be performed, the use of fixed or mobile laboratories, and the avail-
ability of laboratory facilities. A statement on any special equipment or
facilities that will be needed for the study should include its availability
and location. A work schedule or a timetable showing each major
project task, or a study division, with the starting and finishing dates
for the completion of the task should be included. Lastly, the study
plan should define RESOURCE LEVELS, which include an itemization
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of the estimated expenses for the study, an indication of manpower
needs by a project task, and a statement regarding the need for any
manpower in addition to that readily available.
In conducting a stream study it should be understood by the investi-
gator that a stream's physical characteristics greatly influence its reaction
to pollution and its natural purification. An understanding of the na-
ture of these influences is important to the intelligent planning and
execution of stream studies. Important physical factors include tempera-
ture, turbidity, depth, velocity, turbulence, slope, changes in direction
and in cross sections, and nature of the stream bed. These factors are
closely interrelated and acting either separately or together they influ-
ence the type of life that will become and remain associated with the
water.
Wastes Mixing
Wastes entering a stream mix vertically, from top to bottom, laterally
from one side to the other, and longitudinally from their point of
entrance to a point downstream. The distances that wastes mix in
these three directions must be considered in selecting appropriate sam-
pling stations. The vertical mixing of wastes in a stream is usually rapid
and enhanced by turbulence, which may cause vertical mixing to be
completed within a few hundred feet. Lateral mixing is generally
depended on the occurrence of relatively sharp reverse bends within
the stream, and the distance for adequate lateral mixing across the
stream may be in miles. Longitudinal mixing also is in terms of miles
or perhaps days of stream flow. The water passing a point downstream
from a waste source is not the identical mass of water that passed the
waste source at some specified earlier time. Instead it is a mixture of
particles of water that passed the waste source at different times and
spent various times in traveling to the downstream sampling point.
Such variations ultimately are averaged-out at some distance down the
stream to produce uniform concentrations of waste constituents
throughout a 24-hour period.
Waste Sources
There are a great number of different kinds of waste sources that
influence water quality and life within the receiving waters. Municipal
sewage, industrial wastes of all varieties, acid mine drainage, heat pollu-
tion, agricultural wastes, wastes from confined animal feeding areas,
logging practices, irrigation return flows, construction site siltation,
waste from ships and other vessels, and general land runoff all con-
tribute to water quality degradation. Information on some of these
wastes sources is known and can be obtained from the appropriate
governmental or other agency.
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Pertinent information on the quality and quantity of sewage inflows
can be obtained usually from the municipality operating the plant if
the State water pollution control agency has no data or if the data are
insufficient for the purposes of the investigation. Some approximation
for purposes of calculation may be useful in denning the sewage load
for a given plant. For example, the number of connected homes multi-
plied by 3.7 persons per family gives a reasonable estimate of the
sewered population. The sewered population multiplied by 0.17 pounds
of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) per person per day provides
an estimate of the BOD load of raw domestic sewage. The sewered
population multiplied by 0.2 pounds of suspended solids per capita per
day is an estimate of the suspended solids load of the raw sewage. The
total coliform bacterial load in the receiving stream, if no treatment
is provided, may be estimated by multiplying the sewered population
by 400 billion per capita per day for temperatures above 15° centigrade
and 125 billion for temperatures below 15°C. The population equiva-
lent for total phosphorus is approximately three pounds (P) per capita
per year and that of total nitrogen approximately nine pounds per
capita per year.
An estimate of the treated sewage BOD load may be made by apply-
ing conventional percentage reductions in BOD for various types of
treatment if an estimate of the raw sewage load has been made. Values
used commonly are 33 percent reduction for primary treatment, 65
percent for chemical precipitation, and 85 percent for a secondary
treatment such as trickling filter plants and about 90 percent for acti-
vated sludge plants. Reductions in suspended solids by conventional
treatment may be estimated as 55 percent for primary, 80 percent for
chemical precipitation, 80 percent for trickling filter plants, and 90
percent for activated sludge plants. Bacterial reductions may be esti-
mated as 50 percent for primary treatment, 60 percent for chemical
precipitation, between 92 and 95 percent for secondary treatment plants,
and 99 percent for chlorination following secondary treatment.
If greater reliability than that of an estimate is required for the par-
ticular investigation this type of measurement of the sewage load to
the receiving waterway can be achieved only by round-the-clock sam-
pling because of the wide variation in flow and sewage constituents
from the mid morning maximum to the minimum of early morning
hours. Raw sewage should be sampled frequently, possibly every 10 to
15 minutes because of its variability. Plant effluents may be sampled less
frequently, possibly every 30 minutes to 1 hour. Flow measurements are
necessary to determine the quantity of pollutional load and to com-
posite the samples collected in proportion to the flow at the time of
sampling, if a compositing method is used.
Industrial wastes are even more capricious than municipal wastes.
In their composition throughout a period of time, industrial wastes may
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vary significantly in their constituents with different manufacturing
processes that may be begun and stopped periodically. Thus, the knowl-
edge of the industrial process producing a given waste is essential to
predict the potential characteristics of the waste water. An appropriate
sampling schedule must be developed that will include the variations
in waste water constituency, as well as flow. The time of operation of
the industry must be taken into account in such a sampling program.
Some plants operate 8 hours a day, some 16, and some 24.
The sampling of non-point waste sources, including many of those
wastes associated with agricultural practices as well as construction,
must be designed to fit the situation being studied. Many of these waste
waters are associated with periods of intense precipitation and land
runoff, thus, they become intermittent rather than continuous dis-
charges. Some information is available in the literature regarding the
composition of confined feedlot drainage, irrigation return flows, and
general land drainage from fertilized crop lands. The predominant soils
of the area have a significant impact on the characteristics of the runoff.
The difficulties of obtaining a quantitative determination of non-point
source inflows are paramount. A method that frequently is used includes
sampling the receiving waterway at points both upstream and down-
stream from the area that is being assessed for non-point source pollu-
tion potential and ascertaining the difference between the two stations
so sampled. It is, of course, axiomatic that no significant point source
waste be present to obfuscate the results of such a determination. If a
point source waste is present, and its pollutional load is known, this
load may be subtracted from the difference between the two stations
designed to depict the loading of non-point sources to arrive at the
correct answer to the investigative problem.
Water Use Considerations
The underlying purpose of a water quality study often is to determine
the effects on uses of the water involved. A knowledge of existing and
potential water uses is therefore essential to the intelligent planning of
a water quality study. Cognizance should be given to water uses in the
placing of sampling stations. Generally the water use that requires the
highest water quality will dominate the formulation of the recommen-
dations resulting from a water quality investigation.
Water uses include those for municipal water supplies; industrial
water supply; agricultural water supply, including livestock watering,
irrigation, and domestic farm use; recreation, including swimming, wad-
ing, water skiing, boating, and aesthetic enjoyment; the propagation of
fish and other aquatic life and wildlife, including sport fishing, com-
mercial fishing, fur trapping, and as a water supply for wildlife; hydro-
power production; and navigation. Different water uses require sub-
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stantially different water qualities. Those uses that require the highest
water quality from the standpoint of chemical and microbiological con-
stituency include the uses for fish and other wildlife, recreation, and
municipal water supply.
Station Location
The selection of stations for stream sampling of chemical characteris-
tics is dependent upon judgments derived from an assessment of the
physical characteristics of the stream, as well as the predicted mixing
qualities of inflowing pollutants. As Kittrell relates in his 1969 book
that was cited as a basic reference in Chapter VI, the ideal sampling
station would be a cross section of a stream at which samples from all
points on the cross section would yield a similar concentration for each
particular constituent, and a sample taken at any time would yield the
same relative concentrations as one taken at any other time. A marriage
of these two conditions to produce the ideal sampling stations never
persists in nature for any appreciable time period. Variations in water
quality with time require that samples be collected at the proper
frequencies and times of day to ensure results representative of the
quality variations.
Seldom is it necessary to sample at various depths in a stream because
of incomplete vertical mixing. Sampling usually is at either a 5-foot or
mid-depth whichever is lesser, except for certain biological samples such
as plankton that may be sampled at a depth of about 1-foot or bacteria
that is usually sampled just beneath the surface. Lateral mixing on a
stream poses yet another problem and it is good practice to take samples
at quarter points across the stream unless a predetermination of mixing
has shown that a single sample at mid point of the main current is
adequate.
Samples should be obtained from major tributaries. As a general
rule, tributaries with flows greater than 10 to 20 percent of that of the
main stream should be sampled. Tributaries with lesser flows should
be included if they are suspected of being significantly polluted. Should
the principal interest center on the main stream, the sampling of tribu-
taries at their mouths may be adequate. It is often desirable however to
pinpoint the source of waste inflow on the tributary and to determine
its loading in pounds per day in a similar fashion to that of a waste
inflow on the main stream. The determination of the quality of waste
inflow involves an assessment of waste constituent concentrations, as
well as a gaging or a determination of the volume of waste flow. Usually
there is a variation in waste strength throughout a 24-hour period and
this variation must be detected and considered in determining the
pounds per day contribution. Similarly, an appraisal must be made of
the flow within the receiving waterway to relate the pounds of dissolved
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Plate 19. Representatives of stream bed associated animals [The clean water (Sensitive)
group]. From left: Stonefly nymph; Mayfly naiad; Caddisfly larvae; Hellgrammite
Unionid Clam.
oxygen that may be used, for example, with the pounds of biochemical
oxygen demand that may be contributed by inflowing wastes.
Usually a series of sampling stations are selected on a stream to estab-
lish a course of pollution or water qu'ality change throughout a given
reach of river. When time-of-water travel determinations can be made,
a desirable interval for station selection is about one-half day time-of-
water travel for the first three days travel below a source of waste, and
-------
about one day throughout any remaining distance. On small streams
that may be quite heavily polluted the location of longitudinal sam-
pling stations should be at a much closer interval if one is to assess the
damage of the waste load from an analyses of chemical constituents.
Major points of water use, including recreational and water supply
areas, should be included in the sampling regime.
Personnel and facility limitations may prevent the collection of sam-
ples from all stations or points for the examination of the desirable
daily number of samples. The least detrimental cut in projected sample
numbers can be made in the number of stations when reduction of the
sampling or analytical program below the optimum level is necessary.
Decreasing the number of stations in a stream reach by increasing the
spacing between them usually is preferable to reducing the lengths of
the reach, the number of points on station cross sections where lateral
mixing is incomplete, or the frequency or total number of sampling
runs.
Biological sampling stations to assess the stream environment rou-
tinely should be located close to or at those sampling stations selected
for chemical and microbiological analyses to enhance interpretation of
water quality through the use of interrelated data. Sampling stations
should be located upstream and downstream from suspected pollution
sources, from major tributary streams, and at appropriate intervals
throughout the stream reach under investigation.
The upstream or control station or stations should depict conditions
unaffected by a pollution source or tributary. The nearest station down-
stream from the pollution source or tributary should be so located that
it leaves no doubt that conditions depicted by the sample can be related
to the cause of any environmental change. The minimal number of
downstream stations from this point should be located in the most
severe area of the zone of active decomposition, downstream in an area
depicting less severe conditions within this zone, near the upper up-
stream reach of the zone of recovery, near the downstream reach of the
recovery zone, and in the downstream reach that first shows no effect
from the suspected pollution source. Precise station locations will de-
pend on the flow, the strength, volume, and type of pollution entering
the source and the entrance of additional sources of pollution to com-
plicate the stream recovery picture. When water in tributary streams is
found to be polluted, or to influence water quality in a primary stream,
these streams should be similarly investigated. The precise location of
sampling stations can be aided through a cursory examination of the
benthic fauna, which are excellent indicators, as a community, of pre-
vailing water quality.
A stream usually is composed of riffles and pools. These areas will
vary in depth, velocity of flow, and types of substrate that form the
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Plate 20. Representatives of stream bed associated animals (The intermediately tolerant
group). From Left: Scud; Sowbug; Black fly larvae; Fingernail Clam; Snail; Dragonfly
nymph; Leech; Damselfly nymph.
stream bed. Because a biologist seeks to determine changes that occur
in water quality as depicted by aquatic organisms, and to relate the
changes to particular sources, he must compare observations at a par-
ticular station with observations and findings from an upstream station,
as well as with those at a station within the stream reach that is un-
affected by a suspected source. To accomplish this, an effort should be
made to collect samples from habitat types that are morphometrically
similar. Riffle samples should be compared with riffle samples and pool
samples compared with pool samples. Both should be studied in a
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stream where feasible to determine the extent of each major environ-
mental change produced by pollution. The biological investigator may
need to choose a number of stations in addition to those selected for
routine chemical or bacteriological sampling to access satisfactorily the
extent of biological change.
Plankton samples are collected usually at one point within the study
station, most commonly at mid stream 1- to 2-feet below the surface.
1
Plate 21: Representatives of stream bed associated animals (The very tolerant group).
From left: Bloodworm or midge larvae; Sludgeworm; Rat-tailed maggot; Sewage fly
larvae; Sewage fly pupae.
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Samples for bottom-associated organisms should be collected at a
number of points on a transection between the stream banks. Op-
timistically, these samples should be collected at a minimum of five
points across the stream (mid and 2 quarter points and at near zero
water level with banks). More than one sample may at times be
collected from each point and retained separately. Realistically, the
objectives of a particular survey and the number of stations at which
bottom fauna are collected may dictate the number of samples for
a particular station. Attached slimes and other growths are sampled
as they occur and when it appears that a change has taken place
within the community of attached organisms.
Samples for bacteriological examinations must be collected in bottles
properly sterilized and protected against contamination. The prefer-
able method is to scoop up the water with the open bottle just
beneath the surface. This method usually is used when sampling by
a boat. When sampling from a bridge, the sterilized sample bottle
should be placed in a weighted frame that holds the bottle securely.
While the bottle is open, both bottle and stopper must be protected
against contamination. A small amount of water should be poured
from the bottle after filling to leave an air space for subsequent shaking
in the laboratory. The bottle should be closed at once and analyzed
expeditiously.
Sampling Periodicity
Frequency of sampling varies with the water use, the urgency of
developing a representative record of quality, and the resource capa-
bility of the investigative team. Sampling usually is done at least
daily for an operating water supply and may be taken at random or
systematically alternated throughout the operating day so that the
sample will not represent fixed daily time. In the larger water treat-
ment plants, sampling of raw water may be more frequent and as
often as once each shift, or even hourly. Weekly collections, as a
minimum, are desirable throughout the season of active biological
growth to measure planktonic populations and chemical constituents
that may change rapidly. In special studies, samples are often collected
daily or even periodically during a 24-hour day to assess these changes.
During the non-growing season monthly samples of these constituents
should be adequate except where otherwise indicated by the objectives
of the study. A reconnaissance and mapping of the aquatic vegetation
should be done during maximal vegetative growth, usually in mid
or late summer.
Selecting the seasonal time of year to institute a field study is an
important and significant consideration in ensuring that! the data
collected will depict representative conditions of water quality. Gen-
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erally, the most severe conditions for life in water occur when tempera-
tures are increased by the heat of summer and when stream flows are
at a minimum. This may correspond with the maximal growth of
planktonic or attached plants, which release oxygen to the water during
the sun-lighted photosynthetic period and remove oxygen from the
water during the night time plant respiration period. Another seasonal
time when conditions of existence for life in water are at a minimum
occurs during late winter just before ice breakup in those streams and
other waterways that are ice-covered in northern climes. Ice and snow
preclude sufficient sunlight from reaching the water to trigger photo-
synthetic oxygen production and, when organic materials are present,
the available dissolved oxygen is slowly removed from the water by
the bacteria during the decomposition of these materials. If wastes
enter the stream that are high in sugars, biological slimes develop
in profusion and further reduce the available oxygen through decom-
position processes.
If one is interested in demonstrating the most severe effect on water
quality and associated aquatic organisms, it may be sufficient to sample
the waterway only during the low stream flow period of late summer
or early fall. In northern areas, additional samples to complement the
study should be taken during the late winter just before ice breakup.
Complex water pollution investigations on major waterways require
greater sampling efforts and usually are investigated for periods of
time during each of the prevailing seasons for the area. The collection
of generally 20 samples for chemical analyses from a particular station
for each of the periods of sampling should give an adequate data base
from which to reach a conclusion on water quality for that period
of time. Of course, if the variation in a specific determination among
samples is great, the number of samples necessary to reach a valid
conclusion is increased.
Insect representatives of the bottom organism community emerge
from the water as adults periodically throughout the warm weather.
Times of emergence depend on the species involved. Life histories of
these organisms tend to overlap so that at no time is there a dearth
of such organisms within the bottom-associated community. Bottom
fauna should be sampled during the annual seasons whenever possible.
The standing crops of benthos will be highest however during the
fall and winter period when insect emergence is minimal. One of the
sampling times should represent this season.
Because of the report deadline or limited resources available, the
theory and practice of station location and sampling periodicity may
not coincide. The objectives of a study may be met by investigating
only bottom fauna and attached organisms in a stream and these on
perhaps only one occasion during the time of most critical temperature
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and stream flow. Much can be learned from this minimal effort. The
effect on aquatic life can be predicted but no information will be
obtained on the quantity of pollutants entering or within the stream,
and the amounts that must be removed before aquatic life will regain
the population that would be expected during conditions when pollu-
tion was virtually absent.
Investigators should be careful not to burden the sampling program
with more than the kinds and numbers of samples and analyses that
will be required to meet the stated objectives of the study. For example,
little knowledge may be gained from only one series of plankton
samples from a stream. Because these organisms are carried by the
currents a given sample is representative of water quality at some
point upstream rather than at the place of sampling.
Laboratories
The conduct of any field water quality investigation involves the
necessity of sample analyses at a laboratory. The laboratory in question
may be of the fixed type at some distant point where precision instru-
ments are available. In this event, consideration must be given to the
physical problems of transporting the samples from the site of collection
to the analytical laboratory bench. Mobile laboratories have been used
successfully by many governmental agencies in the examination of
water quality. These are self-propelled usually or of a separate trailer
Plate 22. Analyses in a wel chemistry laboratory of samples collected
from a field investigation.
'II
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type that requires a tractor to move the laboratory from place to place.
Mobile laboratories have been designed to include all of the essential
analytical equipment, as well as air conditioners, dishwashers, and
other essential conveniences for the analyst.
The investigator should keep the laboratory analyst informed at
all times of any changes that may occur in the field investigation.
He should become particularly cognizant of the daily analytical work
load that can be performed without undue stress on the part of the
laboratory analyst. The analyzing of samples from a field study is a
highly repetitive type of operation and, for greatest efficiency, a day's
field collection from the chemical and microbiological stations must
fit conveniently in the analytical work day within the laboratory.
Samples collected for plankton and benthic organisms, on the other
hand, can be preserved for a period of time and examined at a later
date. Often it is not essential that these be returned to the laboratory
immediately and such samples collected during a field investigation
may be retained in the field headquarters until the end of the survey
before being transported to the laboratory. When there is no urgency
for a report of the field investigation, it is often convenient to collect
such biological samples during the summertime "field" season and
examine such samples during the winter months when climatic condi-
tions are more inclement for sample collection.
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9
Fond and Lake Investigations
STEPHEN A. Forbes, writing in the Illinois Natural History Survey
Bulletin in 1925, described in colorful and eloquent prose his
concept of the lake environment with the words:
"A lake is to the naturalist a chapter out of the history of primeval
time, for the conditions of life there are primitive, the forms of life
are, as a whole, relatively low and ancient, and the system of organic
interactions by which they influence and control each other has
remained substantially unchanged from a remote geological period.
"The animals of such a body of water are, as a whole, remarkably
isolated—-closely related among themselves in all their interests, but
so far independent of the land around them that if every terrestrial
animal were suddenly annihilated it would doubtless be long before
the general multitude of the inhabitants of the lake would feel the
effects of this event in an important way. It is an islet of older,
lower life in the midst of the higher, more recent life of the
surrounding region. It forms a little world within itself—a micro-
cosm within which all of the elemental forces are at work and
the play of life goes on in full, but on so small a scale as to bring
it easily within the mental grasp."
The Pond as a Study Habitat
The preceding chapter was devoted to a study of the flowing water
environment. It should have been readily apparent that such a
habitat would prove to be an excellent laboratory for a class project
for the high school or early college curriculum. The possibility exists
for an attack on the investigative problem by individuals with a
wide variety of personal scientific interests and the amalgamation of
the data collected into a useful report aimed toward actions to correct
the prevailing problems. The stream environment presented an ever-
changing panorama of life and chemical conditions as the water flowed
downstream and was affected by various physical conditions and the
entrance of a wide variety of pollutants that may act individually or
in combination to produce various and sometimes complex effects.
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As a study project, the confined pond or small lake environment
with its multiplicity of biotic interactions offers an entirely different
type of habitat from the stream environment. The pond or lake
environment offers a stimulating and interesting study for a variety
of scientific disciplines; it is a confined area where much effort can be
concentrated in one geographical site thus precluding certain transporta-
tion problems associated with some investigations. Further, the intrica-
cies of the microcosm of life that Professor Forbes referred to in his
1925 writing will probably take a longer period of time to define
and should be more challenging to the investigator than that of the
flowing water environment.
Being confined, life within a pond or lake is not subjected in the
same degree to sudden environmental changes as is life in the flowing
water environment. There is a buffer zone between the environmental
insult and the remainder of the standing water ecosystem. Life's
vicissitudes occur less rapidly in a pond compared to a stream.
The Standing Water Environment
A complex interaction of many physical, chemical, and biological
factors, influenced by meteriological phenomena, occur in the standing
water environment. Nutrients are vital as a food supply for the eco-
system and dissolved oxygen is an essential component for aquatic life.
Changes in the concentration of either of these factors will induce
significant alterations in the complexity of life that inhabits the water.
The pond or lake environment tends to be a vertical environment as
contrasted with the more horizontal environment of the flowing stream.
Because of this, factors such as temperature and light penetration
assume roles of paramount importance and become controlling condi-
tions to life in the vertical environment.
Water weighs 62.4 pounds per cubic foot or 8.345 pounds per gallon
at 4°C (39.2°F). It is approximately 0.2 Ib. per cubic foot lighter at
80°F than at 40°F. Reaching its maximum density at 39.2°F (4°C),
water becomes lighter or less dense as it either cools or warms.
The density of water related to temperature induces a seasonal
thermal stratification in many ponds and lakes. For a few weeks in
the spring, water temperatures may be homogeneous from top to
bottom in the standing water environment. Vertical water density
is also homogeneous. During this time it is possible for the wind
to mix the water in the lake or pond, distributing nutrients and
flocculent bottom solids from the deeper waters to the surface. Dis-
solved oxygen is also mixed at this time and tests will indicate that
water quality characteristics are very similar from the surface to the
bottom.
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As atmospheric temperatures increase with the coming of summer,
the surface waters become warmer and as they warm they become
lighter and rest over the cooler waters of greater density. Thus, a
thermal stratification is formed for many months. In natural deep
water, three layers of various temperatures and densities are formed.
The upper layer, or epilimnion, represents the warm, more or less
freely circulating waters of approximately uniform temperature. The
epilimnion may vary in thickness from a few feet in shallow lakes
to 40 or more feet in deeper lakes. Near the bottom of the lake a
lower layer, or hypolimnion, represents the cold water region of uni-
form cold temperature. This may sometimes be referred to as the
profundal region and represents a portion of the water body that
is isolated from circulation with the upper waters and that receives
no oxygen from the atmosphere during stratification. When the pond
or lake environment is enriched with organic materials, the dissolved
oxygen in the hypolimnion may be rapidly removed during periods
of stratification, and its potential for supporting aquatic life becomes
severely restricted.
The top and bottom water layers of approximately uniform tempera-
tures are separated by a middle layer or thermocline. The thermocline
is the region of rapid change in water temperature and is usually
defined by a change of 1.8°F for each 3.28 feet variance in depth.
The thermocline represents a vertical temperature transition zone
with the upper region representing warmer water conditions and the
lower region representing cooler water conditions.
TEMPERATURE -F
3O 40 30 6P 70
TEMPERATURE «F
30 40 9O 6O TO BO !»
Z 4 « 6 10 12 14
DISSOLVED OXYGEN CmQ/l)
TEMPERATURE *F
30 40 5O SO TO 8O 9O
DISSOLVED OXYGEN (mg/l)
TEMPERATURE -F
3O 4O BO 60 TO 60 90
10
20
E30
X 40
Sin
BO
TO
BO
-
-
-
_
_
-
1
T«mp. DO
APR.zo.raoe
/
J 1 1
-
-
,
10
20
E30
£
s™
60
TO
/
DO
-
_
\
_ OCT. 11,1906
1 1 I
'f ' ' '_
Ttmp.
-
1 ' 1 1
DISSOLVED OXYGEN (mg/0
DISSOLVED OXYGEN (mg/ll
Figure 2. Diagram of lake zones with seasonal temperature and dissolved oxygen changes
observed in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin (from Birge and Juday, 1911).
98
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As atmospheric temperature cools and autumn approaches, the
surface waters of a pond or lake cool also. The cooling process with
the corresponding increase in water density increases the thickness of
the epilimnion until the lake or pond becomes homothermous and
again a period of complete water circulation, aided by the winds,
begins. This phenomenon occurs from late September to December
and depends upon the area and depth of the lake and its geographic
location and local climatological conditions. The period lasts until
changes in density re-establish stratification or until the lake is frozen
over and a period of winter stratification follows.
Thus, the exchange of gases with those in the atmosphere are
restricted during a greater part of the year for the entire lake environ-
ment. The water is saturated or nearly so with atmospheric gases in
the spring and again in the fall. However, as soon as thermal stratifica-
tion occurs, and lasting until the water again becomes homothermous,
only the water of the epilimnion or upper portion has direct contact
with the atmosphere.
Water warms more rapidly and to a higher degree in the shallow
areas near shore. Microscopic life, both plant and animal, accelerates
first in standing crop in these areas following the cooler temperatures
of winter and, if the food-supplying nutrients are abundant, localized
plant nuisances may develop that could spread to other sectors of
the water body.
The temperature gradient in reservoirs may be more complex than
that found in ponds or lakes. Main stream "run-of-the-river" reservoirs
often have a small and fairly regular temperature gradient from top
to bottom. In some situations, however, there may be a stream of
inflowing cold water that tends to flow through the impoundment
and be discharged by way of the penstock intake thus a thermocline
is created below the water surface of the dam and extends upstream
parallel to the bottom of the reservoir. A storage reservoir, often located
at the headwaters of a stream, may have the characteristics of a lake
because the water is often stored in the reservoir for a period of
time extending for many months. Temperature gradients here are
similar to those described for a lake. In addition, reservoirs frequently
have density currents which are caused by differences in temperature,
differences in the concentration of electrolytes, such as carbonates, and
differences in silt content. These often extend from the inflowing area
to the region of the penstock. In some instances, density currents have
been detected from 60 to 80 feet below the surface. Density currents
affect the fish populations since game fish orient themselves both to
the stratum of stagnant water caused by density currents, as well as to
the temperature range that suits them best. Often fish become trapped
by a lack of oxygen within their chosen water.
99
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Another physical factor of significant importance in the standing
water environment is that of light. Rooted, suspended, and floating
aquatic plants require light for photosynthesis and light penetration
into water is exceedingly variable in different lakes.
The principal factors affecting the depths of light penetration in
natural waters include suspended microscopic plants and animals,
suspended mineral particles such as mineral silts, stains that impart
a color, detergent foam, dense mats of floating and suspended debris
or a combination of these. The region in which light intensity is
adequate for photosynthesis in algae is often referred to as the
trophogenic zone. This is a layer of water that encompasses 99 percent
of the incident light reaching the surface. The depth of the trophogenic
zone in ponds and lakes may vary from less than 5 • to greater than
90 feet. The amount of incident light necessary for photosynthesis in
vascular plants, as opposed to algae, is slightly greater for the former.
Vascular plants can conduct photosynthesis when approximately 2.5 per-
cent of the incident light remains in water.
In winter the presence of ice will limit light penetration, and when
snow covers the surface of the ice the penetration is further reduced.
It has been found that seven inches of very clear ice permitted 84 per-
cent light transmission but only 22 percent of the light was transmitted
through a similar thickness of cloudy ice. A 1-inch snow cover per-
mitted only 7 percent light transmissions through the ice and snow
and 2-inches of snow cover permitted only 1 percent light transmission.
Without light the plants die and instead of producing dissolved oxygen
through photosynthesis, oxygen is used through the process of decom-
position and a fish mortality known as a winter kill may result in
shallow water bodies when the oxygen is reduced substantially.
Oxygen enters the water by absorption directly from the atmosphere
or by plant photosynthesis and is removed by respiration of organisms
and by the process of decomposition. Oxygen derived from the at-
mosphere may be by direct diffusion or by surface water agitation by
wind and waves. Conversely, wind and waves may also release dissolved
oxygen under conditions of supersaturation.
In photosynthesis, aquatic plants utilize carbon dioxide and liberate
dissolved and free gaseous oxygen at times of supersaturation. Since
energy is required in the form of light, photosynthesis is limited to the
photic zone where light is sufficient to facilitate this process. During
respiration and decomposition, animals and plants consume dissolved
oxygen and liberate carbon dioxide at all depths where they occur.
Because excreted and secreted products in dead animals and plants
sink, most of the decomposition takes place in the hypolimnion, thus,
during lake stratification there is a gradual decrease of dissolved oxygen
in this zone. After the dissolved oxygen is depleted, anaerobic de-
100
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composition continues with the evolution of methane and hydrogen
sulfide gases.
Effects of Water Inflows and Discharges
The standing water environment receives its inflowing water from
tributary streams, general land runoff, seepage from adjacent areas,
and springs. The standing water basin is, thus, the first line receptacle
for those materials that may be washed or drained from the lands
within the drainage basin, for those substances that are discharged as
waste water either without treatment or with some degree of treatment
and removal, and for those materials that may enter the water environ-
ment from the atmosphere and other sources. Those materials that
are discharged from the pond, lake, or other standing water bodies
into downstream waterways eventually reach the estuaries or the
oceanic environment, which become the ultimate receptacle for such
materials.
An example of the cycling of an element by man would be that
of phosphorus. Large deposits of phosphate rock are found near the
western shore of central Florida, as well as in a number of other States.
Deposits in Florida are found in the form of pebbles which vary in
size from fine sand to about the size of a man's foot. These pebbles
are embedded in a matrix of clay and sand. The phosphate rock beds
lie within a few feet of the surface so that all of the mining is of
the open pit type. Once the overburden is removed, the mining is
carried out by using hydraulic water jets. Following this practice,
the washing operation separates the phosphate from waste materials.
The phosphate is then dried before marketing. Millions of tons of
phosphate rock are mined each year in the United States. A recent report
by the Council on Environmental Quality indicated that the phosphate
rock mining operation disturbed 183,000 acres of the land in the
United States. The process is similar to that of strip mining and the
State of Florida experiences the greatest proportion of land destruction
by this operation. Other States that have land destruction from
phosphate mining operations include Idaho, Montana, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. There are
a number of uses for the phosphate obtained from the mining opera-
tion and these include uses in fertilizers, as builders in detergents,
and for other purposes.
The human body excretes about 1-pound of phosphorus as P per
year. Other uses closely associated with man's activity, including the
use of detergents, contribute about 2- to 2i/£-pounds per year per
capita of phosphorus as P. Thus, about 3- to 3i/2-pounds per year per
capita of phosphorus as P is discharged in waste water to municipal
and private waste water treatment plants, and eventually to the
101
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receiving waterways. Conventional secondary sewage treatment with
routine operating practices will remove only a small amount of the
phosphorus in the waste waters. To remove additional amounts, it is
necessary to adopt one of the advanced waste treatment methods that
will precipitate the phosphorus from the waste waters in combination
with other substances.
In the receiving waterways the phosphorus is used by algae and
higher plants and may be stored in excess of use within the algal
cell. Phosphorus is one of the contributors of nutrients that stimulates
excessive development within the plant community and that gives
rise to problems of eutrophication. The standing water body receives
the phosphates and other nutrients from inflowing waterways and much
is used in the biotic cycle of life. With subsequent decomposition of
the plant cells, some phosphorus may be released immediately through
bacterial action for recycling within the biotic community while
another significant portion may be deposited with sediments. Much of
the material that becomes combined with the consolidated sediments
within the lake bottom is bound permanently and will not be recycled
into the ecosystem. Studies on Lake Sebasticook, Maine, a Lake of
4,200 acres, indicated that the dry weight phosphorus (P) in the
0- to 1-inch stratum was 0.15 percent. Assuming that lake bed sediments
contain 15 percent solids, the upper 1-inch stratum of Lake Sebasticook,
just beneath the mud-water interface, might then contain about 200,000
pounds of phosphorus. The 1- to 2-inch stratum contained 0.09 percent
phosphorus or about 120,000 pounds—some 80,000 pounds less phos-
phorus than the inch immediately above it. The 2- to 3-inch stratum
contained 0.06 percent or about 80,000 pounds of phosphorus. Beneath
the 1- to 2-inch stratum the phosphorus content ranged from 0.06 to
0.09 percent on a dry weight basis for each of the succeeding 1-inch
strata.
The discharge from a lake or reservoir also has an effect on down-
stream water quality. Water flowing from a natural lake should be
expected to be of a quality similar to that of the water in the upper-
most stratum of the lake. However, when water in a free-flowing stream
is impounded in a large storage reservoir, marked changes are pro-
duced in the physical, chemical, and mineral quality of the water.
In reservoirs operated for flood control and power production, discharge
releases are often reduced over weekends and other periods of off-peak
power loads. Discharges likewise may be increased substantially during
the week days. The penstock usually is located deep within the reservoir
and the temperatures of the water discharged to the receiving stream
may be substantially lower than the natural receiving water tempera-
tures. Discharged water also may be low in dissolved oxygen concen-
tration and release odors of hydrogen sulfide from decaying organic
materials in the deeper portions of the reservoir.
102
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The ecology of the receiving stream is drastically altered as a result
of a low level discharge characterized by low temperatures and reduced
dissolved oxygen concentrations. The warm water fish habitat may be
destroyed. A cold water fish habitat may be created providing dissolved
oxygen is sufficient. Bottom fauna may be changed in the receiving
waterway from an assemblage of stoneflies and hellgrammites to an
assortment of cold water species such as immature midges, black flies,
caddisflies and scuds. Such a substantial alteration of the physical and
chemical characteristics of the receiving stream can only produce a
drastic change in the composition of the biota inhabiting the receiving
water environment.
Biotic Considerations and Sample Station Selections
Organisms respond to the aquatic environment by producing an
aquatic crop that is suited best for the particular environment in which
they exist. Organisms respond also to changes that take place within
their environment with shifts in species dominance in the aquatic
community and sometimes with dramatic changes in the population
numbers of a single species or a group of species with similar habitat
requirements. Because of this response, and because the response may
be less evenly distributed in the standing water environment as com-
pared to the flowing water environment, the quality of water at
selected sampling stations will be influenced to a great extent by the
standing crop of organisms in the vicinity of that station. The con-
sideration of this impact therefore becomes an important one in
station site selection.
Algal population are influenced by climate. They tend to rise to
the surface during hot humid days and disperse in greater depths
during rain storms or turbulent water conditions. Several successive
dark or cloudy days may be sufficient to kill a portion of a dense
algal population and subsequent decomposition may bring about a
localized dissolved oxygen reduction or a depletion and may result in
fish kills from suffocation.
It is difficult to estimate the standing algal or plankton crop of
a particular water body because of the diverse horizontal and vertical
distribution of these organisms and their transportation by water
movement. Early work on Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, indicated that
on a dry weight basis the spring plankton crop was greatest and
averaged 98 pounds per acre in winter compared to 360 pounds per
acre in spring. The dry weight of an algal mass is approximately
10 percent of its wet weight. In Lake Sebasticook, Maine, the wet
weight algal standing crop reached a maximum of 2,260 pounds per
acre, which occurred on August 1. The filamentous alga, Cladophora,
has been found to attain a population of 1 ton or more per acre.
103
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The plankton that are developed in standing waters are not suited
to life in flowing waters and usually die when they are discharged
thereto. Conversely, river plankton are not adapted for the environ-
ment of standing water. Plankton are affected adversely by toxicants,
turbidities, radical shifts in pH, temperature, currents, and acid mine
discharges.
In early studies in Wisconsin on submersed aquatic plant popula-
tions, it was found that the 1- to 3-meter zone contained the greatest
density of plants with lesser densities both shoreward and lakeward.
The population density averaged about 7 tons wet weight and 1,800
pounds dry weight per acre. Other studies have indicated that various
aquatic plant species have a substantially different population density;
coontail populations have been found to approach 2,500 pounds per
acre on a dry weight basis whereas sago pondweed was 1,700 pounds
and duckweed 240 pounds per acre.
Bottom-associated organism populations vary quantitatively and
qualitatively with the seasons of the year and from year-to-year in the
same lake. The population is not distributed evenly over the floor in
any lake but varies with depth and during the seasons. Investigators
have found a zone of concentration of the organisms that shifts up
and down the slope of the lake floor with seasonal changes.
Populations of bottom-associated organisms have been found to vary
from 60 pounds per acre on a wet weight basis to 400 pounds per
acre in the Mississippi River system where no aquatic vegetation was
associated. Where submersed plants were present in the Mississippi
River, population densities as great as 1,100 pounds per acre were
found and one early study in New York indicated 3,500 pounds of
such organisms in association with a Chara bed. Aquatic plants provide
living space, food, and shelter for the invertebrates and the inverte-
brates in turn tend to select a particular aquatic plant with leaves that
are finely branched and compact. Coontail and water milfoil rank
extremely high as being the most productive harbor for fish food
organisms because of their finely divided and very compact leaves.
Standing crops of fish have been found to vary from 75 pounds per
acre on a wet weight basis to more than 1000 pounds per acre in the
black-soil ponds in the flood plains of central Illinois. Additional
information concerning standing crops and the amount of nutrients
that may be combined in such crops is presented in Table 2.
To properly assess an eutrophication problem in the standing water
environment, consideration should be given to all of those sources that
may contribute nutrients to the watercourse. These sources could
include sewage, sewage effluents, industrial wastes, land drainage,
applied fertilizers, precipitation, urban runoff, soils, and nutrients
104
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Table 2. Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Freshwater Environmental Constituents
o
Ut
Standing Crop, Ibs/ac
fnnctiti tent °/ f~ 1
^*QilallTUv?iII /O V^
Wet Dry
Phytoplankton 1 ,000 to
3,600 1 00 to 360
39
Attached Algae 2,000 200
Vascular Plants 1 4,000 1 ,800
Myriophyllum
Vallisneria
Potamogeton
Castalia
Najas
•AN1
6.8
6.1
9.0
2.8
1.8
3.2
1.8
1.3
2.8
1.9
V.P1
0.69
0.64
0.52
0.14
0.18
0.52
0.23
0.13
0.27
0.30
Ratio
C:N N:P
10
6.5 10
17
2
10
6
8
10
10
6
— Reference
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Gerloff and Skoog,
1954.
Mackenthun et al.,
1968.
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Neil, 1958.
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Rickett, 1922, 1924.
Harper and Daniel,
1939.
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Schuette and Alder,
1928, 1929.
Schuette and Alder,
1928, 1929.
Schuette and Alder,
1928, 1929.
Schuette and Alder,
1928, 1929.
-------
o
O)
Standing Crop, Ibs/ac
Wet Dry
Myriophyllum
Bottom Organisms
Midges 200 to 400 40 to 80
Chironomus
Hyalella
Hirudinea
Sialis
Fish 150 to 600
Domestic Wastes 3
.c- %H.
3.0
7.4
7.4
11.1
8.1
2 2.5
2.8
2.6 to 3.3
4 45
20 to
Ratio
y p i
C:N N:P
0.5 6
0.9 8
1.2 6
0.8 14
0.6 14
2 0.2 10
0.1 8 to 0.49
0.19
0.20
0.29
0.1 8 to 0.24
5.1 to
M0.6
48 6
5.3 to
Anderson et al.,
1965.
Dineen, 1953;Moyle,
1940.
Borutsky, 1939.
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Birge and Juday,
1922.
Swingle, 1950.
Beard, 1926.
Borgstrom, 1961.
Love et al., 1 959.
McGauhey et al.,
1963.
Sylvester and
Anderson, 1964.
Ingalls et al., 1950.
Engelbrecht and
Morgan, 1959.
McGauhey et al.,
1963.
-------
Sediments
Lake Tahoe
Wisconsin Lakes
Madison, Wis.
Lakes
Green Lake
Lake
Sebasticook
Klamath Lake
Boston Harbor
Organic River
Sediments
Pulp & Paper
Wastes in
River
Untreated
Domestic
Wastes
0.6 to
19.8
4.4 to
40.5
10 to
34
8.6
2.3 to
5.0
4 40
4 61. 3
18 to
4 28
0.6 to
1.6
0.6 to
3.6
0.7 to
0.9
0.6
0.3 to
1.8
1.2
.06 to
.41
4 10.6
4 10.7
3.5 to
"9.0
0.1 2 to
0.6
0.1 to
0.12
0.17
.06 to
.16
4 to
25
8 to
14
8 to
44
7
4
6
5 to
6
6 to
9
4
5 to
16
Bush and Mulford,
1954.
Oswald, 1960.
Anon, 1967.
McGauhey et al.,
1963.
Black, 1 929; Juday
etal., 1941.
Sawyer et al., 1 945.
Sylvester and
Anderson, 1964.
Mackenthun et al.,
1968.
Thomas, N. A.,
Unpublished.6
Stewart, R. K., 1 968.'
0.03
5.3
3.54
0.0027
0.23
0.3
12 Finger and Wastler,
1969.
22 Finger and Wastler,
1969.
12 Finger and Wastler,
1969.
-------
Standing Crop, Ibs/ac
C-onstitucnt
Wet Dry
Untreated
Chemical and
fertilizers and
domestic
wastes
No tributary
wastes
Sand; silt; clay;
loam
Stable sludge;
peat; organic
debris
Paper mill
wastes
Packinghouse
Wastes
Fresh sludge;
decaying
algae; sewage
solids
VoC1
3.15
0.55
0.4 to
2.1
2.0 to
5.0
6 to
15
2.8 to
4.3
5 to
40
"AN1 %P
0.12
0.05
.02 to
.10
.10 to
.20
.10 to
.30
.30 to
.50
.70 to
5.0
Ratio
C:N N:P
26
11
20
20 to
25
50 to
60
8 to
10
7 to
8
Keference
Finger and Wastler,
1969.
Finger and Wastler,
1 969.
Ballinger and
McKee,6 1971.
Ballinger and
McKee, 1971.
Ballinger and
McKee, 1971.
Ballinger and
McKee, 1 971 .
Ballinger and
McKee, 1971.
-------
Log Pond Bark
Sewage sludge
in river
Algae; sawdust;
sewage
Leaf litter
Sand
Loam
Muck
Floating Waste
Wool
50.6
5.8
14.6
28.3
0.2
2.7
7.3
37 to
43
.5
0.28
0.93
1.63
.02
.19
.52
3.4 to
4.7
.02
.18
.11
0.11
.005
.02
.04
.08 to
.09
100
21
16
17
10
14
14
9 to
11
25
2
9
15
4
10
13
38 to
58
Thomas, N. A.
Unpublished.6
Thomas, N. A.
Unpublished.6
Thomas, N. A.
Unpublished.6
Warner, R. W. et al..
1969.7
Warner, R. W. et al.,
1 969.7
Warner, R. W. et al.,
1969.7
Warner, R. W. et al..
1969.7
8
1 As the total element in percentage of the dry weight, unless specified otherwise.
2 Calculated on wet weight.
3 Average sewage flow can be calculated at 100 gallons per capita per day.
*mg/l.
5 Biological Aspects of Water Quality, Charles River and Boston Harbor, Massachusetts by R. K. Stewart. Technical Advisory and
Investigations Branch, Cincinnati, Ohio (1968).
8 Technical Advisory and Investigations Branch, Cincinnai, Ohio.
7 Analyses of soil types from "Black-Water Impoundment Investigations," by R. W. Warner, R. K. Ballentine and L. E. Keup,
Technical Advisory and Investigations Branch, U.S. Department of the Interior, Cincinnati, Ohio (1969).
_ s Fertilization and Algae in Lake Sebasticook, Maine. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Technical Advisory and
§ Investigations Activities, Cincinnati, Ohio (1966).
-------
released from bottom sediments and from decomposing plants. Transient
waterfowl, fallen tree leaves, and ground water may contribute im-
portant additions to the nutrient budget. Flow measurements are
paramount in a study to quantitatively assess the respective amounts
contributed by those various sources during different seasons and at
different flow characteristics. In a receiving lake or pond, an estimate
of the quantity of nutrients contained by the standing crop of algae,
aquatic vascular plants, fish, and other aquatic organisms are important
considerations. A knowledge of those nutrients that are harvested
annually through the fish catch or that may be removed from the
system through the emergence of adult insects will contribute additional
information to an understanding of the nutrient budget.
The interaction of specific chemical components in water, prescribed
fertilizer application rates to land and to water, minimal nutrient
values required for algal blooms, vitamins required, other limiting
factors, and the intercellular nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations
of plants are likewise important. Usually it is necessary to determine
that portion of the nutrient input attributable to man-made or man-
induced pollution that may be controlled as opposed to that input
that is natural in origin and therefore usually not controllable or
controllable only to a minor extent. A nutrient budget should define
the annual nutrient input to a system, the annual outflow and that
which is retained to recycle with the biomass or become combined
with the solidified bottom sediments.
Sediments are best collected with a device that permits a core of
the material to be extracted from which identifiable segments may be
selected for examination. These segments may be examined for pollen,
diatom skeletons or chitinized remains of cladocerans or midges, as
well as selected chemical constituents. Generally carbon and nitrogen
and often phosphorus are determined. The carbon, nitrogen, and
phosphorus contents and their respective ratios are important values
to aid in the identification of the sediment, and to calculate the
amount of major nutrients contained within a portion of the biomass
or a stratum of sediment. From this information it should be possible
to judge the relative return of nutrients to the water mass when the
particular ecosystem component undergoes decomposition, or any change
that fosters nutrient release.
A lake or reservoir usually retains a portion of those nutrients
that it receives from its various sources in its consolidated sediments.
The amount or percentage of the nutrients that may be retained is
variable and will depend upon: (1) the nutrient loading to the lake
or reservoir, (2) the volume of the euphotic zone, (3) the extent of
biological activity, (4) the detention time within the basin or a time
allotted for biological activity, and (5) the level of the penstock or the
level of discharge from the lake.
110
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Physical Considerations and Sample Station Selection
Preparatory to the investigation of a pond, lake, or reservoir, an
accurate map of the drainage basin should be obtained. Such a map
will give an indication of the area of land that potentially could
contribute to water quality within the lake. Potential sources of
pollution should be indicated on such a map because a determination
must be made of the extent of influence to the lake or standing water
environment from those sources that both contribute directly and
indirectly to its conditions. In the determination of remedial measures
to correct the standing water problem, consideration must be given
to all potential contributing factors to that problem.
Whenever possible a contour map of the pond or lake basin will be
of tremendous advantage to the investigators. When such a contour
map is not available one should be constructed for the waterway in
question because the location of sampling stations and the types of
samples to be collected in a standing water body depend in large
extent on the contour of the basin. A contour map provides also for
the calculation of the volume of water within a particular depth
stratum and this is important in ascertaining the volume that may be
representative of a particular set of conditions found through sampling.
Identification of pollution sources within the drainage basin includes
a determination of the characteristics and volumes of waste water
discharges from municipalities and industries. If a thorough investiga-
tion of the waste water components cannot be accomplished within
the constraints of the study plan, the type of industry and its manu-
factured products along with the number of persons connected to the
municipal sewerage system would be useful information in interpreting
the data collected from the field investigation. Pertinent data on both
municipal and industrial wastes discharges to a particular drainage
basin should be in the files of the State water pollution control agency.
Additional physical information that will serve as essential back-
ground material for a lake investigation includes the following: Area,
mean depth, maximum depth, area of depth zones, volume of depth
strata, shore length, shore development, littoral slope, number of islands,
area of islands, shore length of the islands, drainage area, rate of runoff,
average inflow to receiving pond or lake, average outflow, detention
time within the pond or lake, water level and water level fluctuations.
Sample Station Selection
The establishment of stations within the flowing water environment
was discussed in the previous chapter. Sampling stations should be
located on major tributaries to a standing water basin in similar
manner. As a minimum, it is imperative that a sampling station be
located near the mouth of each tributary to the standing water basin
111
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and that a station be located near the pond's or lake's outfall. The
effluent from a natural lake will usually give a better than average
composite of the surface waters of the lake. The discharge from a
reservoir penstock located below the thermocline, however, will not
give a representative sample of the productive zone of the reservoir
but instead will show water quality in a portion of the hypolimnion.
Additional stations downstream within the receiving water environ-
ment would indicate the effects of such a low level discharge on the
receiving waters.
Within the lake, pond or reservoir a number of sampling sites may
be chosen depending upon the problem under investigation and the
conditions to be studied. An investigation of the kinds and relative
abundance of aquatic vegetation would naturally be limited to the
littoral area. A mapping of aquatic plants with an indication of
predominant species and their relative abundance often proves useful
for future comparisons to record relative changes in the vascular plant
population. A mapping of the deep water attached plants such as Chara
may be accomplished with the use of one of the sampling dredges.
Mapping of the vegetation generally can be accomplished satisfactorily
with a boat reconnaissance survey, and frequent inspection stops, in
the littoral area of a standing water basin during the peak of the
summer vegetative growing season.
Fish sampling also is often more profitable in shallow water areas.
Such sampling can be accomplished with the use of electro-fishing
devices, seines, hoop nets, or gill nets set in the region of the thermo-
cline. The latter will sample a fish population not usually observed
in shallow-water areas.
MULTI-LEVEL
WATER SUPPLY
INTAKE
o TRANSECT SAMPLING SITES -
PERIODIC OR SEASONAL COLLECTIONS
Figure 3. Diagram of a long, narrow reservoir showing suggested sampling stations.
112
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The use of transactions in sampling a lake bottom is of particular
value because there are changes in depth and because benthos con-
centration zones usually occur. Unless sampling is done systematically
and at relatively close intervals along transections, especially those
that extend across the zone between the weed bed and the upper
extent of the hypolimnion, concentration zones may be missed entirely
or represented inadequately. Maximal benthic productivity may occur
in the profundal region. Because depth is an important factor in
the distribution of bottom organisms, productivity is often compared
on the basis of samples collected from similar depth zones. Collections
along a transection will sample all depth zones, but a sufficient number
of samples must be taken to make the data meaningful.
A circular lake basin should be sampled from several transections
extending from shore to the deepest point in the basin. A long narrow
basin is suitable for regularly spaced parallel transects that cross the
basin perpendicular to the shore beginning near the inlet and ending
near the outlet. A large bay should be bisected by transections originat-
ing near shore and extending into the lake proper.
• ROUTINE SAMPLING SITES
O TRANSECT SAMPLING SITES-
PERIODIC OR SEASONAL COLLECTIONS
Figure 4. Diagram of a natural lake basin showing suggested sampling sites. Samples
taken from points on transaction lines on a periodic or seasonal basis are valuable
to determine vertical water characteristics and the benthic standing crop.
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Transections aid also in sampling the plankton population. Because
of the number of analyses necessary to appraise the plankton popula-
tion, however, more strategic points are usually sampled such as water
intakes, a site near the dam in the forebay area or discharge, con-
strictions within the water body, and major bays that may influence
the main basin. Because of significant population variations, plankton
samples must be taken vertically at periodic depths and at different
times over the 24-hour day.
It often is impractical to make vertical determinations of plankton
and various chemical constituents at each of the stations located on
the transection lines that were selected for an examination of bottom-
associated organisms. Availability of resources dictates the number of
stations that can be selected for a vertical determination of various
water quality constituents. Certainly one such station for vertical
analyses should be located in the deepest portion of the lake or pond
basin. Other stations should be selected so that the data derived
therefrom are representative insofar as possible of that portion of
the standing water basin that is represented by the particular station
in question. In studies of Lake Sebasticook, Maine, for example, five
stations were selected within the Lake basin for vertical sampling. A
number of additional flowing water stations were selected to depict
conditions in inflowing streams.
As a minimum, vertical temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles
should be obtained during each period of study. The number of
vertical samples for other water quality constituents will depend upon
the problem being investigated and available resources for sample
analyses. As a minimum, two sampling points should be located in the
epilimnion, at least one in the thermocline and an additional two to
represent the hypolimnetic waters.
Vertical samples should be taken from the pond environment also
because stratification does occur even in shallow ponds. Again, the
number of sampling points within a vertical column will be governed
in large measure by the type of problem under investigation. It should
be possible to substantially reduce the number of points to one rep-
resentative of the near surface waters, one of the mid-depth waters,
and one of the near bottom waters.
There are definite advantages in sampling the benthic population
in winter beneath the ice cover in lakes. Samples can be collected at
definite space intervals on a transection and the exact location of
sampling points can be determined. Collections at this time are also
at the peak of the benthic population when emergence of adult insects
does not occur.
Reservoirs usually are long and narrow water bodies with the widest
portions occurring downstream near the dam. They are particularly
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suitable for the placement of imaginary transection lines that extend
perpendicularly from one shore to the opposite shore. Sampling sta-
tions can be conveniently located on these transections. In addition,
water use return waters or areas designated for water use removal
should be sampled.
Sampling Frequency
The frequency of sampling a standing water environment depends
upon the objectives of the study. When possible, samples should be
collected during each season to depict seasonal changes in chemical
substances and biologic populations. A sampling time corresponding
to the spring or fall overturn is often helpful. A sufficient number
of samples should be collected from each sampling point on different
dates during each of the survey periods to permit comparison of data
among different water strata and different seasons. A minimum of five
daily samples should be collected from each point, but for some pur-
poses this number should be increased.
Vascular aquatic plants may need to be surveyed only during their
active growing period when the population is at a peak. The sampling
for benthos should coincide with the fall or winter season as a minimum
and preferably samples should be taken during each of the seasons.
Significant chemical constituents and samples for algal populations
should be taken during each of the sampling periods.
In the pond environment, sampling might be continued on a
monthly basis to depict fluctuations throughout the year. Considera-
tion should be given to the collection of some samples during the
early morning hours to determine if a significant fluctuation in dis-
solved oxygen concentration occurs because of respiration of the stand-
ing crop of aquatic vegetation during periods of no sunlight. Dissolved
oxygen may fluctuate from as high as 30 milligrams per liter to 0 during
a 24-hour period in extreme situations.
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10
(Special Studies
SPECIAL investigations or studies involve a combination of a
scientific investigation with an inquisitiveness and perceptivity
of a Sherlock Holmes. Such investigations usually have as a singular
objective to identify the cause of a problem and to recommend control
measures. Because environmental problems vary tremendously in
complexity, special investigations likewise vary in the amount of man-
power and monetary resources, as well as time allocation necessary for
study completion. Special investigations may be grouped into those
that address themselves to particular and singular problems, investiga-
tions of more complex problems and catastrophes, and studies to
increase the fund of knowledge about interactions in the aquatic
environment or to serve as class training projects.
Particular and Singular Problems
The investigation of particular and singular problems usually is
not time consuming and resource demanding but may require ^an
on-site appraisal and laboratory examination. Such problems include
the determination of the cause of red, white, or green water; determina-
tion of the source of animal hairs or other visible objects in private
water supplies; identification of a pond scum or a type of aquatic
weed that may be causing a problem; or the identification of any
problem organism.
The background and experience of the investigator contributes in
large measure to the success of this type of aquatic detection. Often a
cursory examination of a sample is adequate to diagnose a problem
organism and sometimes to formulate corrective recommendations.
Red water for example can be caused by one of several species of iron
bacteria, an alga, Oscillatoria rubescens, a flagellate, Euglena sanguined,
and, under certain conditions, a dense population of sludgeworms or
bloodworms may give the appearance of red paint on the bottom of
the waterway.
The microscopy of water is fascinating and entertaining, particularly
in the identification of "unknown" organisms. Appropriate, easily
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obtained references are adequate for the gross identification of most
plants and animals. The identification of paper-making and other
fibers that are often associated with industrial waste waters requires
special references and the reader is referred to Anon., 1953, and
Carpenter et al., 1963. Mammalian hair identification guides (Brown,
1942; Mathiak, 1938) are useful in identifying the type of animal that
may have drowned in a local well that probably had an improper
cover.
The investigation of more complex aquatic problems and catastrophes
may require a study plan, field crew, and laboratory support. Examples
of such studies would include the investigation of fish kills, the
determination of animal or plant interferences of domestic or industrial
water supplies, and the determination of the causes or extent of pond
or lake eutrophication.
Fish Kills
Fish mortalities are a visible sign and later an odoriferous indication
of an abnormal event within the aquatic environment. Fish mortalities
result from a variety of causes, some of natural origin and some
man-induced. Those from natural causes may result from such phe-
nomena as acute temperature changes, storms, ice and snow cover,
decomposition of natural organic materials, salinity changes, spawning
mortalities, and bacterial or parasitic epidemics. Man-induced fish kills
may be attributed to municipal or industrial wastes, agricultural activi-
ties, and other activities by man such as water manipulation that
significantly alter the quality of the aquatic environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency has published an annual
report on fish kills caused by pollution since 1961. The latest publica-
tion for the year 1970 states that about 23 million fish were reported
killed by water pollution in 634 separate incidences in 45 States. The
1970 report showed a 36 percent increase in reports by States compared
to 1969. Probably this can be related to increased cooperation from
the State reporting officials, improved reporting practices, and increased
public awareness of pollution-caused fish kills. There were 31 reported
kills where the number of dead fish equaled or exceeded 100,000 and
5 of the reported kills indicated dead fish in excess of 1 million.
In 1970, industrial operations were responsible for approximately
9.6 million fish killed based on 177 reports. Operations associated with
municipalities reportedly killed 6.6 million fish in 1970 based on 109
separate reports. Other operations including pollutants from highway
and building construction, airport and service station operations, and
mosquito control were charged with 3.8 million dead fish based on
153 reports, and agricultural operations killed approximately 1.8 million
fish based on 95 reports.
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As in past years, the greatest number of fish kills occurred during
the summer months when warm water and low stream flows from
May through September enhanced the effects of pollutional materials.
Almost 80 percent of the fish reported killed in 1970 were killed
between May and September with July indicated as the month with
the greatest number of reports. Of the 633 fish kills reported in 1970,
487 were killed in rivers with a loss of over 13 million fish involving
1,865 stream miles. Fish kills occurred in 33,000 acres of lake water
with over 3 million fish killed in 111 incidents. Coastal areas were
responsible for 36 kills involving more than 6 million fish along
12,000 miles of shoreline. Fish die also of old age but the numbers
so affected at any one time are usually small and would not be expected
to incite public attention.
In the initial phases of investigating fish kills, speed is all important.
Dead fish disintegrate rapidly in hot weather and the cause of death
may disappear or become unidentifiable within minutes. Early arrival
at the scene after a fish kill begins usually determines the success of
the investigator's evaluation of the problem. The initial investigation
can be greatly expedited through the cooperation of persons who
report immediately the time and place of observed kills, the general
kinds of organisms affected, an estimate of the total number of dead
fish, and any unusual observed phenomena.
Because the presence of dead fish is a dramatic indicator of an
environmental catastrophe, a knowledge of the cause of the mortality
is of importance to the users of the water. Training in the observation
and investigation of environmental catastrophes such as fish kills
should begin early in the life of a student interested in the life sciences
and should be well developed at the high school level.
Preparation for the investigation of a fish mortality is similar to the
preparation for any other investigation of a waterway reach except
that the preparation should be accomplished in anticipation of the
investigation rather than at its initiation to ensure speed of response.
Maps should be consulted and the location of the reported mortality
along with the location of known sources of contributing pollution
should be noted. Often a knowledge of a history of fish mortalities
in the area will contribute valuable information. The laboratory
analyst should be alerted to expect samples from the investigation.
The basic type of equipment that most likely would be employed
would be a thermometer, dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity
testing equipment, a general chemistry kit, dip net, dredge or square-
foot bottom sampler for sampling benthos, appropriate standard sieves,
buckets, waders, a long-handled garden rake, sample containers, pre-
servative, an ice chest, and a boat.
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The time that the fish kill began and when it ended should be
carefully determined from local observers, or by the investigator. The
fish kill area should be defined by reference to legal descriptions of
adjacent lands or political subdivisions. In streams, and often in lakes,
fish are washed or blown rapidly away from the specific kill location.
In streams also the cause of the kill may be carried downstream with
the current as a "slug" along with floating dead fish. The number of
fish killed should be estimated as accurately as possible, as well as the
kinds of fish involved. For large lakes and rivers, a measured distance
of shoreline may be traversed by boat and the number and kinds of
dead or dying fish counted. Estimates can be made by projecting
representative counts to the area of total kill. For smaller streams the
banks may be walked and counts made on the observed numbers of
dead fish by species. An appraisal should be made of the size range
of each species killed and observations should be made on the pre-
dominance of the particular size groups, when distribution appears to
be other than random. Other killed wildlife or animals including
invertebrates should be observed in a similar fashion.
The fish kill investigation should be conducted in such a manner
that evidence from it can be introduced into court. The names of wit-
nesses to the kill, together with a detailed report of their observations
and a signed statement should be obtained, when possible. Samples col-
lected in the field and transported to a central laboratory for examina-
tion should be sealed and so identified by the sender that the chain of
evidence remains intact. Each sample as received in the laboratory
should be logged in and thereafter the date and exact time for each
step in the analytical procedure should be recorded by the responsible
technician. The log should be continuous and account for all the time
that the sample is in the laboratory until the analyses are completed.
When not in use such samples should be stored in a locked room.
A number of physical, chemical, and biological observations are neces-
sary to define the cause of death, in the "typical" fish mortality. Precise
instructions to conduct such observations can be obtained from the
State water pollution control agency. In addition, the Environmental
Protection Agency in 1970 published a brochure entitled, "Investigating
Fish Mortalities," that detailed some of the indicated tests and observa-
tions to be undertaken.
Water temperature fluctuation is a possible direct or contributing
cause to fish mortalities. Temperatures should be recorded during the
hottest part of the day. Stream flows should be observed and it should
be noted whether they are reasonably constant or intermittent. The
weather conditions prevailing at the time of the kill may be an impor-
tant factor especially if weather was extreme. Other noteworthy obser-
vations include the appearance of any unusual physical characteristics
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of the water, the presence of oil or of excessive biotic growths of any
kind, the color and appearance of rocks or debris, and the physical
actions of the fish in a moribund state. Photographs should be obtained
where possible to record the physical conditions observed.
Certain chemical and biological data should be collected at various
stations throughout the kill areas, as well as in upstream and down-
stream unaffected areas. Locating these sampling stations is a matter
principally for the judgment of an experienced observer but they should
be so located that the extent of water quality affected can be defined
and the maximal alteration in water quality can be delineated. The
dissolved oxygen should be determined, as well as the specific con-
ductance, pH, methyl orange alkalinity and other pertinent water qual-
ity characteristics. Water samples for chemical analysis should be col-
lected in chemically cleaned bottles and analyzed for suspected toxic
substances. A 1-liter sample volume is minimal and 10 such samples
from the kill area may prove valuable.
To preserve water, mud, and biologic samples for pesticides analysis,
the freezing of all wet sample is recommended. When freezing cannot
be done, thoroughly cleaned glass containers must be used and these
should have a screw-type cap lined with teflon. Water proof tags should
be attached to all samples stating the place, date, and time of collection,
type of sample, condition of the specimen when collected, and the name
of the sample collector. Silt or sludge samples varying from 1-quart to
1-gallon size are collected preferably in quart glass jars. Dry samples
require no preservation, nor do wet silt or sludge samples when they
are dried rapidly. When rapid drying is not possible, samples may be
preserved with 10 percent formalin and the preservation method should
be indicated on the label. In all surveys of this nature it is imperative
that arrangements have been made with the appropriate laboratory to
receive samples for analyses.
Samples of moribund or recently dead fish and in some cases other
organisms should be collected, placed separately in plastic bags, labeled,
quick frozen immediately with dry ice, and shipped frozen to the
laboratory. Ten fish of a given species and size affected should be
obtained in this manner. When possible such fish should average
1-pound each. A similar poundage and number of live specimens of the
affected species should be obtained from outside the kill area but within
the same water body to serve as control specimens. The preservation
and shipment of control specimens should be identical to that of speci-
mens obtained within a kill area.
Fish should also be preserved for histological examination and pres-
ervation may be with 10 percent formalin. The fixing fluid volume
should be approximately 10 times the bulk of the fish tissue, and inter-
nal tissues should be exposed by an abdominal incision to permit the
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fixative to penetrate the flesh. When disease is suspected, five moribund
fish of each involved species should be placed on wet ice and delivered
to a fish disease laboratory within 24 hours to ensure satisfactory speci-
mens for the detection of fish diseases.
Accurate recording of symptoms when collecting specimens is of great
importance in diagnosing the positive agent or agents. Conditions such
as general appearance, sight of hemorrhage, body color, and organ color
must be recorded immediately upon capture. For certain analytical
tests, such as the determination of pesticidal levels, blood samples
should be collected from dying or recently dead fish. This procedure
involves drying the exterior of the fish with paper towels, wrapping a
paper towel around the fish in the anal region and cutting off the caudal
peduncle (tail) with sharp scissors. The fish is held in the vertical posi-
tion, tail down, with the blood dropping in a 10 to 15 cc vial until 5 cc
of blood is collected. If blood clotting reduces the flow, a second shear-
ing may again free the flow. Composite samples from several fish of the
same species may be necessary to obtain 5 cc of blood. Five vials con-
taining 5 cc each of blood for each important species are preferred. The
vial stopper or cap is covered with aluminum foil; it is closed and the
sample is frozen immediately and handled with care so that the sample
does not touch the foil. A code number is given to the blood sample so
that it can be matched with the carcass, which is retained and frozen
separately in a plastic bag.
It is important to make collections of algae when they are present in
a quantity sufficient to be a potential factor in the kill. Careful observa-
tions on the extent and density of rooted aquatic plants also should be
made. In collecting attached or planktonic algae for pesticidal analyses,
collect 10 cc of concentrated material in a 20 cc glass vial. Attach tag
giving basic collection identification and indicate volume of water from
which the sample was collected and the method of sample concentra-
tion. In dense algal mats, such concentration can be effected with the
use of a sieve. Cover the top of vial with aluminum foil, cap and ship
frozen. Dilute fresh algal cells or an algal suspension in the affected
water may be injected into laboratory mice to determine algal toxicity.
Such samples should be returned rapidly to the laboratory in a fresh
and chilled state for such tests.
Following these more urgent aspects of the fish kill investigation,
sampling of benthic organisms in the accepted manner for biologic
investigation of water pollution will aid in defining the extent and
cause of the fish kill.
Lastly, the field observations and the laboratory analyses should be
confined into a succinct report that will withstand critical cross-exami-
nation. All field notes, laboratory notes, and data forms must be main-
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tained until there is assurance that they will not be needed further in
subsequent court or other actions.
A sample collection summary for a fish mortality investigation would
include:
1. Ten l-liter water samples from kill area from chemical analyses.
Other 1-liter samples from control and other stations.
2. Ten pounds including 10 individuals of dying fish of each impor-
tant species frozen with dry ice and an equivalent amount and
number of control fish.
3. Five small fish of each important species preserved in formalin.
4. Five dying fish of each significant species placed on wet ice and
delivered to fish disease laboratory within 24 hours.
5. Five vials containing 5 cc each of blood from each important fish
species.
6. One quart to 1-gallon of sludge or sediment.
7. Ten cc of concentrated algae, frozen.
8. Ten cc of concentrated algae, chilled.
9. Benthos samples.
Water Supplies
Water supplies are derived either from the subsurface or from surface
storage reservoirs or lakes and streams and each may have its associated
chemical or biological problems. Algae, protozoa and diatoms can pro-
duce tastes and odors and clog filters. Iron bacteria produce nauseous
tastes and odors and clog pipes. Copepods may infest a system when
eggs pass through filters, and small nematode worms, sowbugs, and
midge larva or bloodworms have been found in distribution systems.
Before a source for a water supply is finally selected, it should be
surveyed by a competent aquatic biologist to evaluate present and
probable future conditions that might affect the water quality. Often
through an analysis of the chemistry of the inflowing water, an evalua-
tion of the proposed reservoir morphology and an assessment of soils
to be inundated, a prediction can be made regarding future problems
likely to result when subsequent construction and reservoir filling are
completed. The elimination of undesirable shallow areas can often be
accomplished more cheaply during construction than with continual
surveillance and maintenance of acceptable water quality in these areas
after reservoir filling.
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Impounded water may result in the leaching of undesirable materials
from inundated soils. When present in excessive concentrations, such
materials can interfere with the desired water uses. For example, color
may become objectionable aesthetically. Excessive iron in water supplies
stains laundry, produces a disagreeable taste, interferes with filtration,
and supports iron bacterial growths. Iron is more soluble in water when
oxygen is absent, when organic materials are present, and when the
water is acidic. Manganese should be absent from finished water and,
when present in excess, stains laundry and produces tastes. Manganese
is affected in its solubility similarly to that of iron. Phosphorus con-
centrations in excess of 0.1 mg/1 may interfere with coagulation in
water treatment plants and in excess of 0.05 mg/1 may stimulate the
excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants. Algal growths im-
part undesirable tastes and odors to water, interfere with water treat-
ment, become aesthetically unpleasing, and alter the chemistry of the
water supply. Likewise, nitrogen is an important factor in water sup-
plies. The decomposition of organic materials produces ammonia that,
in an environment without abundant oxygen, may not oxidize to ni-
trate. Ammonia reacts with chlorine to form chloramines, which inter-
fere with disinfection. In addition, nitrogen is a nutrient that, with
phosphorus, supports excessive aquatic vegetation. The possibility of
the development of such problems in a new reservoir can often be
predicted through a chemical analyses of the inflowing water, as well as
the soils to be inundated and an experiment to determine the probabil-
ity of leaching of materials from the soils to superimposed water.
To prevent water quality degradation in newly formed reservoirs, it
may be necessary to remove woody debris prior to flooding, particularly
rotting logs and stumps. If tests show that organic soils could have a
marked effect on a significant area of the reservoir, these soils should be
excavated or covered with at least 2 feet of mineral soil, which is effec-
tive in preventing adverse effects on the overlying water. As the reservoir
ages the effects of the original soil will diminish because of a decrease
in the rate of decay and the extraction of available solutes. Clays and
other soils washed in with spring freshets gradually will cover the
original soils.
When new reservoir areas are flooded, the terrestrial vegetation is
killed including the shrubs and remaining trees. Subsequent decom-
position and leaching from the topsoils release nutrients and may con-
tribute to the release of iron and manganese, as well as increase the
background color. The nutrient release in turn provides a food source
for algae and other microscopic organisms that contributes to water
quality degradation. It has been found to take from 10 to 15 years to
reach a state of stabilization following the inundation of vegetation and
rich topsoils. Stripping of the top soil and removal from the reservoir
site or burial along with the removal of shrubs, brush, and logs may be
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necessary to prevent the formation of taste and odors and other un-
desirable qualities associated with new reservoirs.
Algae are considered to be the most important causes of tastes and
odors in water supplies. Particular organoleptic sensations have been
associated with a large number of algal genera. Their decay and decom-
position in association with fungi and bacteria accentuate their taste
and odor producing properties. The number of algal cells present per
unit of water for a particular algal genus is a probable indication of its
potential for the production of organoleptic sensations in water sup-
plies. Early control of an algal population through the use of an algicide
in a reservoir or enclosed basin often alleviates the potential problem
but the control measures usually have to be repeated on more than one
occasion throughout the course of the warm summer months.
Algae are also a primary cause of filter clogging in water treatment
operations. Efficient coagulation and sedimentation may remove 90 to
95 percent of the algae from the water, however, the algae remaining
may still be sufficient to cause gradual or even rapid loss of head in a
sand filter. The clogged filter must then be backwashed and frequent
backwashing is an expensive undertaking in water treatment because
the filter being backwashed is removed from service and a certain
amount of water is wasted during the backwashing procedure. Filter
runs may often extend from 30 to 100 hours before backwashing is
required or may be shortened to 3 to 10 hours when algae are present
and interfere with the filtering operation. Diatoms are especially note-
worthy as filter clogging organisms. The additional cost of operating a
water treatment plant imposed by the problems of algae as a filter
clogging organism may extend into the hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars per season in a large water treatment plant.
Algae sometimes contribute to corrosion either directly in localized
places where they may be growing or through their modification of the
water by physical or chemical changes. Green- and blue-green algae,
growing on the surface of submersed concrete, have caused the concrete
to become pitted and friable. The algae have been reported also to cause
corrosion in metal tanks and basins open to sunlight. Oscillatoria grow-
ing in abundance in an open steel tank has caused serious pitting of the
metal. The algal growth permitted the pitting to take place by releasing
oxygen which combined with the protective film of oxide over the
steel. When the steel tank was covered to prevent the entrance of light,
the algae disappeared and corrosion stopped. Growths of algae increase
organic deposition in pipes and increase the dissolved oxygen in the
water during daylight hours through photosynthesis. Their growth also
produces changes in pH and carbon dioxide content all of which may
affect the rate of corrosion.
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Growths of iron bacteria can be found in deep wells and frequently
occur in water distribution systems. These bacteria may cause turbidity
and discoloration of the water and be responsible for some of the
unpleasant tastes and odors that are produced either directly or in-
directly as the dead bacterial cells are decomposed by other microorgan-
isms. When present in great numbers, as they are sometimes associated
with the distribution system near fire hydrants, the bacteria impart a
reddish coloration to the water and increase the turbidity substantially.
These organisms also may be identified by a microscopic examination
of a small sample of water. When present in few numbers, it may be
necessary to pass a sample of water through a membrane filter where
subsequent microscopic examination should reveal iron bacteria in
abundance if they are present. Leuschow and Mackenthun (1962) de-
scribe such a technique for the detection and enumeration of iron
bacteria from a water supply faucet.
Published records have indicated that certain animals can pose prob-
lems as unwanted inhabitants of water supply systems. Examples of such
animals include bloodworms that have been found in certain distribu-
tion systems. Bloodworms have been a nuisance organism in the sand
filtration process because they live upon the organic material collected
by the filters and construct tubes in which they live within the filter
media. When the insects emerge as adults the empty tubes on occasions
have been found to allow the water to pass through the filters in an
unfiltered state. Other types of worms and nematodes also have been
found in distribution systems. Copepods or water fleas have been a
problem on occasions and the eggs have been found to pass through
filters, later hatching into mature forms in the potable supplies. Sponges
have been a problem in pipes because of their ability to line portions
of the pipe with a rough coating that hinders the flow of water or, when
heavy infestations occur, stop the flow of water. Clams and snails have
been reported from distribution systems and have been a problem be-
cause of incrustations in intake pipes.
As a school project, and when a membrane filtering apparatus is
available in the laboratory, samples of water from a laboratory faucet
may be examined microscopically from time to time for any materials
it contains. A very informative field trip would be a visit to the local
municipal water supply where the operator undoubtedly would be
pleased to explain the process of water purification. When the supply is
from a surface source, such as a reservoir, samples collected from the
reservoir and from various points throughout the water purification
system for microscopic investigation would reveal the degree of clarifica-
tion provided by various units in the treatment system. Operators of
larger water treatment plants using surface waters as a source maintain
detailed records of the quality of the intake water. Such records, when
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maintained over a period of many years, provide a historical resume
of the chemical and biologic quality of the particular waterway.
Pond or Lake Eutrophication
The general procedures involved in a special study of a pond or lake
eutrophication problem were detailed in the previous chapter under a
discussion of pond and lake investigations. Such studies on eutrophica-
tion may be considered specialized investigations because the sole pur-
pose may be to define the extent of eutrophication at present and proffer
recommendations to alleviate the problem.
In studies conducted to determine the source of the eutrophication
problem in Lake Sebasticook, Maine, industries and municipalities con-
Figure 5. Tributary stream station selection for a lake eutrophication study.
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tributing to the inflowing nutrients were sampled on a 24-hour basis to
determine the pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus contribution from
each major source. Samples from inflowing tributary streams were also
analyzed for nutrient composition and, when adjusted to a measured
flow, indicated the amounts of major nutrients entering the Lake dur-
ing the four seasonal sampling times. Samples also were collected ver-
tically from top to bottom at five locations in the 4,200 acre Lake. Field
studies were conducted during the ice cover season of February, as well
as in May, August and November.
Water samples for organic nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitro-
gen, and total and dissolved phosphorus were acid-fixed and shipped
to a stationary laboratory for analyses. Plankton samples were collected
also at all flowing and standing water stations and were preserved with
4 percent formalin and shipped to a stationary laboratory for later
examination. Phytoplankton counts were made with the Sedgwick-
Rafter counting cell following the procedures in "Standards Methods
for the Examination of Water and Waste Water." Microscopic measure-
ments were made of a selected number of predominant algae and the
wet algal volume was determined in parts per million by multiplying
the number of organisms observed per milliliter by the average species
volume in cubic microns times 10-6.
Figure 6. Lake station selection for a lake eutrophication study.
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Chlorophyll bearing cells were filtered from the water with a 0.45
micron pore membrane filter and the filter and cells were placed in
vials of acetone for the extraction of the pigments and for solution of
the filters. Samples were then centrifuged to remove particulate sus-
pended materials. The clear supernatant pigment-bearing acetone was
examined on a recording spectrophotometer and the quantity of chloro-
phyll determined.
Lake sediments were examined for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus
content, as well as for diatom remains. Calculations were made of the
amounts of major nutrients contained in the algal population. Estimates
were made also on the amounts of nutrients draining directly to the
Lake from peripherally placed septic tanks, from the use of fertilizers
on adjacent fields, and from the groundwater. A vertical temperature
and dissolved oxygen series were taken during each survey, and the
early November samples coincided with the period of the fall overturn.
Samples of the benthos population taken from defined transection
points were collected during each of the studies.
Sewage Treatment Systems
The vast majority of municipal sewage treatment facilities employ
biological processes for the treatment of domestic wastes. The purpose
of the facility under these conditions is to provide an artificial environ-
ment, as ideal as practicable, for the organisms to accomplish the same
task that would otherwise be accomplished if the wastes were discharged
untreated into a receiving water. Because it has been designed for
maximum efficiency, a sewage treatment facility will accomplish the
waste water modification in a small controlled area, 'whereas it other-
wise would be accomplished over a considerable length of stream or
area of standing water body in the natural environment. In addition,
preventative measures are taken in the sewage treatment facility to
destroy pathogenic bacteria and protect the health and welfare of water
users, as well as prevent environmental degradation that would other-
wise be caused by the introduction of biodegradable wastes. Problems
can arise in sewage treatment installations when conditions occur that
effect an imbalance of the biota attacking the waste material in a man-
ner similar to those occurrences that produce biologic nuisance prob-
lems in the natural environment. An investigation and surveillance of
the biota in a sewage treatment installation can often predict such
occurrences and recommend measures to prevent a malfunctioning of
the facility.
Bacterial and other colorless plants initiate the breakdown of organic
substances while particular organic substances are attacked by particu-
lar species. Generally there is a large number of bacterial species in any
waste disposal unit. Most of the lower plants and animals found in
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Plate 23. The supply of food constantly to a trickling filter provides an ideal
environment for organisms to stabilize sewage.
sewage treatment are cosmopolitan in occurrence. They are well known
and seem to be substantially alike in similar treatment plants. Some
organisms however tend to occur very abundantly in certain types of
wastes so much so that blooms of them can be called indicative for the
waste and for the condition it causes. The dominance of any particular
species is an organism response to some particular component or condi-
tion of the waste. Only a few chlorophyll-containing types can utilize
the dissolved organic substances in sewage, raw or partly digested, and
these then become of value as indicators of particular conditions.
Visible active inhabitants of anaerobic habitats, Imhoff tanks and
digesters, are generally bacteria, together with about 20 species of
protozoa.
Often the protozoa are extremely scarce. It has been stated that it is
probable that these organisms afford a fair criterion to the proper work-
ing conditions in an Imhoff tank. When the tanks foam or seem to
digest poorly, the number of protozoa is high and when there is but
little solid matter in the liquid the number of protozoa tends to be
small.
Biotic populations in trickling filters include bacteria, fungi, proto-
zoans, algae, nematodes, rotifers, snails, sludgeworms, and larvae of cer-
tain insects. In this environment, animals exert a dominant influence
by consuming bacteria to the extent that, when the filter is operating
effectively, the bacteria are always growing and reproducing and the
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bacterial population never levels off. Worms and certain insect larvae
serve as scouring organisms and burrow in the film of the niters, thereby
keeping it loose and porous and capable of unloading to maintain effec-
tive biotic digestion.
Trickling filters are often troubled seriously by Psychoda flies, the
"trickling filter fly." These small flies tend to reproduce in great abun-
dance where there is high relatively humidity, oxygen, and organic
materials that furnish food for the larvae. The flies do not sting or suck
blood but they are a real annoyance because they settle on the eyes, ears,
nose, and clothes, and because of their small size they easily enter sur-
rounding houses. Control of the filter fly is provided by keeping the
weeds and grass mowed short throughout the sewage treatment plant
area, spraying the walls and other structures that are inhabited by the
flies with an insecticide, and, if necessary, spraying the edges and walls
of sludge drying beds similarly.
Protozoa are dominant in the biota affecting treatment in an acti-
vated sludge unit. Protozoa can be observed readily through the use of
a low power on a microscope and, with experience, an investigator can
determine the effectiveness of a particular activated sludge by the rela-
tive predominance of various types of protozoan inhabitants.
Stabilization ponds are used by a large number of municipalities
throughout the United States for the stabilization of domestic wastes,
as well as by many types of industries for the treatment of industrial
wastes. Treatment efficiencies in stabilization ponds vary with indica-
tions that well-designed and well-operated ponds produce effluents equal
to or better than those expected from effective conventional secondary
treatment plants. The prevailing climate is an important factor in waste
stabilization in an outdoor pond. Pond construction, location, and the
types and loading of wastes that are introduced are likewise constrain-
ing factors on operating efficiency. Photosynthesis has been termed the
most important single factor in determining the course and effectiveness
of stabilization pond treatment. Algae are an intricate part of photo-
synthesis. Bacteria attack the liquid wastes in an environment that is
dominated by the algal flora, and bottom organisms, usually midge
larvae, assist in the stabilization of settled solids.
A stabilization pond environment is a confined ecosystem for the
study or demonstration of aquatic interrelationships among organisms.
A bountiful microscopic life abounds in an organically enriched, well-
operating stabilization pond. Of course, certain precautions must be
taken by the investigator to prevent the possibility of infection from
pathogenic bacteria or other disease-producing organisms.
Under certain conditions, blue-green algal masses may form on the
surface of the stabilization pond and these give rise to pigpen-like odors.
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SUMMER AND FALL
MAXIMUM ALOAE
AND PROTOZOAN
GROWTH
HIGH ALGAE VOL.
HIGH D.O.
LOW B.O.D.
ALKALINE pH
LOW INORGANIC N
LOW SOLUBLE P
NO ODORS
LIGHT
HIGH TEMP.
ORGANIC N
SEWAGE STABILIZATION
izia
)
EARLY SPRING AND WINTER
REDUCED LIGHT
LOW TEMP.
MINIMUM
BACTERIAL
OXIDATION
C0
MINIMUM ALGAE
PROTOZOAN
GROWTH
LOW ALGAE VOL.
LOW D.O.
HIGH B.O.D.
pNEAR pH 7
'HIGH NHJ-N
HIGH SOLUBLE P
PROBABLE ODORS
Figure 7. Principles of waste stabilization in area affected by cold winter climate.
Blue-green algal masses may be carried to the leeward shore by wind
and under a hot sun the surface of the mass will bake and decompose.
The causes of such a phenomenon cannot be stated with specificity but
the organic loading to the pond is an important factor. There are
several avenues of approach that are available to combat odors arising
from blue-green algal and other solids on the surface of stabilization
ponds. These include skimming off the floating solids and burial on
shore. In some cases the solid mass may be broken up with the applica-
tion of a hard spray of water from a pump and fire hose-type spray
nozzle or by running a boat with an outboard motor through the
nuisance area. When the solids are broken up the odorous condition is
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temporarily alleviated because of increased bacterial action and aerobic
oxidation of the solid masses. Continual surveillance must be instituted
to preclude a regrouping of the floating mass. During the early stages
of the formation of a floating algal mass, it may be controlled through
the periodic use of an algal-killing chemical such as copper sulfate. The
copper tends to kill the blue-green algae more effectively than the green
algal species and thus the pond operation is not damaged severely by
the treatment.
In the control of blue-green algae in a stabilization pond, floating
sun-baked masses should first be removed from the surface and buried.
With a methyl orange alkalinity of less than 50 mg/1, a calculated dose
of 0.5 ppm commercial copper sulfate is used. With higher alkalinity,
1-ppm copper sulfate is applied, thus, for a high alkalinity pond that is
4-feet deep, 10 pounds of commercial grade copper sulfate per acre is
required. The application may need to be repeated throughout the
summer months and perhaps as often as every two weeks. The copper
sulfate may be applied as a spray over the surface of the pond or by
placing crystals in a burlap bag and dragging the bag through the
nuisance area until the copper sulfate crystals are dissolved. The pond
should be observed closely following any treatment to ascertain that the
purpose for which the pond was initially designed is not seriously
impaired.
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11
Kecovery from Catastrophe
Concepts
CCTTOW long after clean up will it be before the water is fit for
J. _Lswimming, fishing, or aesthetic enjoyment?" This oft-asked ques-
tion actually is a phase of prediction based on the observed facts that
become evident from a water quality investigation. Often the prediction
is a part of the formal water quality investigator's report and an attempt
to answer this question accurately should be made by the investigator
at the completion of the study and the analyses of the data.
The question is not an easy one to answer because the answer depends
upon a great number of interacting factors that combine to form what
might be termed the recovery of a waterway from the effects of pollution
or from a naturally occurring catastrophic event. For one thing, the
water quality necessary to support swimming, fishing or aesthetic enjoy-
ment can be slightly different depending upon the chosen recreational
pursuit. As a result, the recovery process may differ, one from the other,
and the length of time necessary for recovery likewise will differ.
As discussed earlier, each waterway is a unique microcosm comprised
of physical, chemical, and biological interacting factors. For this reason
alone, the recovery of the waterway from a particular catastrophic occur-
rence will be dissimilar both in the particular events leading toward
recovery and also in the length of time required for the recovery process.
Theoretically, the recovery of a waterway that is not influenced sig-
nificantly by tributaries or other similarly-acting factors, and from
which a significant source of pollution has been removed, should pro-
ceed toward recovery with a shortening of the pollution zones. The
downstream or horizonally-located zone of recovery should move up-
stream and gradually replace the zone of active decomposition. Even-
tually a similar process should occur in the zone of degradation. The
adjacent downstream or more distant clean-water zone likewise should
follow and eventually replace the zone of recovery when the effects of
the insult on the aquatic environment have been obliterated. A succes-
sion of organisms would occur in the polluted area beginning with the
bacteria and associated protozoa and algae and extending through the
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macrobenthos, which would include the sludgeworms, midge larvae,
fingernail clams, sowbugs, leeches, dragonfly nymphs, caddisfly larvae
and other gill-breathing insect larvae in that order. Eventually a popu-
lation of fish and other aquatic life would be present that would be
indistinguishable in population characteristics from an area of the
waterway that remained unaffected by pollution. Often the events in
nature do not occur in this logical sequence, however, because of the
interaction of the many factors that will be discussed later. It is this
process of interaction that complicates the predictability of natural
phenomena that in combination produce waterway recovery.
Influencing Factors
Significant influencing factors in the waterway recovery process in-
clude the extensiveness of environmental damage, the length of time
that the environment has been degraded, the environments affected,
and the possibilities for infiltration of biota.
The extensiveness of environmental damage to a particular waterway
habitat is different for each cause of environmental destruction. Such
damage may be subtle and may affect only one or a few species of the
.most sensitive organisms within the aquatic community. The other
extreme would be virtual destruction of the community of plants and
animals within a given reach of waterway. An innumerable number of
possibilities for different environmental gradations exist between these
two extremes.
The cause of the environmental destruction may have been con-
tinuous, intermittent, fluctuating in degree, seasonal, annual, or occur-
ring once in 10, 50, or 100 years. Each action will produce a different
reaction within the aquatic community.
The history of the environmental degradation or the length of time
that such degradation has occurred will tend to affect the length of time
required for recovery. For example a lake that has become eutrophic
within the past decade, and within which the process has been a gradual
one, will recover in a much shorter time span than a lake with a long
history of eutrophication.
The types of waterway environments affected by a particular catas-
trophe will affect the time required for recovery when the catastrophe
subsides or has been controlled. The flowing water environment will
react differently from that of the non-flowing water environment.
When pollution has been removed or controlled in a flowing stream,
recovery often is aided by certain natural phenomena that occur sea-
sonally or at more or less defined intervals. A spring flood for example
will remove sludge deposits or dilute and wash away the residual pockets
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of toxic materials that may remain from a source of toxic pollution.
This cleansing effect will prepare a physical habitat that is more suit-
able for colonization and inhabitation by organisms than one associated
with a polluted environment. If nutrients have been a problem in the
stream environment, these too are diluted and cleansed from the area
by the forces and actions of spring freshets. Should the expected spring
floods fail to occur because of prevailing area drought conditions, the
time of recovery for a flowing water environment may well be extended
for one or two additional years.
Expected recovery in the non-flowing environment generally will
require a longer period of time than expected recovery within the
flowing environment. Sludge deposits and their resultant environment-
ally deleterious effects are not easily removed by floods or spring freshets.
Quite often the effects of such deposits must be minimized through the
natural blanketing of such areas with naturally occurring materials that
are environmentally more acceptable. The covering-over process is a
much slower one than the attrition caused by flooding and may require
several years to complete. In the interim, biological degradation of the
sludge bank continues with some deleterious environmental effects that
are diminished progressively with the healing influence of time.
Recovery within the non-flowing environment depends to a large
extent on the flow-through time or water retention time of the pond,
lake, or reservoir. For example, the flow-through time for Lake Michi-
gan is approximately 15 times the flow-through time for Lake Erie. The
theoretical recovery time following a similar degree of abatement of a
similar pollutional load would approximate a ratio of 15 to 1 with Lake
Erie experiencing the more rapid recovery. The physical topography of
a water basin affects its retention time and significant factors include
the length, width, depth, contour of the bottom, physical location of
inflowing and outflowing streams, volume of water within the holding
basin compared to the annual volume of inflowing water, water tem-
perature, and a number of other related factors.
Probably the most significant pollution problem associated with lakes
is that of eutrophication. All natural lakes through geologic time tend
to mature, become more fertile, eventually fill with organic materials,
and ultimately return to the landscape as dry land. This aging process
has been accelerated in a great number of lakes through the activities
of man. The nutrients, principally in the form of available nitrogen and
phosphorus, that reach a lake basin through discharges of pollution to
the basin or to the drainage area result in increased algal and vascular
plant nuisances. These have contributed to an accelerated accumulation
of organic materials and the general process associated with a lake
becoming overenriched before its geologic time has been referred to as
cultural eutrophication.
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Once nutrients are removed from the lake or its drainage basin
through processes of advanced waste treatment or other controls, lake
recovery will begin. It may not be possible ever to bring the condition
of a lake back to a point on the geologic timescale when the cultural
eutrophication process was initiated. It should be possible, on the other
hand, to recover a waterway to such an extent that many valuable
decades of multi-water use can be obtained for a citizenry that has
displayed an innate affinity for association with the water environment.
The fourth significant factor influencing recovery is the possibilities
for infiltration of organisms into the organism-depleted environment.
These possibilities include downstream drift, upstream migration, gen-
eral invasion from adjacent areas as in a lake, egg deposition of those
aquatic organisms that have terrestrial adults, infiltration by wind-borne
algae and other organisms, transportation of aquatic weeds, algae, and
microorganisms by birds and mammals, and the influences of man in
transporting and transplanting aquatic organisms intentionally or un-
intentionally, into an otherwise denuded area.
Infiltrating Mechanisms
Waterway recovery begins with the removal of pollution or with its
control through more adequate treatment or by other means. When
the recruitment of organisms from adjacent or upstream areas does not
occur, the principal process of establishing a biotic community within
an area where the previous community has been virtually destroyed is
through ecological succession. In the process of succession, bacteria from
the soil and those introduced from the atmosphere convert the organic
materials present to protoplasm and serve as a food supply for protozoa
and other microscopic organisms. Simultaneously minute algae con-
tribute similarly to the development of an environment that will be
amenable to the life processes of higher and more complex biotic forms.
When the environment attains a quality that will support their exis-
tence, other organisms will appear. Each type of organism in turn, will
influence the aquatic environment and prepare it for the invasion of a
higher form of life, which culminates in a balanced fish population. In
an undisturbed aquatic environment the predator fish will assume the
role of dominant organisms and will control the biotic population to
the advantage of their species.
The type or combination of recruitment activities to fill a biotic
environmental void is an important determinant of the time interval
required for recovery. The downstream drift of organisms from up-
stream riffle areas or from tributaries may attain rates of many pounds
per day and may serve to repopulate an area rapidly providing condi-
tions for existence are acceptable for the survival of the species. The
downstream drift of organisms is a common occurrence but there is evi-
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dence that the greatest drift may occur during the non-daylight hours.
Downstream drift is common among insect larvae and occurs when the
immature forms become released from their points of attachment and
drift with the current.
Upstream migration of organisms is another phenomenon that is not
as effective as downstream drift in the repopulation of an area but,
nevertheless, is a significant factor. Evidence indicates that the amount
of downstream drift far exceeds the amount of upstream migration for
a given stream reach. In a lake environment, repopulation can be aided
to a great extent from a general invasion by organisms from adjacent
lake areas. Presumably the invasion would be from all sides accessible
and would occur when conditions for existence would support the or-
ganisms, and in accordance with their general adaptability for locomo-
tion.
Egg deposition can be a significant means of repopulating an area
particularly by those species of organisms that have a terrestrial adult
stage. When the chemical water quality is returned to an acceptable
level for the survival of immature insect forms, the forms usually will
be present within the environment following the time of the next egg-
laying period for the species. Thus, a flowing water area would tend to
become repopulated with invertebrates within a maximal period of one
year following a corrected or controlled catastrophic occurrence. The
interval of time might be decreased depending upon the possibilities
of downstream drift or upstream migration or general invasion. The
lake or pond environment is more complex and depends upon a num-
ber of related factors and the recovery period probably would be longer.
Algae and other microscopic organisms are found in the atmosphere
and may be transported over great distances by the winds. This is a
major reason why algae may be found in practically every habitat
known to man. Birds are a significant transporter of fragments of aqua-
tic vascular plants, algae, and other microscopic organisms. Such or-
ganisms may be carried in the intestinal tract of birds or as passengers
on feet or beaks. When birds alight upon the water such organisms
are dislodged and can mature in the new environment. Certain mam-
mals also, particularly those that are associated with the aquatic en-
vironment, can transport algae.-aquatic vascular plants, and other aqua-
tic microorganisms. Man himself plays an important part by his practice
of intentional or accidental planting or introducing various species into
aquatic habitats. Often such species, unencumbered by natural enemies,
become a severe pest and result in the expenditures of large sums of
money aimed toward their eradication or control. Notably examples of
such introductions that have become significant pest species include the
german carp, Eurasian water milfoil and the Asiatic clam. The occur-
rence of certain other species in southern waters of the United States
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that are pests in more tropical climes is a matter of grave concern and
current investigation.
Environmental Catastrophes
Environmental catastrophes may occur as a result of pollution or as
a result of natural phenomena. The nature and extent of such catas-
trophes determine the time and other conditions necessary for environ-
mental recovery. Catastrophes arising from pollution may assume many
forms and degrees. Principally they may be confined to those from
organic wastes, toxic wastes, inert silts, nutrients, heat, and oil. Catas-
trophes arising from natural phenomena likewise occur in a wide variety
of forms and degree. Generally these may be attributed to floods,
drought, ice, seasonal climatic conditions, and winds.
Brinkhurst (1964) observed the recovery of a British river from gross
organic pollution that was alleviated with the operation of a new sewage
treatment plant, and cooling towers and a recirculating system to deal
with hot water discharges. According to his observations the river bed
was carpeted with sewage fungus and inhabited by sludgeworms alone
prior to the institution of pollution control devices. Deep accumula-
tions of sludge were present. It was considered problematical that it
would take some time for the sludge to disperse and that the recovery
of the invertebrate fauna would be gradual and progressive. However,
this prognostication proved to be pessimistic. Pollution control devices
became operational in April, 1958. Later that spring the sludge was
swept away by winter flood waters and the river was very greatly im-
proved biologically. By September 1958 water quality had improved to
such an extent that more resistant mayfly nymphs were able to survive
along with sowbugs, various leeches, and midge larvae. In this case a
pollution catastrophe was aided by a natural catastrophe in the process
of environmental recovery.
Brinkhurst cites several examples of stream recovery following a re-
duction or control of severe pollution. Generally, according to the
evidence submitted, recovery of a normally denuded area is rapid for
those organisms that are mobile, but a much longer time is necessary
for slow-moving species to recolonize such an area. Often several years
will Be required for molluscs to reappear. Aerial imaginal stages of
aquatic insect larvae were able to lay eggs in a river in the course of
the ensuing breeding season in a great number of cases. If flood waters
are not able to dislodge the accumulated sludges, stream recovery will
require a much longer time period.
The introduction of toxic materials will kill a portion or all of the
animals within the affected reach of the water environment depending
upon the relative toxicity of the introduced materials. Hopkins et al.
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(1966) investigated the effects of insecticides on aquatic fauna in waters
draining a treated pasture land. There resulted a considerable mortality
among aquatic insects in the treated area although there was no evi-
dence of mortality among fresh-water crayfish and fish. After 12 months
following treatment, large numbers of aquatic insects were again found
in the streams but the species composition was entirely different from
that present before treatment with the insecticide.
Studies have been made on stream faunal recovery after reclamation
of manganese strip mining operations in Virginia. Faunal recovery in
the reclaimed stream was complete six years after reclamation of the
surface mining spoils. Partial reclamation was found to be ineffective
in bringing about faunal recovery or changing the turbidity and silt
load of affected waters. Intermediate samples before the six-year time
period were not obtained and it was therefore impossible to determine
the earliest time of stream recovery.
Stuart (1953) conducted studies on the effects of siltation on trout
redds and very young trout. He concluded from his studies that silt is
not very dangerous in the normal stream if excess occurs only at inter-
vals. The character of such normal streams can, however, be altered
drastically by allowing the washings of quarries, gravel pits, and mines
to flow into streams untreated. In many cases the quantities allowed to
enter the streams may be small and the material in suspension may in
itself be of a non-toxic character. But, continuous applications of small
quantities over the redds were found to be much more detrimental to
the welfare of the very small fish than sudden flushes of large quanti-
ties of silt. Stuart found that the continuous addition of fresh sediment
resulted in serious gill membrane inflammation, which eventually
caused death. Intermittent additions did not cause death. Wilson (1957)
studied the effects of gold dredging operations on bottom-associated
organisms in the Powder River of Oregon. During siltation, production
of fish food organisms dropped to almost nil in the zone of heaviest pol-
lution. Between 15 and 20 miles of the River were heavily silted. In
about one year after the dredge closed operations, there was a remark-
able recovery of bottom life. Silt was flushed from the pools and riffles
by freshets and bottom organisms increased eight to ten fold in weight
per unit of bottom area.
As discussed earlier, nutrients contribute to the eutrophication of
standing water bodies. The recovery of a lake from eutrophication fol-
lowing the removal or reduction in nutrient inflows is a complex proc-
ess. The control of the nutrients stimulating the plant growth is seldom
complete because of the residual naturally-occurring nutrient inflows
from the drainage basin, groundwaters, and atmospheric washouts. In
addition, a substantial portion of the nutrients that have been con-
tributed by pollution over the years are bound in benthic sediments and
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comprise a part of the biotic population. A portion of the nutrients
found in benthic sediments may be recycled to the superimposed water
when conditions for such recharge are suitable. The nutrients occurring
in the benthic population are released upon the death and decay of the
organisms. A portion of these may be recycled in the aquatic food web,
whereas the remaining portion may be transported to the bottom sedi-
ments where a small portion only may be available for future recycling.
When eutrophication has been severe and has existed for a considerable
period of time, the speciation of the fish population usually has changed.
Carp and other rough fish are found in abundance in fertile eutrophic
waters. Midge larvae also are found in the rich organic sediments. The
finer, more sensitive fish species generally are eliminated with the
onset of eutrophication. Often this is a result of a depletion of oxygen
in the lower limits of the thermocline and beneath where the tempera-
ture is suitable for such fish.
The recovery of a lake from the degrading effects of eutrophication
is a slow process of attrition of the nutrient supply. Bottom sediments
may be covered with inert silts that serve to segregate the organic ma-
terials from the superimposed water. In time, the nutrients that are
recycled within the biomass decrease. With the death and decomposition
of organisms a portion of the nutrients combines with the consolidated
benthic sediments and does not recharge to the superimposed water.
Nutrients are discharged continually in the lake's effluent and there the
flow-through time of the water in the lake basin is an important factor
in determining the time necessary for lake recovery. When the flow-
through time is a few months or two or three years, the recovery
rate from eutrophication should be rapid following the control of
nutrient inflows. If the flow-through time is 10, 20 or 100 years, the
length of anticipated recovery time will be great. Examples of lake
environments that have shown substantial recovery following the
removal of pollution sources of nutrients include Lake Washington
near Seattle and Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin.
Heat and oil each produce their unrelated effects upon the receiving
aquatic environment. The dissipation or degradation of these materials
will result in biotic recovery that will follow the principles discussed
above.
Natural phenomena such as floods will produce a scouring action
that may wash away substantial quantities or virtually all of the
invertebrate fauna of a flowing waterway. Drought conditions reduce
stream flows and expose productive marginal areas of lakes, ponds,
and streams to the baking effects of the sun. Adverse water quality
characteristics that virtually may be unrecognized during normal flow
times become accentuated in their effects during conditions of drought.
Ice formations sometimes produce their toll on benthic life by gouging
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out shoreline areas and occasionally by destroying the habitat for
benthos with the formation of stream bed ice where both the surface
and stream bed become solid ice sheets with the water flowing between.
These conditions occur only in extremely cold weather in northern
climes. Recovery from these natural phenomena follow similar prin-
ciples to those described above. The repopulation by mobile forms
is rapid whereas the repopulation by those forms not carried by the
current, and which are relatively non-mobile, is slow.
Wind as a natural phenomenon occasionally has its deleterious
impact upon the aquatic environment. High winds and other pheno-
mena associated with hurricanes in coastal waters produce changes
in flow and in the distribution of fresh-water and salt-water in the
coastal waterways. These changes have a deleterious effect particularly
on those species that depend upon a certain chlorinity of the water
for their existence. Recovery in these instances depends principally
upon the life history of the species in question, the extent of damage,
and the possibilities for repopulation through infiltration.
Water quality changes induced by the seasons can have their effects
on macrobenthos and other organisms associated with the aquatic
environment. Gaufin and Tarzwell (1955) studied environmental
changes in a polluted stream during winter. In their studies they
found that the decomposition and recovery zones were shortened
during summer and that the effects of pollution were most evident
and the life zones more clear cut and more readily observed during
this time. In the winter months, the metabolic activity of the organisms
is at a lower level and life zones become longer or tend to lose their
identity. The pollutional carpet of bacteria, protozoa, and entrapped
organic materials, which was characteristic of the zone of decomposi-
tion in summer, extended farther downstream during winter. Occa-
sionally this carpet reached the upper end of the summer's clean
water zone. During the winter months, bottom organisms characteristic
of the decomposition and recovery zones during summer may appear
at points much farther downstream.
The writer has made similar observations on numerous occasions
during winter studies of polluted streams in northern Wisconsin.
Although the observed effects on the macrobenthos of the zone of
active decomposition may not be nearly as severe in winter as in
summer, this zone may occur as many as 50 miles downstream in winter
compared to 15 miles downstream from an organic pollution source
in summer. In winter, under 18 inches of ice, the area affected by the
active decomposition zone corresponded to the area denned as clean
water in summer. Because of the organism's reduced metabolic rate
during winter, the growth of Sphaerotilus and attendant pollution
indicators did not seem to hamper a rapid recovery when the ice
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was removed and water temperature increased. In such northern
ice-covered polluted streams, a particular area may appear polluted
in winter and relatively unpolluted during the summer months.
Judging from an examination of the benthic organisms, the reach
of stream just downstream from the source of pollution may appear
very polluted in summer and only relatively polluted in winter.
Recovery within the macrobenthic population is rapid because all of
the clean-water associated forms are not destroyed in winter. Destruc-
tion is handicapped by the organisms' reduced metabolism, and the
rapid dissipation of adverse water quality effects with the warmer
temperatures of summer.
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12
Interpreting the Findings
Data Evaluation
THE evaluation of water quality from field investigative data is an
exercise in judgment supported by mathematics and graphic dis-
play of organized data. Mathematics and graphic data displays are
support tools for interpretation and should not be used at the exclusion
of the judgment factor.
One who interprets data well continually tempers his confidence
with doubt. Doubt stimulates a search for new and different methods
of confirmation for reassurance. Such reasonable doubt is directed
toward each step in the investigative procedure: Were the sampling
stations located in the right general area to depict water quality within
the stream or lake environment? Were a sufficient number of sampling
stations used? Were the samples collected representative of water
quality within the limits of available sampling technology? Were
adequate measures employed to avoid contamination during the act
of bacteriological sample collection? Were analyses completed for all
water quality constituents vital to data interpretation? Were the
correct analytical procedures followed in sample analyses? What would
be the expected effect of the seasonal climate on the water quality
sampled?
The correct expression in labeling data is vital to accurate data
interpretation, as well as to later report preparation and even to
the reading of the report. Already there is much confusion when
reading reports and other literature regarding the forms of nitrogen
and phosphorus that particular data represent. For example, nitrate
is expressed in either the more common form as the elemental nitrogen
(N) or as the radical nitrate (NO3), which has a molecular weight
that is 4.4 times the atomic weight of nitrogen. Phosphorus on the
other hand commonly is reported as the radical phosphate (PO4),
but also may be reported as the elemental phosphorus (P) and
occasionally as phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5). The element has an
atomic weight less than one third the molecular weight of the phosphate
radical. To convert from phosphate (PO4) to phosphorus (P) the value
143
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must be multiplied by 0.326; to convert from phosphorus pentoxide
(P2O5) to phosphorus (P) the value must be multiplied by 0.436. In
addition it is frequently not indicated whether the stated value is
representative of total, soluble, or some other form of phosphate or
phosphorus. The total to soluble phosphorus ratios may vary from
2 to 17 or even 90, depending upon the particular water, season,
aquatic plant populations, and probably other factors. These ratios
are of value when they can be determined periodically within the
same water body and changes in them correlated with volumetric
response changes within the algal mass.
Iron commonly is reported merely as Fe without indicating whether
it is in the ferrous or the ferric form. The distinction is important
in interpretation of the iron data since ferrous iron uses dissolved
oxygen and ferric iron does not. Failure to indicate whether the iron
is in a total or dissolved state is frequent also. Total iron may
include some indefinite portion of inert iron derived from silt in the
water, which is dissolved by the acid used in the analyses. Dissolved
iron is much more significant with respect to water quality than is
total iron.
Data Organization
Organization of data in some orderly form is the first step in their
interpretation. Data produced by the laboratory usually are tabulated
most conveniently for laboratory personnel by date of sample collec-
tion, which is generally the order in which they are received in the
laboratory for analyses. Chemical data may be combined for all stations
under that date. The data must be reorganized by sampling stations
for interpretation. A common basic table has the data for each station
arranged chronologically by date of collection in the first column
followed by columns indicating time of collection, stream discharge,
and the concentrations of various water quality constituents.
Data for one or more years on a year-round basis, or for some
other protracted period, should be separated into segments of similar
flow and temperature combinations. Year-round data may be separated
by seasons. Data that are obtained daily or several times weekly may
be separated by months or combinations of 2 or 3 months with similar
stream flow and temperature characteristics. The discharge of a seasonal
industrial waste may govern the separation of data. Data for the
same month from 2, 3, or more years may be combined. The important
guiding principle is to include sufficient data for statistical reliability
within relatively limited ranges of stream, lake, or pond characteristics.
In a lake or pond environment it is often advantageous to group
the data according to depth strata. In the stream environment, the
144
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more important considerations are temperature, stream flow, and
seasonal waste discharges, if any.
Evaluation of data at an individual station may be aided materially
by arranging the values in sequence of magnitude and plotting them
as the frequency distribution on probability graph paper. The frequency
distribution plotting on probability paper may be used to determine
the mean value graphically by taking the point at which the straight
line fitted to the points crosses the 50 percent frequency line. The
standard deviation of the data and selected confidence limits also may
by taken directly from the plotting. The logarithmic probability
plotting is especially useful for obtaining a mean of coliform density
data. This method minimizes the influence on the mean of occasional
extremely high values in much the same manner as the geometric
mean.
Constituent loads entering the waterway and in the stream can be
evaluated most conveniently if constituent concentrations and stream
and waste flows are converted to pounds per day. The concentration of
the constituent in milligrams per liter (mg/1) multiplied by the
flow in cubic feet per second multiplied by 5.4 will result in the weight
of the constituent load in pounds per day passing a given point.
Likewise, the concentration in mg/1 times 8.34 times gallons per day
times 10-8 will result in a pounds per day value. The gallons per
minute times 2.228 times KH equals cubic feet per second. The gallons
per minute times 1440 equals gallons per day. These formula can be
memorized quite easily and will be used many, many times in data
interpretation. Their use may be reversed to express constituents in
concentration when load weight designations are known.
Graphical representation of data is one of the simpliest and best
methods for showing the influence of one variable on another. The
best graphs are those that are most easily comprehended by the
viewer. The degree of success of a presentation or report is very
frequently correlated with the above-stated axiom.
Ordinary rectangular coordinate paper is satisfactory for most graphic
purposes. Twenty lines per inch is recommended. Semilogarithmic paper
is convenient when one of the coordinates is to be the logarithm of an
observed variable. The independent and dependent variables should
be plotted on the abscissa and ordinate in a manner that can be easily
comprehended. The scales for graphic presentation should be chosen
so that the value of each coordinate can be found quickly and easily.
The plotted curve should cover as much of the graph paper as possible.
The scales should be chosen so that the slope of the curve approaches
unity as nearly as possible. Other things being equal, the variable
should be chosen to give a plot that will be as nearly a straight line
as possible.
145
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The title of a graph should describe adequately the plot that
it is intended to show, yet the ttile should contain the least number
of words possible. A legend should be present on the graph to clarify
any possible ambiguities that may be present to otherwise confuse
the viewer. Information on the conditions under which the data were
obtained that are demonstrated graphically should be included in the
legion where possible or described in detail in a closely associated
portion of the report.
In essence, data organization involves the least complex arrange-
ment and display of the data that will aid in the interpretation
of water quality and facilitate an understanding of conditions of
existence within the waterway. Existing Federal-State water quality
standards on interstate streams are a valuable adjunct in the inter-
pretative process, as will be the effluent limitations and standards being
developed .presently for various industrial waste categories. Most States
have extended their standards programs to include all intrastate
waters. These programs have simplified the investigator's evaluation
of data to some extent because the classification of stream uses and
the associated water quality criteria contained within water quality
standards provide an official basis against which to compare the in-
vestigative data collected. In addition, the helpful references provided
in Chapter VI will serve as invaluable tools for any data interpretative
process.
Selected Case Histories
Figure 8 represents data collected in 1963 on certain immature
insect larvae collected from the Brule River that separates the States
of Michigan and Wisconsin. The Brule River stream bed was composed
of rock, rubble, and gravel with occasional sand. The current was
swift and water depths ranged from 6 inches to 2 feet in the area
sampled. About one year prior to the field investigation, the Iron
River, a tributary of the Brule River, had received gross acid mine
drainage pollution. At the time of sampling, there was a dense
growth of filamentous green algae in the stream. Samples were collected
in early August. River discharge at the mouth of the Brule River was
300 cubic feet per second during the sampling period.
The remaining effects of the earlier acid mine discharge was demon-
strated graphically by the types of organisms selected for visual display.
Caddisfly larvae are representative of a group of clean-water associated
organisms generally intolerant of adverse environmental conditions.
Midge larvae on the other hand, as a group, tolerate adverse environ-
mental conditions to a much greater extent. The tolerance level .of
the particular genera of mayflies found in this survey is closely asso-
ciated to that of the midge larvae. In the control station area> upstream
146
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CaddlsfllM
Midge*
MayfliM
200-
150-
w 100-
_S EZL
200-
Figure 8. Populations of selected benthic organisms in the Brule River, 1963.
from the entrance of the Iron River to the Brule River, caddisfly larvae
were found in abundance whereas the number of midge or mayfly
immature forms was in the order of expected magnitude for the
physical environment of the waterway. Downstream from the tributary
Iron River, the effects of previous acid mine pollution were clearly
evident. At some previous time the caddisfly larval population un-
doubtedly had been eliminated. The numbers of caddisfly larvae
present during the survey in the downstream reaches of the Brule
River were indicative of a population that could have been supplied
by the downstream drift of organisms from areas upstream, as well as
a water quality that then could be tolerated by certain individuals
147
-------
of the group. On the other hand, immature midges and mayflies
increased in population density by several fold over the control
station in reaches downstream from the Iron River tributary, which
demonstrated the latent impact of nutrients to support the attached
algal population. Iron can be a nutritive stimulant for algal growth.
The mayfly larvae represented by the graphic display were those
that can live in close association with abundant filamentous algae
and secure their food supply in such an environment. The field
investigation did not extend sufficiently far downstream to demon-
strate recovery in the benthic population from the past environmental
insult. Often it is not possible to demonstrate such recovery because
of the discharge of the particular stream under investigation into a
river where much greater dilution is afforded the waste materials,
or of the presence of main stream reservoirs, which serve as giant
stabilization basins for the introduced wastes.
The effects on benthos of the effluent from an overloaded sewage
treatment' plant are depicted in Figure 9. In the upstream environ-
Smilllvt
Orgonluni
Figure 9. Bottom organism populations—Iron Mountain-Kingsford area,
Menominee River, August, 1963.
148
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merit, sensitive organisms predominated and very tolerant organisms
were few in numbers. Organisms sensitive to organic wastes generally
include immature stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies, riffle beetles and
hellgrammites. Organisms considered to be very tolerant toward
organic wastes include sludgeworms, several species of midges with
ventral blood gills, certain leeches and other worm-like organisms
that are associated closely with this group. In between these two
extremes are those organisms generally considered tolerant toward
organic wastes. Tolerant organisms are those that do not appear to
fit readily into either the sensitive or very tolerant group and include
some of the midge larvae, sowbugs, many of the leeches, snails, clams,
and many of the species of fly larvae. Two hundred yards downstream
from the entrance of the sewage treatment plant effluent, a zone of
degradation can be identified from the benthic population. Sensitive
organisms, here, are reduced to a minimum. There is an increase
in tolerant organisms and a substantial increase in the organisms
very tolerant toward pollution. About 3 miles downstream, the river
entered a reservoir, which served as a settling basin for the organic
wastes. The settleable solids collected as an extensive sludge bed in
the upper reaches of the reservoir and very tolerant sludgeworms
increased in population to an excess of 900 per square foot. Sensitive
organisms were entirely eliminated in this environment. Thus in a
short reach of river, slightly over 3 miles, a benthic population of
sensitive organisms was reduced from 200 per square foot to 0 and
a population of very tolerant sludge-associated organisms was increased
from very small numbers to that of abundance.
A clean water zone usually contains individuals of the tolerant and
very tolerant group within the benthic population. Conversely, a
polluted water zone usually contains no sensitive organisms but may
contain tolerant and very tolerant organisms in varying numbers.
When the dissolved oxygen is completely eliminated, even the very
tolerant macroorganisms may be eliminated also, except for the pos-
sibility of those that are able to breathe air for their oxygen supply.
Sensitive organisms are found in lakes and reservoirs, as well as
in streams. The benthic population in two reservoirs separated by
eight stream miles and the effects of organic wastes from a paper-making
industry are depicted in Figure 10. The population of bottom-associated
organisms found in the upper reservoir was considered typical for a
clean water environment and was composed of a well diversified
organism complex containing immature caddisflies and mayflies. The
organism assemblage in the downstream reservoir was one depicting
a polluted environment. Sensitive benthos were eliminated. The sludge-
worm population was increased to 700 organisms per square foot.
Tolerant sowbugs, midges and fingernail clams were associated with
the sludgeworms. Sludge and wood chips were found in areas of
149
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200-
100-
LITTLE QUINNESEC FLOWAGE
STURGEON FALLS FLOWAGE
u
IB
Figure 10. Comparison of bottom organism populations in two upper
Menominee River reservoirs.
reduced current and wood fibers and slime bacteria were present.
Benthic organisms in the downstream reservoir indicate a polluted
environment whereas those organisms in the upstream reservoir in-
dicate an environment that had not been degraded substantially by the
activities of man.
150
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The effects of inert inorganic solids on the benthos are illustrated
in Figure 11. Demonstrated also by these data is a lack of immediate
lateral mixing of a waste in a river such as the Potomac. Glass sand
was,tes were discharged to a stream approximately one-half mile
upstream from its confluence with the Potomac River. Upstream from
this junction, the sparkling clear Potomac was bedded with rock,
rocky ledges, coarse gravel and some naturally occurring clean sand.
Beds of rooted vegetation were plentiful. Gill-breathing snails and
mayflies predominated in the invertebrate population and were found
everywhere on the bottom substrate. Small fish were observed in
abundance. Thirteen genera of bottom animals were represented in
collections from the control station.
At a station 600 yards downstream, and on the same side as the
confluence of the small creek receiving glass sand wastes with the
Potomac River, the stream bed was devoid of visible animal life.
Blue-green algae grew marginally on the wave-washed stream bank
area. On the opposite side of the stream, 13 genera of animals were
NOTE:
(SOURCE OFPOLLimON FROM
GLASS-SAND WASTES)
SCALE IN MILES
* i *
BAR GRAPH KEY
Figure 11. Genera and population numbers of bottom animals per square
foot in Potomac River, September, 1952.
151
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found in bottom samples, which made the variation between the
two sides of the stream a dramatic indication of the environmental
effects of inert silts.
Downstream from this area the number of genera of benthos
gradually increased, but the number of organisms per square foot
of bottom material remained low. The 1952 survey was not, extended
to a reach that indicated stream recovery from the introduced wastes
nor did the population of bottom organisms indicate lateral mixing
of the stream waters at the downstream point of sampling. The shore
waters opposite the introduction of the glass sand wastes maintained
a similar benthic population both in numbers of genera and numbers
of individuals and indicated that the effects of inert solids from this
waste source had not extended beyond the mid point of the stream.
ALABAMA . [^GEORGIA
;-'
1. __
• /i
- .. ,.
^"-— v^-M/M
.:;..n
••-./ /
n -~-_Jf
frflnnJT
^S"
-|
1-
| LYERLY | TRION
GAYLESVILLE SUMMERVILLE
% ABOVE 4.0 MG/L
Figure 12. Dissolved oxygen in the Chattooga River showing the percentage
D.O. below 4 mg/l, August 1962.
152
-------
Studies have been made on the Chattooga River, which had a
mean daily discharge of 94 c.f.s. from Trion, Georgia, to Lake Weiss
in Alabama. Textile wastes and organic wastes entered the stream
at Trion, Georgia, and organic wastes principally entered at Summer-
ville, Georgia. Samples were collected daily for 14 days for dissolved
oxygen concentrations. The dissolved oxygen of the stream was drasti-
cally reduced by introduced wastes and at times was eliminated (Figure
12). The data were graphically illustrated as the percent of samples
that contained dissolved oxygen below 4.0 mg/1 (shown in black) and
the remainder of the samples where the dissolved oxygen exceeded
that number (white). This display of data is dramatic because a
particular level or concentration of the water quality constituent can
be chosen as an acceptable minimal criterion and the percentage of
time that the criterion is violated can be shown. The violation of
any criterion contained in Federal-State water quality standards on
interstate streams could be dramatically pictured in this manner.
Twenty different kinds of stream bed associated animals, predomi-
nantly insects sensitive toward pollution, were found in the rocks
and gravel upstream from Trion, Georgia. Three miles downstream,
no stream bed animals were found (Figure 13). The color of the
TOTAL POPULATION (No/K)f1KlO}
^) -TOTAL SPECIES (No>
^jj-SPECES OF IMMATURE INSECTS MINUS TRUE FLES
%-SLUDOEWORMS » SPECKS OF VERY TOLERANT TRUE FLJES
Figure 13. Stream bed animal population in Chattooga River, Georgia, August 1962.
153
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River in the downstream area changed from day to day according
to the type, volume, and intensity of dye materials included in the
textile mill wastes. Changing from deep blue to black to brilliant
green, it faded to less intense shades of grey and green downstream.
A layer of black sludge covered the stream bottom where no organisms
were found. Stream recovery began to occur about 20 miles down-
stream although a benthic population similar to that occurring in
the control station area did not occur throughout the course of the
30-mile survey. Figure 13 illustrates a benthic fauna that has been
subjected to severely toxic pollutants downstream from Trion. After
a 5-mile flow distance the toxicity of the waste had been diluted
sufficiently to permit the establishment of a minimal benthic popula-
tion. Probably the population could have been established in this
area by drift of organisms from upstream clean water areas or tributaries
during times when the water flowing above the toxic sediments
would permit such drifting organisms to live. As the toxicity subsided,
the food materials in the organic sediments permitted the development
of an abundant population of sludgeworms and associated midge
larvae. The numbers of different kinds of benthic organisms, and in
particular the species of sensitive organisms, did not show recovery
for a distance of about 20 miles downstream from the source of
pollution.
Toxic wastes may interfere with the natural clarification processes
in water by reducing or eliminating those organisms that otherwise
would break down the waste products. The character of the water and
its mineral content can alter considerably the toxic effects of a given
chemical or wastes. The combination of two or more metals can make
them several times more toxic to aquatic life than when they occur
singly in the environment.
Figure 14 depicts temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles obtained
from sampling Lake Sebasticook, Maine. The May study was conducted
just following the spring overturn and the November study was con-
ducted during the fall overturn when the entire water volume of the
lake was being mixed by winds. Dissolved oxygen was present from
surface to bottom. Especially during the November study, the tempera-
ture did not vary from the water's surface to its bottom. During the
latter part of July, Lake Sebasticook was stratified. The thermocline
began at a depth of 32 feet and extended downward to 44 feet.
The dissolved oxygen was less than 1 mg/1 at the beginning of the
thermocline and was 0 at a depth of 35 feet. Being stratified from
the latter part of May, the deeper waters of the Lake could not
receive oxygen from the atmosphere. Prolific growths of algae, and
other organic materials, settle into these deeper waters from the waters
near the surface and, during the process of decomposition of these
materials, the dissolved oxygen present on May 20 was gradually
154
-------
Ttmptrotort *F
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K5
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1 May 20. 1969
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Ttmptroturt *F
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0 2466 » 12
Dlttolvtd Oxygtn (mg/l)
Ttmptroturt *F
60* 70*
90
0 2 4 6 • K> 12
Dltsolvtd Oxygtn (mg/l)
0 2 4 6 6 K> 12
Dlnolvtd Oxygtn (mg/l)
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Novtmbtr 2, !
1965 i
1 1 111
Dlnolvtd Oxygtn (mg/l)
Figure 14. Vertical temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles, Lake Sebasticook, Maine.
depleted from the deeper water area. Probably, as the summer advanced,
the vertical zone of depleted dissolved oxygen would extend upward.
The dissolved oxygen curve for the afternoon of July 29 and in the
morning of July 30 had a different profile in the upper waters and
reflected the effects of a large mass of algae that was present at that
time.
Where historic data are available on the temperature and dissolved
oxygen profiles within a lake, comparative calculations among specific
years can be made of the volume of water within a particular portion
155
-------
of the profile. Through such a method, a judgment can be reached
on the degree of eutrophic advancement within the water body.
Two additional methods of data display are illustrated in Figures
15 and 16. In Figure 15 the downstream increase in chlorophyll a
is illustrated by the diameters of circles that are associated with
STATION 5
? 7 ?
TENTHS OF MILE
DIAMETER-MICROGRAMS PER
, LITER OF WATER
0 10 20 30 40 50
'LESS THAN
Figure 15. Chlorophyll concentrations in stabilization area of Sebasticook River.
156
-------
particular stations throughout an area of sluggish water that was
heavily loaded with organic materials. The grossly polluted water
entering the upstream portion of the stabilization area supported very
lew algae. As the water became less polluted through the settling
of suspended solids and the decomposition and stabilization of the
Figure 16. Lake Michigan sludgeworm populations, number per square meter, 1967.
157
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organic materials, the algae increased substantially in numbers. The
nutrients released by the decomposing wastes supplied the food to
support the increased algal mass. The measurement of the chlorophyll
provides comparative data on the density of the algal population.
Areas of polluted lake bed may be demonstrated by the sludgeworm
population as in Figure 16. Lake sediments supporting population of
sludgeworms greater than 100 per square foot (approximately 1,000
per square meter) have been associated with polluted bottom materials.
The pollution in the case of Lake Michigan is the result of inflows
of treated sewage and other wastes from shoreline developed areas.
158
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13
Keporting the Results
REPORTING the findings is equally as important as any other
aspect of problem solving. A report represents the end product
of the investigation. It is often the only link between the field investiga-
tion which may take considerable time, money, and effort and the
public or report recipient. A report usually recommends corrective
actions to abate a problem and such efforts are necessary for problem
solving and environmental enhancement. Thus, the report may be the
most important part of a particular investigation especially because
of the effects that it can have on broad political changes that may be
focused on the problem area.
Good report writing is a systematic recording of organized thought.
Good technical writing is clear and concise. It involves an orderly
presentation of the results of an investigation. A report usually includes
data, data interpretation, conclusions and recommendations for re-
medial actions.
When study objectives are crystallized, before the actual study com-
mences, thoughts about the report should begin. The embryonic mental
concept of the report should grow in organization and content as the
investigation progresses, each phase of the study satisfying a part of
an objective and fulfilling a part of the report.
The report is the end result of all the efforts expended on the
study and should signal the beginning of any indicated remedial actions.
A poor report frequently negates a meticulous field program; a good
report will often ensure the success of the project. Any report should
be planned as carefully as the field operation. The report's style
will depend upon its intended purpose and the audience to which
it is directed. It may be a record of the findings only. It may be an
exposition of existing causes and effects and projections to other con-
siderations that reasonably may occur. It may be a prediction of
conditions to come and recommendations for actions to be taken.
The report should be considered a document that records all essential
facts in a study that will help meet the needs of those concerned,
such as technical agencies and representatives of varied vested interests
159
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who may be for or against the conclusions and recommendations, as
well as the public.
Too often the message that an investigator could bring to denning
a water pollution problem is lost in poor reporting. Basic facts become
mired in technical explanation. Concise interpretative reporting sup-
ported by uncluttered pertinent graphic and tabular materials will
offer the reader a sound comprehension of the findings of fact. Present-
ing information that is understandable and meaningful to scientists,
engineers, administrators, and to the general public is a challenge to
the water quality investigator in reporting the results of his investiga-
tions.
Outline
The first step in developing a report is to make an outline. The
outline should be considered carefully and should include all necessary
items in logical continuity. An outline is a structural skeleton on which
a good report may be built. It must have a beginning, a middle, and
an end.
A good outline will avoid any omissions of necessary materials
and save much time in report writing. Outlines will vary with report
objectives, however, most reports on water quality will contain the
following major items:
1. Introduction
2. Summary
3. Conclusions
4. Recommendations
5. Predictions based on following the various recommendations
presented.
6. Description of study area.
7. Water uses:
(a) Municipal
(b) Fish propagation
(c) Recreation
(d) Industrial water supplies
(e) Navigation
(f) Irrigation
(g) Hydropower
8. Waste sources:
(a) Municipal
(b) Industrial
160
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(c) Agricultural
(d) Other nonpoint
9. Effects of pollution on water quality and uses:
(a) Bacterial pollution
(b) Aquatic life
(c) Oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen
(d) Aesthetic considerations
10. Appendix
An explanation of the methods of study, a tabular presentation of
water quality data collected, methods of analyzing samples and mathe-
matical calculations all can be relegated to the report's appendix.
Here they may be available to the technical report reader but, on the
other hand, will not interfere with the understanding of the report
by an administrator who may be responsible for assuming a lead role
in the implementation of the report's recommendation.
Organization
The title, authors, and table of contents pose initial decisions for
the report writer. Long titles should be avoided but must identify
clearly the work accomplished. Acknowledgments of aid and assistance
are placed usually near the front of the report following the table of
contents. A good report reviewer spends a great deal of time on his
critique and should be acknowledged.
The report's introduction should describe briefly the problem and
its location, the study objectives, the inclusive dates of the investiga-
tion, the authority for the study and by whom the study was performed.
It may relate briefly the methods used to conduct the study, but
generally such description should be placed in the appendix, particularly
when it is lengthily and includes those methods that are not understood
as standard procedures within the profession.
The summary of a report should briefly and concisely relate how
the study was accomplished and what was found in the investigation.
The entire summary should be as brief as possible and yet contain
the essentials of the findings of fact. Stringent review and editing
always should be employed. The summary should contain those
particular facts that will be used to formulate conclusions.
The report's conclusions should be concise, positive, lucid statements
that can be made from an evaluation of summarized data and other
observations and that enhance an understanding of the problem. The
report's summary can be a basis for the formulation of the conclusions.
The report's narrative and the data it contains must support the
conclusions presented. Just as a dredge is a tool to sample a stream
161
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or lake bed, words are tools to convey thoughts. Great care should
be exercised by the report writer to choose the right words in formulat-
ing the conclusions and recommendations. Often the summary, con-
clusions, and recommendations may be the only parts of the reports
that are read by many of the report's audience. There is often a
difference of opinion among report writers regarding the numbering
of thoughts or paragraphs within the conclusions. From the standpoint
of conciseness and adherence to a particular thought it may be helpful
to number conclusions in consecutive order at least initially. After
these have been edited and re-edited the numbers may be removed
without harm to the text material.
The report's recommendations contain the words to stimulate the
remedial actions to correct the problem that was the cause of instigating
the study. These should be developed with great care and sound logic
and preferably numbered in consecutive order. Just as the individual
conclusions are supported by statements within the report's summary,
each recommendation should be the result of a particular conclusion
and each conclusion requiring remedial action should have its cor-
relative recommendation. The summary, conclusions, and recommenda-
tions of a report are the building block for the presentation of a
logical sequence of thought, the purpose of which is to solve a particular
problem.
Predictions may or may not be within the investigation's objectives.
They are of great value to the report's reading audience however to
ascertain the water quality that may be expected when all recom-
mendations are met, or when 50 percent or 30 percent of the recom-
mendations are implemented. Similarly, such predictions would depict
the environmental outlook if no action is taken as a result of the
investigation. Predictions should logically follow the report's recom-
mendations.
The area description section should include a general area location
map, as well as a specific map of the study reach showing stations
sampled, principal population centers, and principal waste sources.
Insignificant streams, highways, railroads, towns that are not involved,
symbols for types of land use and similar features that are not pertinent
to the study or to the understanding by the reader of the report
should not clutter the base maps. On the other hand, any geographical
feature that is mentioned in the text should be shown on the map.
If the study is complex, one map may include locations of point waste
sources. Another map may indicate points for areas of water use, and
yet a third might show locations of sampling stations.
The water uses and waste sources sections need little explanation.
Each item should be discussed in sufficient detail to inform the reader
of the essential information. Monetary benefits and damages associated
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with water uses or lack thereof should be noted where possible.
Measured or computed waste loads to specific stream reaches should
be ascribed to waste sources.
The effects of pollution on water quality and uses include the findings
of fact and their analyses, interpretation, and discussion. This is the
report's section that supports the conclusions and recommendations.
This is a section that defines present water quality and may predict
future quality and uses when recommended remedial measures are
effected. It is here that explanation may be proffered to solidify con-
tinuity of presented fact or to clarify a statement. Other studies often
are cited to substantiate the writer's findings or to show that other
investigators have found similar or different phenomena under com-
parable circumstances. Citations from other works should be referenced
properly.
Report Development
A report consists of a number of logical interrelated processes that
begin with the planning of the study and end with the distribution
of the report to the recipients. It is in the study planning phase that
the report takes embryonic shape. Each phase of the process is of
equal importance to each other phase in the project's success.
It is in the organization of data within the report that the ingenuity
and imagination of the report writer will reap great rewards. Data
first are arranged in tables. Lengthy detailed tables should be placed
in the report's appendix. When placed in a narrative they detract
from reading coherency. Easy-to-follow summary tables, prepared as a
digest of the tabular data in the appendix, are helpful in the narrative
to explain and substantiate discussions and conclusions. Graphs should
be uncluttered, pertinent, and easy to follow. Broad lines to illustrate
trends are preferred. As an artist develops a painting with broad brush
and board strokes, the report's author should arrange his graphs to
portray essential information and should use them sparingly only to
underscore principal points.
In developing a report the who, what, why, when, where, and
how questions must be answered at every opportunity. Is the water
quality degraded? Where and to what extent does degradation take
place? What is the cause? What particular components are affected?
When did degradation occur? How can the problem be solved?
Definite assertions should be made and noncommittal language
avoided. The specific phrase should be chosen rather than the general
phrase, the definite over the vague, the concrete rather than the abstract.
Qualifying words should be avoided whenever possible. These are the
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leeches that suck the blood of decisiveness and weaken actions on
implementing remedial solutions.
Develop the report for the waterway. Do not say, "Table 1 shows
the biological data collected at the 13 stations; Figure 6 shows the
relationship between species diversity and Jones' slough; Station 4
shows the dissolved oxygen to be 1.0 mg/1." Insead state, "The dis-
solved oxygen in Jones' slough, one mile downstream from Jonesville,
was 1 mg/1 on August 14, 1972. An examination of bottom-associated
organisms in this same stream reach indicated that only sludgeworms
could tolerate the degraded water quality (Table 1)."
Any calculations used in the report should be checked and rechecked.
Tabular data should be checked against bench cards and graphic
displays should be checked against tabular data for accuracy. Errors
are prone to occur in bibliographic citations also. When an article
is being sent to, a professional journal for publication, the journal's
editorial style, the manner in which the references are cited, and the
style of presenting references should be noted. Adherence to journal
style will insure consistency and enhance the possibility of acceptance
of the article for publication.
Within the water quality report, the biological, microbiological,
chemical and engineering reports are segments of the whole; each
should complement the other. The successful approach skillfully blends
the findings of all disciplines into a cohesive, inclusive, and compre-
hensive discussion of the aquatic environmental conditions found and
the measures necessary to enhance those conditions to a level acceptable
for society's uses.
Revision
Revision is a part of writing. Few writers can produce acceptable
copies on the first attempt. Even the professional writers write and
rewrite, revise, and rearrange. Quite often the writer will discover
serious flaws that require transposition in his arrangement of a com-
pleted draft. When this is the case much time and effort can be
saved by using scissors to cut the manuscript to pieces and tape
to fit the pieces together in a more logical order.
Reading the manuscript aloud is a necessary adjunct to good report
preparation. It tends to accent the flaws in rhythm, as well as illogical
approaches and conclusions. Often laying the manuscript aside for a
few days will give the writer a new insight, a more objective approach,
and a more critical appraisal of words and structures. It is no sign
of weakness or defeat when a manuscript is in need of major revision.
This is a common occurrence in all writing.
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Special effort should be made to avoid redundant and tautological
phrases. Often a report writer will become carried away and may
repeat an entire paragraph with slightly different sentence structure
but without the addition of substantive thought. Such repetition
should be avoided like a disease and should be deleted during the
revision process.
Care should be exercised to choose the proper words to express the
idea. A number of words and expressions commonly are misused in
water quality reports. Examples of these are:
Upstream from should be used rather than upstream of or above.
Similarly, downstream from should be used rather than downstream
of or below. "From" denotes direction; ''above" or "below" connote
a vertical comparison rather than the more horizontal reality asso-
ciated with comparing two stations on a stream.
Data takes a plural verb always; datum is the singular.
Affect is a verb meaning to influence; effect is most commonly a
noun meaning result. When used as a verb, effect means to bring
about or accomplish.
That is a defining or restrictive pronoun; which is non-defining or
non-restrictive.
Farther is a word relating to distance; further is a time or quantity
word.
Owing to means because of; due to means the result of. Owing to
may be used at the beginning of a sentence in the sense of because of;
due to should not be so used; due to should commonly be preceded
by some form of the verb to be.
Its is the possessive pronoun; it's is the contraction for it is.
Rather than saying owing to the fact that, use because.
Rather than saying different than, use different from.
Rather than saying in order to, use to.
Review and Final Report
When a report is submitted and is accepted by a reviewer, both
the writer and reviewer assume certain specific obligations. The writer
should submit his report for review only after completing his own
revision and editing and after striving for the best in manuscript
preparation as his talents permit. Further, he should inform the
reviewer of the report's purpose and its expected audience if these
facts have not been made clear in the report itself. Preferably, a
minimum of two manuscript copies should be sent to each reviewer
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so that the reviewer may retain one for his files and return the other
with comments in the report's margin if that is his desire.
A proper review, on the other hand, entails consideration of the
technical message in a report, as well as the manner in which the
message is presented. A review can be directed toward editorial com-
ments only but rarely can a technical review disregard the editorial
aspects. Good grammar and technical competency usually are in-
separable. A technical reviewer reads a document for clarity, technical
accuracy, and to determine whether a dual meaning is present in the
sentence or paragraph. The reviewer is obligated to consider the
purpose that the report is designed to fulfill; to be constructive,
thorough and helpful with comments; to be certain of his own accuracy
in suggesting changes; to base comments on the technical level and
interest of the report's intended audience; to avoid sarcasm, argument
or destruction of the writer's style for the sake of expression in the
reviewer's words; and to appreciate always that the purpose of the
review is to help the report's writer produce a better report.
Following consideration of all the review comments, the report is
ready for final assembly. Graphs, pictures, and summary tables should
be rechecked for consistency and subheads and to make sure that they
follow the narrative reference to them. The appendix is the place for
detailed procedures and tables. These too should be consistent in format,
understandability, and sequential arrangement.
Finally, an appropriate cover should be designed for the report.
The report cover serves as a wrapping to the package and may
influence the recipient's opinion of the report or even his desire to
examine its contents in more detail. An imaginative cover design will
pay dividends. Usually the most effective designs are simple, direct,
and representative of the report's subject matter.
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14
ime Nuisances
WHEN associated with water quality, the word slime is a collective
designation to describe the iron and sulfur bacteria and the
organisms that may live in association with them or the particulate
matter that may be entrapped by the slime growths. The organisms
are characterized by their ability to transform or deposit significant
amounts of iron or sulfur and may be filamentous or single celled,
aerobic or anaerobic.
Upon the introduction of waste nutritive materials into watercourses,
biological slimes may develop to the extent that visible masses appear.
Such masses may be woolly coatings on submersed objects or tuffs and
strands sometimes 15 inches or more long streaming in the current
from the point of attachment. They vary in color from milky white
in fresh new growth to dull grey-white, brown or rusty-red depending
on age, nutrition, and the type and amount of solids they entrap from
the passing water.
Numerous problems arise from the presence of slime growths in
waterways. Slimes may foul commercial fishing nets rendering them
ineffective, interfere with fish hatching by coating fish eggs, and smother
aquatic fauna that serve as food for fish. Biological slimes and the
materials they entrap, such as plant fibers, wood chips and debris,
blanket the stream bed and destroy the homes of clean water-associated
organisms. They may cause filling and plugging of wells and water
distribution systems. Sulfate-reducing bacteria may cause rusty water
and pitting of pipes. These organisms may also cause odor, taste,
frothing, color, and turbid water. They destroy the recreational poten-
tial of the water and cause an aesthetically unpleasant waterway. To
the public, slimes are an obvious visible sign of water pollution.
Although organic food usually is abundant where slime growths
occur, the food supply of iron and sulfur bacteria may be wholly or
partly inorganic and they may extract it from a low concentration
in inflowing waters. Temperature, light, pH, and oxygen supply affect
these organisms' growth. Under different environmental conditions
some bacteria may appear either as iron or as sulfur bacteria.
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,
Plate 24. Slimes form waving masses in polluted streams that destroy the
habitat for animals and the waterway's aesthetics.
Most bacteria respond directly to the introduction of organic
materials into a watercourse. They are the major factor in the self-
purification process occurring in most natural waters. Slime growths
in natural waters function similarly to the bacteria. Substantial bio-
chemical oxygen demand reductions and high purification rates have
been observed in many shallow turbulent streams in which slime
growths were the major force in the self-purification process.
Iron Bacteria
Iron bacteria are typically aerobic organisms, widely distributed
in nature, and commonly observed in most habitats. Generally they
are considered fouling organisms and not agents of corrosion but they
may contribute indirectly to the latter. They obtain energy from the
oxidation of ferrous iron to ferric iron, and in the process ferric
hydrate is precipitated. The iron withdrawn from the water is deposited
on or in the secretions of the organisms. When water is passed through
an iron pipe, the iron may be obtained from the pipe itself. The
amount of ferric hydrate deposited is very large in comparison with
the enclosed cell. The bacteria are able to produce a large amount of
brown slime and may impart a reddish color and an unpleasant odor
to the water. Springs often have a reddish-brown deposit produced by
the activity of these bacteria and stagnant marshes may produce a
reddish scum as a result of their activity. As early as the middle of
the 19th century, iron bacteria in potable water supplies were reported
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to be the positive organisms of taste and odor problems. The flocculent
deposit has been observed to accumulate to a depth of 2-feet through-
out several miles of drainage ditch under natural conditions.
The identification of nuisance iron bacteria usually has been made
on the basis of microscopic examination. The bacteria readily can be
settled or filtered from water. They occur in such masses either in
bulked activated sludge, naturally in lakes, rivers, or streams, or in
cooling towers that the material may be examined directly without
concentration. Identification usually is through comparison of micro-
scopic specimens with plates in standard reference texts.
Sewage Fungus
One of the iron bacteria, Sphaerotilus natans is associated closely
with sewage and certain industrial wastes. It has been implicated in
the bulking of activated sludge and has created problems in paper-
making wet felts. Its appearance in streams as a dominant organism
has been associated with effluents from beet sugar, paper, rayon, glue,
flour mills, textile bleach, by-product coke, dairy wastes, and spent
sulphite liquors. Like other iron bacteria, the organism has the ability
to extract nutrients from large volumes of flowing water at extremely
low waste concentrations. It has been reported to grow in sulphite
waste liquor dilutions of one in 700,000. In some polluted European
rivers, estimates have been made that range as high as 300 tons wet
weight per day of drifting Sphaerotilus passing a given point.
The secondary effects of biological slimes in streams may be as
serious as the initial pollution. A growth of Sphaerotilus acts as a net
and entraps silt, sand, wood fibers, small wood chips and other debris.
It offers shelter and support for other organisms such as bacteria,
protozoa, nematodes, rotifers, and occasionally midge larvae. There
is a high degree of secondary pollution resulting from the decomposi-
tion of this mass at its ultimate resting place.
The most important food requirements necessary for heavy Sphaeroti-
lus growths appear to be sugars and organic nitrogen. Further, there
appears to be competition between filamentous and planktonic algae
and Sphaerotilus for the available phosphorus. Under conditions of
active growth, the detached and floating slime materials may be assumed
to be equivalent to the new material being formed.
Sulfur Bacteria
Some of the sulfur bacteria are encountered occasionally in water,
particularly in water containing sulfide or elemental sulfur. One of the
typical sulfur bacteria, Thiobacillus, may bring large amounts of iron
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into solution under conditions favorable for its development. It is an
aerobic bacterium that has the capacity to oxidize sulfur and, by its
production of sulfuric acid, has contributed to the destruction of con-
crete sewers and the acid corrosion of metals.
Sulfate-reducing bacteria are of importance in water distribution
systems because they produce sulfide, which is dissolved in the water
and makes it objectionable by reason of odor, the presence of suspended
black particles, and the corrosive effect of the sulfide on steel and other
metals.
IMS
Plate 25. Massive slime accumulation on commercial fisherman's net.
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Identification of nuisance sulfur bacteria usually has been made on
the basis of microscopic examination of the suspected material. Samples
of slimes, suspended in water, scrappings from exposed surfaces, or sedi-
ments may be examined directly. Green sulfur bacteria may occur com-
monly in waters high in hydrogen sulfide. Sulfur globules are seldom
if ever deposited within the cell. Purple sulfur bacteria occur also in
waters containing hydrogen sulfide but the cells are stuffed with sulfur
globules and often are so intensively pigmented that the individual
cells appear red. In addition there are the colorless filamentous sulfur
bacteria that occur in waters where both oxygen and hydrogen sulfide
are present and colorless nonfilamentous sulfur bacteria that usually
are associated with decaying algae.
The true sulfate-reducing bacteria are microorganisms that use sulfate
as an oxidizing agent for respiration instead of oxygen that is used by
the aerobic bacteria. They produce massive concentrations of hydrogen
sulfide as a respiratory end product, which properly distinguishes them
from the many bacteria that form small amounts of hydrogen sulfide
during the decomposition process. Natural waters invariably contain
the sulfate ion although not in high concentrations. The growth of
aerobic bacteria multiplies as food is supplied by organic polluting
materials. In this process these bacteria reduce the oxygen tension to
values at which the sulfate-reducing bacteria and other anaerobes can
develop. In addition, the toxic effects of some of the metabolic products
of the aerobic bacteria kill many of the aerobes and enhance the effects
of pollution. The hydrogen sulfide formed by the sulfate-reducing bac-
teria is a substrate for the development of colorful sulfide-oxidizing
bacteria and massive growths of these may lead to red waters.
A massive number of environmental phenomena are associated with
the development of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Examples of these include
disagreeable odors, blackening of nearby paint work, tarnishing of
copper or silver domestic materials, and the blackening of stones, sands
and muds on waterway bottoms.
The anaerobic corrosion by pitting of iron and steel and sometimes
zinc and the corrosion of concrete and stone principally by sulfuric
acid formed from the hydrogen sulfide are some examples of the adverse
economic effects of the sulfate-reducing bacteria. On the opposite side
of the environmental ledger, these and associated bacteria have been
credited with the formation of elemental sulfur in the world's major
sulfur deposits, with the release of oil from shale, and further in the
genesis of oil deposits themselves.
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15
I lant Nuisances
T 7 EGETATIONAL problems in water may derive from the masses
V of floating, attached, and rooted plants. These growths become
problems only when conditions of existence promote excessive standing
crops that interfere with a water use. The purpose of this presentation
is to examine the assets, liabilities, interrelationships, and growth stimu-
lators for aquatic plants. More appropriate control of excessive produc-
tion can often be implemented through an understanding of these
phenomena.
Assets
Aquatic plants, like most other living matter, are not all bad or all
good. Their assets are many and their liabilities are most often asso-
ciated with their degree of concentration.
Plants are a basic and extremely important component of the aquatic
ecosystem. As the basis of the food chain they are the bread of life for
the aquatic grazing animals. Such animals range in complexity from the
thousands of different kinds of mostly microscopic zooplankton to ducks
and diving birds and fur-bearing animals as well. Serving not only as
food in themselves, aquatic plants act as the high rise apartment homes
for a myriad of different small animals that are a vital link in the
aquatic food web that culminates in a fish population.
Aquatic plant apartment homes provide protection from predators
to their inhabitants. All aquatic vegetation areas will support many
times the animal population that may be found in non-vegetational
areas within the same ecosystem. Plants are collectors for fish and the
fishing potential is increased in areas adjacent to standing crops of
vascular plants. Many fish use these areas as foraging grounds and dine
contentedly upon the apartment dwelling inhabitants of the vascular
plant community.
These same plants serve as the substrate for the spawn of many
organisms including snails and fish such as the yellow perch. Just forty
years ago, Rudolfs and Huekelekian noted the effects of sunlight and
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green organisms on the reaeration of streams and found that the dis-
solved oxygen in water containing large quantities of algae could be
decreased from supersaturation to 17 percent saturation by placing the
water in darkness, and could also be increased to 282 percent saturation
by subjecting it to diffused light (Rudolfs and Huekelekian, 1931). If
the darkness experiments had been extended over a longer time period,
these early researchers would have no doubt found the oxygen satura-
tion decreasing into an oxygen deficit. By adding oxygen during the
process of photosynthesis, plants decrease the problems associated with
decomposition of organic materials that may be present.
Plants tend to purify their surrounding water by other means. Certain
algal and vascular plant populations have been found to possess a
bactericidal quality that reduces the concentration of coliform bacteria
and presumably pathogenic bacteria that would otherwise be associated
with the specific environment.
In photosynthesis, aquatic plants use carbon dioxide and liberate
dissolved and free gaseous oxygen at times of supersaturation. Since
energy is required in the form of light, photosynthesis is limited to the
photic zone where light is sufficient to facilitate this process. During
respiration and decomposition, animals and plants consume dissolved
oxygen and liberate carbon dioxide at all depths where they occur.
Computations of net photosynthetic oxygen production for several
lakes yield values lying mostly between 42 to 57 pounds of oxygen per
acre per day. A year-around study under completely natural conditions
in western Lake Erie showed winter yields of about 11 pounds per acre
per day and summer maxima of about 85 pounds per acre per day. The
annual oxygen curve closely followed the solar radiation curve. Net
oxygen photosynthesis in two Alaskan lakes ranged from 3.4 to 4.0
pounds per acre per day (Goldman, 1960).
Liabilities
When aquatic plants are stimulated in some manner to the produc-
tion of a standing crop so abundant that it interferes with a water use,
plant nuisances develop. It is at this point where citizens, whose normal
use of the water has been restricted by an abundant plant growth, de-
mand remedial measures and control of the nuisance. Plant nuisances
may curtail or eliminate bathing, boating, water skiing and sometimes
fishing; perpetrate psychosomatic illness in man by emitting vile
stenches; impart tastes and odors to water supplies, shorten filter runs
or otherwise hamper industrial and municipal water treatment; impair
areas of picturesque beauty; reduce or restrict resort trade; lower water
front property values; interfere with the manufacture of a product in
industry such as paper; on occasion become toxic to certain warm
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blooded animals that ingest the water; reduce the use potential of irri-
gation waters through evapo-transpiration; foul irrigation siphon tubes
and trash racks; and cause skin rashes and hayfever-like symptoms in
man.
Most algal problems occur when growth conditions permit the forma-
tion of a "bloom." A bloom is an unusually large number of cells
(usually one or a few species) per unit of surface water, which can be
seen as a green, blue-green, brown or even brilliant red discoloration of
the water.
Algae are found in every non-toxic aquatic habitat. Constituting a
primary source of food for fish and other aquatic animals, they may
be free-floating and free-swimming, or attached to the bottom sub-
stratum.
Excessive algal growths are troublesome in many ways. When present
in great numbers, algae may: give an unsightly blue-green or green
appearance to the water, form a massive floating scum that obstructs
navigation or impairs water use, in decay produce noxious odors that
drive people from the area, remove dissolved oxygen from the water
when decomposing and kill aquatic life as a result, foul fish harvesting
equipment and water intake devices, reduce the carrying capacity of
water distribution systems, and destroy bathing and other water use
areas. Stigeoclonium, Oedogonium, Ulothrix, and Cladophora have
been problems in irrigation systems where they have restricted flow in
the canals, and fouled pumps and tubes. Cladophora has been a prob-
lem of great concern in Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Michigan where
abundant growths have become detached through wave and wind action
to be washed upon a beach where they decompose to make the area
uninhabitable.
Blue-green algae have been severe nuisance problems, especially to
those engaged in water oriented recreation in most eutrophic lakes.
Chara, a branched erect alga that becomes encrusted with calcareous
deposits giving the plant a rough surface has become a problem in many
high alkalinity lakes and ponds. Often Chara becomes abundant follow-
ing the destruction of aquatic vascular plants. Should the lake or pond
bed be composed of a peat-type material, Chara can become detached
from its mooring and bring substantial quantities of bottom with it
when it rolls to the surface in 9-inch thick rafts that obstruct navigation,
destroy aquatic aesthetics, and emit vile odors. The author has wit-
nessed dead tree stumps, with root systems that measure 20-feet in
diameter, embedded in these floating Chara rafts.
In highly enriched streams, green algal streamers that may exceed
50-feet in length provide an excellent substrate for black fly larvae,
midge larvae, and other nuisance animals.
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Conditions of Existence
Dispersal of water plants is accomplished by water transport, migra-
tory birds, air transport of algae, and by domestic and other animals.
Seeds may remain viable after passing through the digestive tract of
animals, and seeds and other means of propagation may be transported
by animals externally. Water plants usually produce an abundance of
seeds but propagation through vegetative means is a most effective
method of distribution. A small broken portion of a healthy plant may
soon reestablish itself, when, in settling out of the water, it roots again
on a suitable substrate. Most aquatic plants are perennials and are well
adapted to withstand heavy cropping by animals.
Plant populations will develop in the aquatic environment wherever
conditions are suitable. Plants have been found growing at a depth of
500 feet in Lake Tahoe (Frantz and Cordone, 1967). Providing the
aquatic environment is non-toxic, light intensity and nutrients are the
principal controlling factors for planktonic growths. Temperature is an
important factor with some of the nuisance forms such as blue-green
algae. Light intensity, water temperature, wave action, flow velocity,
nutrient abundance, water depth and type of substrate, all interact to
govern the establishment of weed beds or weed sparsity. Both bottom
sediments, as well as the water contribute nutrients to the plants
(Martin et al., 1969; McRoy and Barsdate, 1967). Sediments supply
inorganic nutrients through the plants relatively weak root system.
Many submersed plants, as well as algae, continue active in winter,
providing ice and snow cover are not sufficiently opaque to reduce light
penetration so that growth is impeded. Once established in an area,
rooted aquatic plants exhibit a high degree of persistence and efficiency
of propagation. Some reproduce only by means of seeds formed in insect
pollinated flowers borne at or above the water's surface. Others propa-
gate by buds, tubers, roots and node fragments in addition to produc-
ing viable seeds. Factors that limit growth include insufficient light,
insufficient nutrients, physical instability because of water level fluctua-
tion and current and wave action, an unsuitable bottom stratum, and
competition by other plants and animals. Considering that the physical
properties of the environment are favorable, the nutrients become the
prime stimulators and controllers of aquatic plant production. The
most important required nutrients are carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus,
certain trace elements, organic growth factors, and, in the case of dia-
toms, silica.
Limiting Factors
Of the required nutrients, one will become limiting for future growth
if other physical and chemical features of the aquatic environment are
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suitable. The term, "limiting'' is one that has caused much misunder-
standing among many of those who attempt to evaluate limiting factors.
Something is always limiting to the further growth of a biological popu-
lation. That which is limiting at one level of production may not limit
at another. The term "limiting", when associated with eutrophication
and its control should refer to that substance which when added will
stimulate a biological population to increase and become restrictive, or
more detrimental, to a given water use.
Hutchinson (1957) states, "Of all elements present in living organisms,
phosphorus is likely to be the most important ecologically, because the
ratio of phosphorus to other elements in organisms tends to be greater
than the ratio in primary sources of the biological elements. A deficiency
of phosphorus, is therefore, more likely to limit productivity." Research
over the succeeding years has not produced evidence that would dis-
credit this basic observation.
Basic sources of nutrients to waterways are (1) tributary streams carry-
ing land runoff and domestic and industrial wastes, (2) the biological
and chemical interchange between bottom sediments and superimposed
water, and (3) precipitation from the atmosphere. Tributary streams
have been reported to carry 21 pounds of phosphorus per square mile
of drainage area in sparsely settled forested areas, 225 pounds of phos-
phorus per square mile of drainage area in agricultural areas, and more
than 6,000 pounds in densely populated urban areas (Keup, 1968).
The question is sometimes asked, how much algae can be grown from
a given amount of phosphorus? Allen (1955) found that the maximum
that could be grown in the laboratory on sewage, an excellent growth
media for algae, was 1 to 2 g/1 (dry weight) and in the field in sewage
oxidation ponds the maximum was 0.5 g/1. Thus, assuming optimal
growth conditions and maximum phosphate utilization, the maximum
algal crop that could be grown from 1 pound of phosphorus would be
1,000 pounds of wet algae under laboratory conditions or 250 pounds
wet algae under field conditions. Considering a cellular phosphorus
content of 0.7 percent in algae, 1 pound of phosphorus could be dis-
tributed among 1,450 pounds of algae on a wet weight basis. A con-
sidered judgment suggests that to prevent biological nuisances, total
phosphorus should not exceed 100 ^g/l P at any point within the flow-
ing stream, nor should 50 ^g/1 be exceeded where waters enter a lake,
reservoir, or other standing water body. To enhance the quality of this
Nation's lakes, reservoirs and estuaries, we must reduce to the ultimate
phosphates, and all other nutrients where feasible, from all controllable
sources.
With suitable environmental conditions, plants will develop and
avail themselves of the space and available nutrients. With the applica-
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tion of chemicals to a segment of the aquatic environment, it is possible
to change the predominant growth from vascular plants to planktonic
algae or attached algae and visa versa almost at will.
There are over 17,000 species of algae and fresh water forms which
are grouped into blue-green algae, green algae, yellow-green algae,
golden-brown algae and diatoms, red algae, euglenoids and dinoflagel-
lates. Some of these are capable of producing physiologically active
metabolites that may function as toxins, growth inhibitors, or growth
stimulators to themselves or to associated algae. Some algae are born to
self-destruct. After a growth period when extracellular products have
accumulated, it is thought that these act as deterrents and that the
plant, in a sense, manufactures its own algicide (Prescott, 1960). The
extracellular substances (possibly of a toxic nature) have prevented the
growth of certain other species, and thereby the plant that begins its
development first in a body of water quickly assumes a dominance,
depending upon its inherent cell division rate. With auto-destruction
comes a reduction in the inhibitor, thus another species or group of
species is permitted to develop.
Natural waters contain these active agents that are secreted and ex-
creted by fresh-water algae. The toxicity of these agents to other algae
and bacteria and to fish varies constantly and is not well understood
in the aquatic environment. It has been postulated that algae secrete
not just one substance but several, some antibiotic, others stimulating.
The amount secreted and the net result of the secretions would be
determined by the prevalence of one group of substances over the others.
Thus sequences of algal blooms may be expected to occur under condi-
tions of a nutrient supply in excess of critical values.
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16
Animal Nuisances
WHEN aquatic animals become abundant they can become pests and
nuisances to man because of their biting habits and their sheer
mass of numbers. Some aquatic animals serve as intermediate hosts for
parasites that may attack man directly and some serve as vectors of
diseases that affect the health and welfare of man.
Sponges
Sponges in irrigation systems can cause hydraulic problems when
growing in association with other aquatic animals and plants. This
undesirable effect is compounded by the favorable substrate they create
for a wide variety of other aquatic pest organisms that form a com-
munity of life in association with the sponges.
The fresh-water Bryozoa are a group of organisms referred to as pipe
moss. They attach to logs, rocks, and other submersed objects usually
where the light is relatively dim. They have been found in a number of
irrigation systems growing in profusion on concrete, canal linings, sub-
merged inlet screens, louvers, trash racks, and on the inside of pipes.
The individual animal is microscopic. It secretes an individual protec-
tive layer around the body wall and many of these individual animals
grow in close association to produce a connected highly branched antler-
like colony.
Midges
Midges have created nuisance problems around the shores of a num-
ber of lakes, ponds, and swampy areas. The females of some genera have
mouth parts adapted for blood sucking and bite most actively at dusk
or in the shade during daytime. These minute insects are annoying
pests and are variously called midges, gnats, punkies, and "no-see-ums."
Their bites can cause considerable irritation and itching and even fever.
Human individuals differ in their susceptibility to the bites of these
insects.
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The eggs of the biting midges are deposited on plants or vegetable
matter in shallow water. In about three days they produce a 12-seg-
mented larva that leads an aquatic existence for 6 to 12 months after
which it passes into a pupal stage from which the adult fly emerges.
Other non-biting type midges have proven to be nuisances around
lakes because of the great numbers of the adults. These hoards of adult
midges have been known to get into children's eyes and noses, turn
houses black with insects, and literally stall traffic along lake shore roads
in the evening because of the inability of drivers to see. Also because
of this abundant food supply, spiders increase in numbers where midges
are prevalent and their webs drape the trees, bushes, and buildings and
create an additional nuisance.
Midge larvae feed almost exclusively on algae that have settled to the
bottom muds and thus are found in great numbers in organically en-
riched lakes that are high in algal production. Under favorable condi-
tions, the larval midge population may exceed 1,000 larvae per square
foot of lake or pond bottom. Since emergence of the adult midges takes
place from the entire surface of the lake at approximately the same
time, nuisances result from the mass of adult numbers. The adults
swarm during the late afternoon or early evening in their mating flight.
The swarm has been described as being composed almost entirely of
males, beginning with a few individuals, and increasing in proportion
as others join its ranks. Like a single unit, the mass moves forward for
a short distance, then drifts back with the wind, then moves forward
again and so on and on in endless repetition. There is much weaving
in and out and up and down among the individuals within the mass.
This produces a somewhat regular rise and fall of the whole mass in
the vertical plane.
Estimates have been made of the adult emergence from bloodworm
larvae for Clear Lake, California. The total seasonal production from
a 44 square mile lake area was estimated at slightly over 700 billion
gnats or 356 tons of organisms. One night's emergence was estimated at
31/2 billion gnats. This was from an area where sampling indicated a
population of 1,000 bloodworms per square foot of bottom. When this
mass of minute organisms becomes concentrated along one shore because
of the wind drift, the results can approach catastrophic proportions.
Mayflies and Caddisflies
Mayflies and caddisflies are among those organisms that water pollu-
tion biologists refer to as clean-water-associated. Because of biologic or
climatic phenomena or both these organisms may cause nuisances when
the adults emerge in great numbers.
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The immature forms of these organisms can be found in nearly all
types of unpolluted aquatic habitats. Most species spend about one year
as an aquatic organism but there are those that spend two years in the
immature stage. Unusual hoards of mayflies may leave the water on the
first suitable day after adverse weather conditions. The adults are fragile
insects that die within a few hours and when they occur in hoards their
dead bodies may clog ventilator ducts and sewers and may also cause
temporary traffic difficulties.
Fremling (1960) reports on mayfly problems caused by the large bur-
rowing mayfly, Hexagenia bilineata (Say), in some areas of the Missis-
sippi River. Upon emerging ". . . the mayflies rest on terrestrial objects
during the day, and under their weight, tree limbs become pendulous
and even break. Residents of summer homes along the river find their
houses covered and their yards littered by the insects. A constant rustle
is heard as the insects, are disturbed and fly up from their resting places.
The dead insects and their cast nymphal exuviae form foul-smelling
drifts where they are washed up along the shore . . . crews of the tow-
boats which transport freight on the Upper Mississippi River find may-
flies to be a navigational hazard . . . Visibility is greatly reduced by
the mass of insects in the searchlight beams. The crushed insects render
the decks, ladders, and equipment of the boats slippery and dangerous.
The towboats must of necessity be completely hosed off with water after
each encounter with a large swarm of mayflies."
A number of years ago the dead bodies of mayflies were piled as high
as four feet on some of the bridges crossing the Mississippi River and
snowplows were used to clear a path for traffic. The aduit mayflies are
not equipped with mouth parts and therefore take no food during this
stage of their life history. The adults' sole purpose is to complete the
reproductive cycle.
Plate 26. Mosquito[Psorophora ci/iafa (Fabricius)] one of the largest of Illinois mosquitoes.
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Likewise, adult caddisflies have created nuisances and health prob-
lems in certain areas. They swarm around the city lights during most of
the summer and often blanket store windows. Masses of the insects dart
into the faces of people, nutter under their eyeglasses, and under open-
necked clothing. The minute setae that are dislodged from the wings
and bodies of the caddisflies can cause swelling and soreness around the
eyes of hypersensitive individuals. The individual may exhibit a typical
hayfever-like symptom as a result. Again, spider webs become pendulous
with captured caddisflies making the riverside homes unsightly. Both
caddisflies and mayflies have been reported by a number of authors to
be a cause of allergic distress.
Mosquitoes
In 1947 Ross estimated the Nation's annual "mosquito bill" at $100
million because of mosquito-borne diseases, and close to $50 million for
screening, pest control programs, and depressed real estate values. Mos-
quitoes cause an economic loss both as nuisances and as disease carriers.
Mosquitoes in the nuisance group inflict financial loss in various ways.
In some sections they restrict the vacation season by inflicting painful
bites, with subsequent loss of patronage to resort establishments. They
attack domestic animals and fowl and, when bites are inflicted in large
numbers, cause loss of weight and ill health. It has been established
that 500 mosquitoes will draw about %0 of a pint of blood per day
from an exposed animal. (Ross, 1947). Sometimes mosquitoes become so
abundant that they interfere with or stop work by man with a con-
sequent loss of labor and accomplishments. Mosquitoes are among the
worst nuisances of the out-of-doors and prevent enjoyment of recrea-
tional facilities by many people seeking exericse and relaxation.
While a fertilized female mosquito usually cannot produce fertile
eggs without ingesting blood, at least three species are able to deposit
the first batch of eggs without a blood meal. The eggs of two common
genera are deposited in water while those of Aedes are deposited in
shaded localities on ground subject to intermittent flooding. The num-
ber of eggs laid at one time varies between 100 and 400. The eggs
develop into larvae, which are voracious feeders and molt four times
before developing into a pupa. The pupal stage is a non-feeding trans-
formation part of the life history from which the fully developed insect
emerges. The male mosquito does not suck blood but feeds upon the
nectar of flowers and the juices of fruit.
Water areas with little wave action, an abundant cover in the form
of aquatic vegetation, an abundant food supply in the form of humus
or other organic matters, and floating particles of microorganisms are
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a preferred habitat for mosquito egg deposition and for the develop-
ment of mosquito larvae. The mosquito production of the lake or
reservoir appears to be directly proportional to the amount of inter-
section line between plants and the water surface. Situations with an
abundance of intersection line provide mosquito larvae with food and
protection from natural enemies and also furnish the adult mosquitoes
with an ideal environment for egg deposition. The intersection value of
various aquatic plants varies according to the percentage of vegetation
cover occurring at the water surface.
Mosquitoes serve as vectors for the three principal arthropod-borne
viruses in the United States. Birds serve as natural hosts and man as an
accidental host, but clinical disease in man is produced by all three
viruses. These are western equine, eastern equine and St. Louis en-
cephalitis. Western equine and St. Louis encephalitis occur primarily
in the 22 western States, whereas eastern equine encephalitis occurs
primarily in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast States.
Mosquitoes serve as the intermediate host in the transmission of
parasitic diseases such as malaria and filariasis. Filarial worms, Wuchere-
ria bancrofti, are slender nematode parasites that invade the circulatory
and lymphatic systems, muscles, connective tissues or serous cavities of
the vertebrates. The organism is carried by 41 species of mosquitoes and
produces elephantiasis, which is characterized by massive glandular
swelling. It is a disease that occurs commonly among the people of
Puerto Rico.
Other Insects
Black flies, Simulium spp. are a pest to fishermen and woodsmen and
may incapacitate both man and animals. Large numbers of cattle,
horses, and other domestic animals have perished from the depravation
of these flies in Europe and America. Their bite may produce an ulcer-
like sore that is due to salivary toxins. In susceptible individuals there
may be marked inflammation, local swelling, and general incapacity.
As carriers of human diseases, black flies are not serious in this country
although many persons may get severe dermatitis from their bites.
The adult fly deposits eggs on vegetation or other solid sub-
strate just under the surface of swift water, especially where the current
is broken. Overwintering sometimes occurs in the egg stage. The eggs
hatch below the water surface to produce larvae which attach them-
selves to a solid submerged substrate. The larval stage may last from
two to six weeks. During the last stage of development the larvae con-
struct silken cocoons in which the insects develop into pupae, a growth
stage preceding development and emergence of the adult. The cocoons
are firmly cemented to the substrate and create roughened surfaces on
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canal linings. These extensive areas of pupal encasements increase
resistence to water flow in canals. The cases are persistent and often
require mechanical removal from the canal linings.
Deer flies and horse flies are of medical importance not only because
they are aggressive blood-sucking pests but also because certain species
transmit diseases to man and animals. As mechanical vectors they may
carry pathogenic organisms on their mouth parts and bodies. Chrysops
discalis, the western deer fly, can transfer tularemia to both man and
animal and remains infective for at least two weeks. Occasionally
anthrax germs also are carried on the beaks of horse flies and deer flies
between the diseased and healthy animals and sometimes to man.
Anthrax is highly infective to all classes of mammals, including man.
The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans resembles a housefly in appear-
ance. Its mouth parts are adapted for piercing and for sucking blood
and it is a vicious biter. The fly sucks blood for two to five minutes or
longer until its abdomen becomes distended. In some of the Tennessee
Valley Authority impoundments, extensive breeding areas have been
created for this organism by the aquatic vegetation and algae that con-
centrate on the water surface in dense mats of decomposing plants. In
some waterways this pest breeds prolifically in floatage created by the
bodies of dead mayflies and aquatic vegetation. In the past, extensive
recreational areas have had to be closed in the Tennessee area because
of this pest. The flies feed repeatedly on animals since at least three
blood meals are required for egg production. Cattle and horses have
been known to die because of frequent and heavy attacks from fly bites.
The flies' habit of leaving one animal to resume feeding upon another
makes the stable fly an ideal mechanical carrier of disease-producing
agents.
Leeches
Leeches are found in warm protective shallow water where there is
little wave action and where plants, stones, and debris offer conceal-
ment. They are chiefly nocturnal in their activities and remain hidden
under stones and vegetation in daylight. The majority of leeches are
found in shallow water up to a depth of approximately six feet. They
require substrates to which they can adhere and consequently are rare
on pure mud and clay bottoms. Some species persist in intermittent pools
by burrowing into the bottom mud where they construct a small
mucous-lined cell in which they live. Leeches are dormant in winter and
bury themselves in the upper part of the bottom materials just beneath
the frost line.
Although several genera take blood from man, only two genera are
true blood-sucking leeches. These require only an occasional full meal
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of blood because specimens have been kept for more than two years
without feeding. The leech of greatest concern to bathers is Macrobdella
decora, the northern blood-sucking leech. It is a swamp animal princi-
pally and normally inhabits the shallows in the vicinity of the shoreline
where land and water meet. It may be found concealed under stones
and logs where, when well fed, it rests quietly or, when hungry, lies and
waits for frogs or warm-blooded animals. Like all other blood suckers,
this leech attaches to the host with the caudal sucker and explores with
the anterior end until a suitable spot is located where the skin is thin.
The oral sucker is then attached tightly and three painless incisions are
made by a back-and-forth rotary motion of the jaws. Sufficient blood is
taken to distend the stomachs so that the leech may be five times as
heavy as it was when it began feeding. When the leech has filled its
digestive tract it leaves the host voluntarily but the incisions keep on
bleeding for a variable time because of the persistence of the salivary
anticoagulant, hirudin, which the leech injects into the incision and
which causes a more or less intense prolonged itching. If the leech is
permitted to complete its meal, this substance is largely or entirely with-
drawn from the wound but if the meal is curtailed, it acts as an irritant.
Any disturbance of the water, such as is caused by a wading animal,
attracts the leeches partly because of the mechanical disturbance that
stimulates the tactile organs and partly because of the animal emana-
tions that stimulate the organ's chemical sense. Thus, leeches are at-
tracted by bathers and tend to congregate and remain about the docks
and stones of the bathing area. They are strong and rapid swimmers and
.-
Plate 27. Interim Canal, California, with Asiatic clams completely covering canal bed.
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can invade a particular area from other sections of the lake or pond.
Leeches are most active at maximal water temperatures and their period
of greatest prevalence in the bathing area corresponds with that of
maximal water temperature in late summer.
Macrobdella decora may be identified by its bright striking color pat-
term, large size, and soft slimy very contractual body. It has a medium
longitudinal role of 20 to 22 orange or light red spots. A similarly
arranged series of small black spots on each side close to the margins,
find a rich orange ventral surface that sometimes is plain but usually
is spotted with black. Five pairs of eyes are arranged in a regular arch
near the anterior dorsal margin. The last two are especially difficult to
see in pigmented specimens. The body is elongated, flattened, smooth,
very soft, slimy and very contractual. The maximum extended length
is seven to eight inches, whereas the usual extended length is four to
six inches.
Other Organisms
The Asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea has caused significant problems
of operation and maintenance in irrigation and other canals in several
areas. These organisms have contributed to silt accumulation in two
ways: by continually moving the top of the bottom sediments and cover-
ing any material that settled out, thus holding the settled material on
the bottom of the canal, and by removing suspended solids from the
Plate 28. Closeup of undisturbed canal bed, Interim Canal, California,
with multitudes of Asiatic clams.
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water through their process of filtration and depositing the solids on
the canal bed combined with a proteinaceous slime that does not go
back into suspension readily. In certain canals, the density of these
organisms has been found to exceed 5,500 per square foot. The bed of
a canal system can become heavily graveled with clams.
The Asiatic clam probably will become a nuisance to water treatment
plant operators and has become a nuisance to the sand and gravel
industry in portions of the Tennessee Valley. Clams present in the
river gravel are introduced into the aggregate. Mechanical separation is
almost impossible. When the clams are poured with the concrete aggre-
gate, the live clams move toward the surface, which leaves a void.
Moving concrete sometimes results.
A variety of organisms including snails, bloodworms, sow bugs, and
water fleas have been reported as pests in the distribution systems of
domestic water supplies. The dates for most of the infestations were
several years ago and public awareness and better operation and main-
tenance of the water treatment plants have reduced greatly the poten-
tial for such organisms to be found in the present-day treatment system.
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17
Uther Health Related Aquatic
Animals and Plants
Swimmer's Itch
CORT (1928) first demonstrated that the larvae of certain trematode
worms of birds and mammals can penetrate the skin of man and
produce a dermatitis characterized by papular eruptions. "Swimmer's
itch," schistosome dermatitis, or "water rash'' has attracted increasing
attention since 1928, particularly in the lake regions of the North-
Central United States where tourist trade has been affected.
The cercariae causing swimmer's itch are free-swimming, colorless,
and about 0.7 mm in length. With proper illumination they are just
visible to the unaided eye as they swim rapidly in an irregular manner
or hang suspended in water. The adults are parasitic in the hepatic,
portal, and mesenteric veins of birds and mammals. The fertilized fe-
male migrates to the smaller intestinal veins and deposits eggs that
work their way through the intestinal wall into the lumen, from which
they are passed with the feces. Each egg contains an embryo that, upon
hatching, develops into a ciliated free-swimming organism termed a
miracidium. If a suitable snail is located, the miracidium penetrates
into its soft tissues, and a further type of development takes place in
which a sporocyst and then cercariae are produced. Following this
period of development, the cercariae emerge from the snail host and
swim about in search of the proper vertebrate host to penetrate where
they can develop to maturity in the blood vessels to complete the life
cycle.
The cycle is interrupted accidentally by the occasional penetration
of cercariae into the epithelial layer of the skin of bathers, and swim-
mer's itch results. Following such penetration, the cercariae are soon
destroyed by unsuitable human body fluids and their bodies remain at
the penetration site to cause acute inflammatory reactions. Apparently
the cercariae do not penetrate completely until the bather has emerged
from the water; however, a few minutes after emergence the victim
experiences a tingling sensation in exposed parts of the body. Soon,
minute red spots can be seen at the points where the organisms have
penetrated the skin. The tingling sensation may then disappear, and
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it may be a number of hours before a distinct itching is felt, and the
minute spots enlarge to form discrete red elevations of the skin %6 to
% inch in diameter. Occasionally the elevations become pustular. The
degree of discomfort and bodily reaction resulting from infestation
varies with the sensitivity of the individual and the degree of infesta-
tion. With particularly sensitive persons, considerable pain, fever, and
severe itching may occur along with noticeable swelling of the affected
areas; in others the discomfort may be only minor and transitory, and
some bathers appear immune to infestation. The skin elevations typi-
Figure 17. Life cycle of swimmer's itch cercariae. E. Egg; M. Miracidiun
S. Sporocyst; R. Redia; and C. Cercariae.
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cally disappear within a week, but the redness may persist for some time
longer.
Cercariae may live in the water from 24 to 60 hours or more after
emerging from the snail host (Brackett, 1941). It is probably safe to
assume that under natural conditions the life span is only 24 hours or
less, and in wind-agitated water it may be considerably shorter. The
types of cercariae capable of producing swimmer's itch typically emerge
from the snail host quite regularly at a definite and more or less re-
stricted period each day. The majority of forms emerge about 4:30
a.m., and one type emerges at about 9:30 p.m. Because cercariae prob-
ably survive at least 24 hours under conditions in nature, it appears
during an outbreak that the causative organisms may be present in
water at all times of the day. The typical emergent activity of the
cercariae may be influenced to some extent by factors existing in the
water.
There is evidence that submersed aquatic plants promote swimmer's
itch. Some of the species of snails capable of harboring the causative
organism live in and upon stands of submersed aquatic plants that often
grow adjacent to or in the vicinity of bathing areas. Also, at least two
species of cercariae attach themselves to objects and may cling to such
vegetation. Under these circumstances, the removal of the submersed
vegetation will usually eliminate infections to bathers by the parasite.
Cercariae emerge in greatest numbers during the warmest weather.
Infected snails kept at low temperatures cease to shed cercariae; how-
ever, if these snails are brought into a warmer environment such as a
room-temperature laboratory bench, cercariae emerge suddenly in large
numbers regardless of light conditions. Cercariae are also attracted by
light and swim actively in the direction of the greatest light intensity.
These characteristics facilitate the identification of the organism in the
laboratory. Although active swimming by the cercariae may be limited
to 50 feet or less, it is thought that they may be carried distances of %
mile or more by the movement of surface water. In many places bathers
are troubled only when there is an inshore wind of not too great inten-
sity, and only those who bathe in the shallow water close to shore are
affected. Those who swim in the deeper water farther from shore are
scarcely bothered even though they swim directly over an infected bed
of snails.
Cort (1950) listed 18 species of schistosome cercariae, excluding those
that develop to maturity in man in other areas of the world, that have
been reported to cause dermatitis. Brackett (1941) states that "one of
the most striking and clear-cut features of schistosome dermatitis out-
breaks is the fact that probably over 90 percent of the more severe out-
breaks are caused by Cercaria stagnicolae in varieties of the snail Stagni-
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Figure 18. Cercoria of the type causing swimmer's itch.
cola emarginata." The relationship between this snail and the most
severe outbreaks of swimmer's itch is promoted by: (1) clean, sandy
beaches ideal for swimming and preferred by the snail; (2) peak popula-
tions of the snail host that develop in sandy-bottomed lakes of glacial
origin; (3) the greatest development of adult snails that do not die oft
until toward the end of the bathing season; and (4) the cycle of cercarial
infection so timed that the greatest numbers of cercariae emerge during
the hot weather in the middle of the summer when the greatest amount
of bathing is done.
3.
Plate 29. Snails known to harbor swimmer's itch cercariae.
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4.
7.
Plate 30. Snails known to harbor swimmer's itch cercariae.
U.S.N.M.*
No. Snail Collector
1. 284448 Lymnaea (Lymnaea) Bryant Walker
stagnalis (Linnaeus).
2. 569286 Lymnaea (Radix) F. C. Baker
auricularia (Linnaeus)
3.30255 Lymnaea (Stagnicola)
palustris elodes (Say).
4. 30252 Lymnaea (Stagnicola)
emarginata (Say).
5. 251214 Physaparkeri Currier.
L. H. Streng
L. H. Streng
H. B. Baker
6. 334392 Physa ampullacea Gould W. Westgate
7. 432259 Gyraulus parvus (Say).
J. P. E. Morrison
Location
Detroit, Mich.
Greenhouse,
Lincoln Park,
Chicago, 111.
Grand Rapids,
Mich.
Lake Houghton,
Mich.
Douglas Lake,
Mich.
Klamath Falls,
Oreg.
Boulder Junction,
Wis.
United States National Museum.
In the Lake States the seasonal cycle of the parasite in relation to the
life cycle of the intermediate host snail determines the seasonal varia-
tion in the dermatitis infections. The first case on the bathing beaches
usually occurs in late June or early July when the snails infected in
the fall begin to give off cercariae in appreciable numbers. Exact dates
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may vary somewhat with the season and with water temperature. During
July, the peak of cercarial production is reached, and the infections
reach their highest intensities. Production is especially influenced by
hot spells that speed up the development of the cercariae and increase
the numbers that escape. Later in the summer the dermatitis cases
lessen, chiefly because of the death of infected snails; in many places
there is a complete cessation before the end of the swimming season.
When the adult snails die early, the dermatitis season is shortened since
there is practically no infection of juvenile snails during the summer.
Schistosome dermatitis is widespread. As summarized by Cort (1950),
it has been reported from the United States, Asia, Japan, Australia,
Wales, France, Switzerland, Cuba, Mexico, and Canada. In the United
States, schistosome dermatitis has caused greatest problems in the North
Central lake region. In addition to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michi-
gan, schistosome dermatitis has been reported from North Dakota,
Illinois, Nebraska, Texas, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Okla-
homa, California, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Iowa.
The pathology and symptomatology of schistosome dermatitis is de-
scribed by fielding (1942): "The resistance of man, an abnormal host,
to these cercariae explains the severe reaction. Its nature indicates that
the cercariae are walled off by the host and destroyed in the epithelial
layers of the skin. Penetration of the skin occurs when the
film of water evaporates. The cercariae adhere with the ven-
tral suckers and enter in about 5 minutes through the action of their
anterior spines and lytic secretions, either between or through the pores.
After 29 hours no cercariae remain but the reaction persists around the
burrows. They evoke an acute inflammatory response with edema, early
infiltration of neutrophils and lymphocytes, and later invasion of eosino-
phils. As the water evaporates a prickling sensation is followed by the
rapid development of urticarial wheals, which subside in about half an
hour leaving a few minute macules. After some hours severe itching,
edema and the transformation of the macules into papules and occa-
sional pustules occur, reaching maximal intensity in 2 to 3 days. The
papular and sometimes hemorrhagic rash heals in a week or more, but
may be complicated by scratching and secondary infection. Individuals
vary in susceptibility and show slight or severe reactions."
Schistosomiasis, the Blood Fluke Disease of Man
Schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma mansoni, is widely distributed
throughout Puerto Rico and is an important health problem there. It
has been estimated that up to 12 percent of the population are infected
(Anon. 1946). The 2 types of environments responsible are the streams
and pools used for bathing and other domestic purposes, and the irriga-
tion systems. The intermediate host, Australorbis glabratus, prefers
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the quiet waters of stream pools, irrigation ditches, and reservoirs. The
habits of the people play an all important role in the spread of the
infection. The natives commonly use the snail-infested waters for bath-
ing and washing and there is excessive human pollution of the water
and diversion of untreated sewage into streams.
In the human, cercarial penetration may give rise to a more or less
intense local reaction. The immature worms then find their way to the
veins and are carried to the lungs; this requires 2 or 3 weeks. From the
lungs the developing worms find their way to the liver lobules. Nausea,
vomiting, headache, and abdominal pain may be the systemic com-
plaints. After becoming nearly mature in the liver the worms migrate
against the blood stream to the small veins in the mesenteric venules
draining the colon and the terminal section of the small intestine. The
adults produce virtually no pathologic process in the mesenteric venules.
They feed on serum and cells but not so gluttonously as to create any
noticeable effect. Egg deposition is initiated within an average of 10
weeks following infection. Abdominal pain, tenesmus, dysentery, blood-
flecked stools, and remittent fever are results of the intestinal egg deposi-
tion process. The eggs are equipped with a lateral spine that aids in
tissue penetration. Severe liver damage is typical. The liver becomes
involved and enlarged because of the drift of the eggs back through
the portal blood stream into the liver. Enlargement of the liver results
in abscesses around infiltrated eggs. Tissue damage in unarrested and
progressive cases is severe, and in all moderately heavy infections would
be enough alone to cause death. The liver becomes a gigantic mass of
scar tissue. Accompanying symptoms are daily fever, extreme weakness,
diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight, emaciation, and, in untreated
cases, death from exhaustion.
The destruction of snails theoretically offers the best method of con-
trol of these parasites. The practical application of such control meas-
ures, however, is far from satisfactory.
Fish Parasites Important to Man
The broad tapeworm, Diphyllabothrium latum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Liihe, 1910, is a parasite of man, dog, cat, fox and hog. It is acquired
through the eating of raw or improperly cooked fish. The parasite is
prevalent in regions of the northern temperate zones where fish from
fresh-water lakes form an important part of the human diet. It was first
observed in the United States in 1858 and is known to be present in
northern Minnesota, Southeastern Manatoba, the Lake Nipigon District
of Ontario, and the Portage Lake district of Michigan's upper penin-
sula. The worm recently has been reported from Florida.
The life history of Diphyllobothrium latum involves two intermedi-
ate hosts—copepods, and fresh-water fish. The parasite's eggs are dis-
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charged with the feces from the host organism. The eggs are hatched
in 9 to 12 days after reaching water and the ciliated embryo can swim
for several days until it is ingested by a suitable species of copepods.
The copepod is, in turn, eaten by small fish where the larvae undergo
further development. The small fish may be eaten by a larger specimen.
Man and other animals are infected by eating raw fish. The types of
infected fish can be northern pike, walleye, sauger, and yellow perch.
In the intestine of man, the parasitic worm reaches maturity in about
three weeks. The length of the adult worm ranges from 3 to 30 feet
and its width is about 10 to 12 mm. Infestation can cause anemia and
loss of weight. The parasitic infestation may be spread through the
marketing of infected fish caught from an endemic area. Freezing at
—10 °C for 24 hours, thorough cooking for at least 10 minutes at 50 °C,
and proper drying and pickling of the fish will kill the larvae.
Swimming-associated Amoebic Meningoencephalitis
Amoebic meningoencephalitis is a recently recognized disease of
man that has exhibited extremely high fatality. Epidemiologically, the
disease appears to be acquired following swimming in fresh or brackish
waters. Of the 45 swimming-associated cases that have been reported
to date, 22 have occurred in the United States. Eighteen of these have
been reported from the State of Virginia, all of which were fatal to the
swimmers.
The disease is caused by an amoeba that is indistinguishable in ap-
pearance from a free-living amoeba, Naegleria gruber, commonly found
in sewage effluents, surface waters, and soils. The amoebic's pathogenic
strains, however, exhibit physiological differences from those of the
wild strains that are encountered commonly in swimming pools and
other areas. Clinical and autopsy findings, together with experimental
data obtained from laboratory animals, have led to the belief that the
disease is a result of the invasion of amoeba into the cranial area from
the upper nasal region. Apparently the amoeba reached the upper
nasal region when infested water is accidentally forced into it during
the process of swimming or diving.
Much remains yet to be learned about this organism. Methods for
identifying pathogenic and non-pathogenic forms need to be developed.
Additional studies on the organism's pathogenicity are needed. The
chemical nature of the cytotoxic substance produced by the pathogenic
strains of amoeba must be investigated.
Health-associated Algae
Waters containing dense populations of algae, when ingested, have
been responsible for mammalian, avarian, and fish deaths, as well as
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outbreaks of human gastroenteritis. The causative algae belong to the
blue-green group and are of the genera Microcystis, Aphanizomenon,
Anabaena, Nodularia, Goelosphaerium, and Gloeotrichia.
Animal intoxication by phytoplankton has been known since 1878.
In most recorded cases, the attacks occurred after the animals had
drunk from lakes or ponds containing heavy algal growths. Such
growths occurred usually during successive days of hot and humid
weather and often when deaths of animals occur a wind has been
reported blowing, and causes the concentration of algae in the lee-
shore areas.
The syndrome of symptoms, described by Fitch et al. (1934), exhibited
by guinea pigs from the feeding or from the inoculation intraperi-
toneally of a fatal dose of toxic algae was: (1) restlessness, (2) urina-
tion, (3) defecation, (4) deep breathing, (5) weakness in the hind-
quarters, (6) sneezing, (7) coughing, (8) salivation, (9) lachrymation,
and (10) clonic spasms and death.
Although as little as 0.02 ml of a toxic algal solution injected into
mice intraperitoneally may kill a 20-gram individual in an hour, the
danger to man is not necessarily great. Gorham (1964) reviewed the
literature on toxic algae as a public health hazard. He concluded that
the fish and livestock poisons produced by waterblooms were nuisances
and economic hazards rather than public health hazards. It was esti-
mated that the oral minimum lethal dose of decomposing toxic Micro-
cystis bloom for a 150-pound man would be 1 to 2 quarts of thick
paint-like algal suspension. Gorham stated that this amount would
not be ingested voluntarily. However, in the case of an accident such
H quantity might be ingested involuntarily.
Seventeen case histories of human gastrointestinal disorders associated
with algae generally within the United States and Canada are recorded
in the literature. The manifestations of toxicity included headaches,
nausea, gastrointestinal upsets and in some cases vomiting and diarrhea
(Mackenthun and Ingram, 1967). Human respiratory disorders have
been associated with algae by 14 authors since 1916. The manifestations
of toxicity here included burning in the throat, nostrils and eyes,
sneezing and coughing. Human skin disorders associated with algae
have been recorded in 10 articles since 1937. The gastrointestinal and
skin disorders generally have been associated with fresh-water algae
whereas the algae causing human respiratory disorders were almost
equally divided between the fresh water and the marine forms.
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18
Key to Commonly Encountered
Algae
A SI artificial key is presented for some of the algal genera commonly
encountered in recreational waters. Because of a preponderance of
genera associated with the fresh-water environment, other English-
language publications useful in supplying descriptive details and
pictures for identification are listed. These include Forest (1954),
Palmer (1959), Patrick and Reimer (1966), Prescott (1951), Prescott
(1954), Smith (1950), Taft (1961), and Tiffany and Britton (1952).
AN ARTIFICIAL KEY TO SOME AQUATIC NUISANCE ALGAE *
To use the key, the specimen must be observed under a microscope
to determine its pertinent characteristics. These characteristics are
compared against the first couplet in the key. Choosing the one that
best fits the specimen, one must proceed to the designated couplet
following and repeat the operation until a genus is reached.
1. Plant consisting of a thread, strand, ribbon, or membrane
composed of cells; frequently visible to the unaided eye 2
1. Plants of microscopic cells that are isolated or in irregular
spherical, or microscopic clusters; cells not grouped into
threads 25
2. Heterocysts present. (Heterocysts are specialized cells, larger,
clearer, and thicker walled than the regular cells in a fila-
ment; they separate from other algal cells permitting por-
tions of chains to grow into completely new individuals) 3
2. Heterocysts absent 8
3. Threads gradually narrowed to a point at one end, appear-
ing as radii, in a gelatinous bead or mass 4
3. Threads same width throughout 5
4. Spore (an asexual reproductive structure) present, adja-
cent to the terminal heterocyst GLOEOTRICHIA
4. No spore present RIVULARIA
* Modified from Palmer, C. M. (1959)
196
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5. Branching absent, heterocysts contained within the fila-
ment, threads encased in a gelatinous bead or mass NOSTOC
5. Threads not encased in a definite gelatinous mass 6
6. Heterocysts and vegetative cells shorter than the thread
width NODULARIA
6. Heterocysts and vegetative cells not shorter than the thread
width 7
7. Heterocysts rounded ANABAENA
7. Heterocysts cylindric APHANIZOMENON
8. Branching absent 9
8. Branching (including "false" branching) present 20
9. Cell pigments distributed throughout the protoplasm 10
9. Cell pigments limited to plastids (bodies within plant cell
that contain photosynthetic pigments) 12
Plate 31. Nuisance Algae. Top row, left to right, RiVu/oria, Nodu/aria, Anabaena,
Bottom row, left to right, Oscil/aforio, lyngbya, Aphanizomenon
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10. Threads long, not forming a spiral, one thread per sheath;
sheath or gelatinous matrix present 11
10. No sheath or gelatinous matrix apparent OSCILLATORIA
11. Sheath distinct; no gelatinous matrix between threads. .LYNGBYA
11. Sheath indistinct or absent; threads interwoven with gelati-
nous matrix between PHORMIDIUM
12. Cells forming a thread or ribbon, cells separating readily
into discs or short cylinders, their circular face showing
radial markings CYCLOTELLA, STEPHANODISCUS
12. Cells either not separating readily, or if so, no circular end
wall with radial markings 13
13. Cells in a ribbon, attached side by side or by their corners 14
13. Cells in a thread, attached end to end 15
14. Numerous regularly spaced markings in the cell
wall FRAGILARIA
14. Numerous markings in the cell wall absent SCENEDESMUS
15. Plastid in the form of a spiral band SPIROGYRA
15. Plastid not a spiral band 16
16. Plastids two per cell, cells with a smooth outer wall. .ZYGNEMA
16. Plastids either one or more than two per cell 17
17. Plastids close to the cell wall, occasional cells with one to
several transverse wall lines near one end OEDOGONIUM
17. Occasional terminal transverse wall lines not present 18
18. Cells with one plastid that has a smooth surface, cells with
flat ends ULOTHRIX
18. Cells with several plastids or with one modular plastid 19
19. Iodine test for starch positive, one plastid per cell,
threads when broken separating irregularly or between
cells RHIZOCLONIUM
19. Iodine test for starch negative, several plastids per cell,
side walls of cells straight, not bulging. A pattern of fine
lines or dots present in the wall but often indistinct. . MELOSIRA
20. Branches reconnected, forming a distinct net.. HYDRODICTYON
20. Branches not forming a distinct net 21
21. Each cell in a conical sheath open at the broad end.DINOBRYON
21. No conical sheath around each cell 22
22. Branching commonly single or in pairs, cells green, threads
not surrounded by a gelatinous mass, light and dense dark
cells intermingled in the thread., PITHOPHORA
22. Most of cells essentially alike in density 23
23. Branches few in number, and short, colorless. .RHIZOCLONIUM
23. Branches numerous and green 24
24. Terminal attenuation (a continuous decrease in width of
a filament, often to a point or thin'hair) gradual involving
two or more cells STIGEOCLONIUM
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Plate 32. Nuisance Algae. Top row, left to right, Sfephanodiscus, Cyc/ofe/fa, P/iormidium;
center row, left to right, Zygnema, Spirogyra, Scenedeunus; bottom row, left to right,
Ulothrix, Oedogonium, Fragilaria.
24. Terminal attenuation absent or abrupt, involving only
one cell CLADOPHORA
25. Cells in colonies generally of a definite form or arrangement. .. .26
25. Cells isolated, in pairs or in loose, irregular aggregates 31
26. Cells without transverse rows of markings, cells arranged
as a layer one-cell thick 27
26. Cells without transverse rows of markings, cell cluster more
than one-cell thick and not a flat plate 28
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Plate 33. Nuisance Algae. Top row, left to right, Melosira, Hydrodicfyon, Dinobryon,
Rhizocfonium; bottom row, left to right, Sfigeoclonium, Cfadophora, Pediastrum.
27. Cells elongate, united side by side in one or two
rows SCENEDESMUS
27. Cells about as long as wide, not immersed in colorless
matrix, cells angular with spines, projections, or
incisions PEDIASTRUM
28. Cells sharp-pointed at both ends; often curved like a bow,
loosely arranged or twisted together ANKISTRODESMUS
28. Cells not sharp-pointed at both ends; not bent as a bow 29
200
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Plote 34. Nuisance Algae. Top row, left to right, Anltittrodesmus, Synura, Coe/osphaerium,
bottom row, left to right, Microcysfis, Cerarium, Sfaurasfrum.
29. Flagella present, cells touching one another in a dense
colony, cells arranged radially, facing outward, plastids
brown SYNURA
29. Flagella absent 30
30. Cells not elongate, often spherical, plastids absent, pig-
ment throughout, cells equidistant from center of
colony COELOSPHAERIUM
30. Cells irregularly distributed in the colony, not equidistant
from the center, cells rounded MICROCYSTIS
31. Cells with an abrupt median transverse groove or incision;
cells brown, flagella present armored
flagellates (e.g. CERATIUM)
31. Cells with an abrupt median transverse groove or incision;
cells green, no flagella Desmid (e.g. STAURASTRUM)
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19
Key to Commonly Encountered
Vascular Plants
O PECIFIC identification of aquatic plants is possible sometimes only
O through the examination of minute plant parts by specialists.
A key is presented that will aid the non-systematists in the identifi-
cation of the common plant groups. It is divided as follows:
A. Plants floating on water surface.
B. Plants submersed beneath water surface.
C. Plants erect and emersed; rooted to the substratum and extending
upward out of the water.
Other manuals supplying descriptive comments and pictures as
an aid to more specific identification include: Eyles and Robertson
(1944), Fassett (1960), Martin et al. (1957), Mason (1957), Morgan
(1930), and Muenscher (1944).
AN ARTIFICIAL KEY TO SOME COMMON AQUATIC PLANTS
To use the key, one must select the proper group and read the
description in the first couplet. The description that best fits the
unknown specimen will indicate either the plant group or genus to
which the specimen belongs or an additional couplet, in which case
the process is repeated until the description for a particular plant
or genus best fits the unidentified specimen.
PLANTS FLOATING ON WATER SURFACE
1. A lobed or regularly forked plant body, usually small in
size, roots usually suspended free in the water, with no
connection to lake bottom; capable of drifting 2
The duckweed group includes the smallest of the aquatic
flowering plants. They have neither true leaves nor stems,
but the floating green plant body, usually possessing tiny
roots that penetrate the water, looks like a leaf and is often
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so-called. Duckweed floats on the surface of pools, marshes,
and ponds, and may grow abundantly in enriched streams;
from such streams it may enter standing water areas and
become a nuisance as it is held by plant and other obstruc-
tions. It may become sufficiently dense to prohibit sunlight
from penetrating the water, and thus algae and other
aquatic plants are killed. It physically obstructs water use,
creates an unsightly condition, and upon decomposition pro-
duces odors. It is difficult to kill because of the waxy sheen
to the plant body and the characteristic "layering"' of one
plant upon another. Provided the plant mass is not held in
place by obstructions, the wind or currents aid greatly in
preventing proliferation of the plant mass.
Occasionally the layman may confuse duckweed with
algae. Close observation or the examination of any object
removed from the water surface will clearly show the cling-
ing bright green plant bodies to be much larger than non-
filamentous microscopic algae.
1. Floating-leafed plants with leaves attached to the bottom
by a bare unbranched stem of varying length 6
2. Plants consisting of forked or cross-shaped, long-stalked
segments, floating below the surface; often many entangle to
form clumps Star Duckweed, LEMNA TRISCULA Linnaeus
2. Plants rounded, not stalked 3
3. Plants with roots 4
3. Plants without roots 5
4. Plants red on the lower surface, each joint with two or more
roots....Big Duckweed, SPIRODELA POLYRHIZA (Linnaeus)
4. Plants green on the lower surface, each joint with one
root Duckweed, LEMNA
5.- Plants globular, pea green, the size of a pinhead
Watermeal, WOLFFIA
5. Plants thin, sickle-shaped or elongated Duckweed,
WOLFFIELLA
6. Stem attached to middle of leaf 7
6. Stem attached at the summit of a deep notch in the leaf 8
7. Leaves oval, not more than 3 inches wide, with supple stem
attached to the middle of the leaf Watershield,
BRASENIA SCHREBERI Gmelin
7. Circular leaf with a long, fairly rigid stem attached to the
middle of the leaf, leaves 6 inches or more wide sometimes
supported by the stem above the water level. .. .American Lotus,
NELUMBO
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±4
. \
C
Plate 35. Duckweeds (Lemnaceae A. Big duckweed [Spirode/a po/yrhiza (Linnaeus)]; B. Star
duckweed (Lemna frisu/ca Linnaeus); C. Duckweed (Lemna); D. Watermeal (Wo/ffia);
E. Wolffiella; F. Big duckweed on a Maryland pond.
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Plate 36. Watershield (Brasenio schreberi Gmelin) x %.
8. Circular or heart-shaped leaf with the veins radiating from
the mid-rib nearly to the margin without forking; floating
yellow flowers Yellow Pond Lily, NUPHAR
8. Circular leaf with much-forked veins radiating to the mar-
gin, white, or pink floating flowers White Water Lily,
NYMPHAEA
PLANTS SUBMERSED BENEATH WATER SURFACE
1. Plant body made up of stems bearing whorled, smooth,
brittle branches, easily snapped with a slight pressure; plants
with a musky odor, no roots, often with a limy encrustation
Green Algae, Muskgrass, CHARA
Plate 37. American Lotus (Ne(umbo).
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Plate 38. Muskgrass (Chora) (An Alga)
1. Plant body not brittle 2
2. Submersed leaves bearing small bladders, leaves irregularly
forked Bladderwort, UTRICULARIA
2. Submersed leaves not bladder bearing 3
206
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Plate 39. Bladderwort (Ufricufaria)
3. Submersed leaves compound, made up of narrow segments
or leaflets 4
3. Submersed leaves simple, made up of a single narrow blade. ... 7
4. Submersed leaves with one central axis, leaves feather-like,
branches in whorls about the stem, stems usually very
lax Water Milfoil, MYRIOPHYLLUM
4. Submersed leaves irregularly forking 5
5. Submersed leaves singly and alternately or irregularly borne;
leaves many branched, irregularly forked and appearing as
207
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•A
t
\
Plate 40. Water Milfoil X '/3: A. Myriophyllum ipkatum Linnaeus;
B. M. verticillatum Linnaeus; C. M. heterophyllum Michaux.
tufts of numerous thread-like projections attached to the
center stem Water Buttercup, RANUNCULUS
5. Submersed leaves borne opposite each other on stem or
whorled . 6
208
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Plate 41. Coontail (Cerofophy/lum) X *•
6. Leaves stalked, fan-like, extending from opposite sides of
the stem; leaflets not toothed Fanwort, CABOMBA
6. Stems with whorls of stiff, forked leaves; leaflets with
toothed or serrated margins (small barbs) on one side;
plant without true roots Coontail, CERATOPHYLLUM
7. Submersed leaves long and ribbon-like, at least 1/10 inch
wide 8
209
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Plate 42. Water Buttercup (Ranunculus).
7. Submersed leaves not ribbon-like; often thread-like but if
wider than 1/10 inch, less than 1 inch long 18
8. Leaves scattered along the stem 9
8. Leaves all borne from one point 17
210
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Plate 43. Water Star Grass (Heferanrhera).
9. Leaves with mid-ribs evident when held against bright
light, many species with great diversity in leaf forms Pond-
weed, POTAMOGETON 10
9. Leaves without mid-ribs evident when held against bright
light Water Star Grass, HETERANTHERA
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Plate 44. Floating-leafed Pondweed (Pofomogefon nafans Linnaeus).
10. Plants with both floating and submersed leaves, the floating
leaves with expanded blades and differing from those sub-
mersed 11
10. Plants with all leaves alike and submersed 14
11. Floating leaves, heart-shaped at the base, 1 to 4 inches long,
waxy in appearance Floating-leafed Pondweed,
POTAMOGETON NATANS Linnaeus
11. Floating leaves rounded at the base 12
212
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Plate 45. Large-leafed Pondweed (Pofamogefon amp/ifo/ius Tuckerman).
12. Floating leaves with 30 to 50 nerves; submersed leaves
about three times as long as broad
Large-leafed Pondweed, POTAMOGETON AMPLIFOLIUS
Tuckerman
12. Floating leaves with less than 30 nerves 13
213
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Plate 46. Curly-leafed Pondweed (Pofamogeron crispus Linnaeus).
13. Upper submersed leaves with long stalks Pondweed,
POTAMOGETON NODOSUS Poiret
13. Submersed leaves not as above but with an abrupt awl-
shaped tip Pondweed,
POTAMOGETON ANGUSTIFOLIUS Berchtold
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Plate 47. Robbins Pondweed (Pofamogefon robbinsii Oakes).
14. Margins of the thin leaves crimped and toothed, the
marginal serrations visible to the naked eye
Curly-leafed Pondweed, POTAMOGETON CRISPUS Linnaeus
14. Margins of leaves not visibly toothed 15
215
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Plate 48. Flat-stemmed Pondweed (Pofamogelon zosteriformis Fernald)
15. Leaves minutely toothed on the margins, visible when
magnified; leaves extending stiffly in opposite directions
so that whole plant appears flat; only midvein prominent
Robbins Pondweed, POTAMOGETON ROBBINSII Oakes
15. Not as above.. ,.16
216
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Plate 49. Sago Pondweed (Pofamogelon pecfinalus Linnaeus).
217
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Plate 50. Wild Celery (Vaf/isneria) X '/4: A. Specimen with fruit and tubers;
C. Northern form; D. Southern form.
16. Stems much flattened and winged, about as wide as the
leaves; leaves %2 to M> incn wide Flat-stemmed Pondweed,
POTAMOGETON ZOSTERIFORMIS Fernald
16. Leaves threadlike, long, rounded, and slender, rarely ex-
ceeding yio inch wide, oriented into a lax, diffuse, branched
spray. The "bunched" appearance of the threadlike rounded
leaves as they float in the water readily distinguish sago
pondweed from others of group Sago Pondweed,
POTAMOGETON PECTINATUS Linnaeus
17. Leaves very long and ribbonlike; when examined with
hand lens, showing a central dense zone and a peripheral
less dense zone; flowers borne on a long stem that forms
a spiral after fertilization Wild Celery, VALLISNERIA
17. Leaf, when examined with hand lens not showing zones
as above Water Plantains, ALISMATACEAE
18. Leaves opposite, all leaves elongated and narrow, many
times longer than broad, and enlarged or dilated at base.
Bunches of smaller leaves near the leaf base.... Bushy Pondweed,
NAJAS
18. Leaves whorled, usually 3 in each whorl, (sometimes 4)
Waterweed, ANACHARIS (Elodea)
PLANTS ERECT AND EMERGENT
1. Leaves more than 10 times as long as broad 2
1. Leaves less than 10 times as long as broad 9
218
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Plate 51. Bushy Pondweed (Najas) X %•
219
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2. Base of stem triangular in cross section, the three angles
in some cases so rounded as to make the stem appear
almost round 3
2. Base of stem not triangular 5
3. Three cornered seeds, usually straw colored, enclosed within
a loose elongated sac; a low-growing grasslike plant Sedge,
CAREX
3. Seeds not enclosed in a loose elongated sac 4
4. A single flower or seed-bearing structure on the tip of
the stem Spike Rush, ELEOCHARIS
4. Stem with one or more leaves extending beyond the spike
or seed-bearing structure Bulrush, SCIRPUS
(The hardstem bulrush has long, hard, slender, dark olive-
green stems, % to % inch at the base, extending 3 to 5 feet
above the water surface; the softstem bulrush has soft stems
of light green color, % 0 to 1 inch thick at the base.)
5. Leaf with a collarlike appendage, membranous or composed
of hairs at the junction of the leaf blade and that part of the
leaf that is wrapped around the stem 6
5. Leaf without collarlike appendage mentioned above 8
6. Seed or flower-bearing structure composed of scales with
fringed margins and overlapping in a single row Cut Grass,
LEERSIA
6. Flower-bearing structure not as above 7
)
Plate 52. Waterweed X %: A. Anachoris canadensis Michaux, B. A. occidentalis Putth.
220
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Plate 53. Spike Rush (EJeocharis).
221
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Plate 54. Bulrush (Scirpus)
7. Flowering heads composed of small seeds with long silky
hairs, appearing as a silky mass. The rootstocks are stout,
making it a difficult plant to pull up. Plants are 6 to 12 feet
tall. . . . Reed Grass, PHRAGMITES
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Plate 55. Wild Rice (Zizania): A. Stand of Broad-leaved form; a. broad-leaved;
b. narrow-leaved form.
7. Flowering part of plant much branched, but not as closely
packed as in PHRAGM1TES. Seeds much larger, about
% inch long. Plants with short roots and easily pulled up
Wild Rice, ZIZANIA
8. Flowers borne in closely packed cylindrical spikes, seeds
very small Cattail, TYPHA
(The common cattail has flat leaves about 1 inch wide; the
narrow-leaved cattail has leaves somewhat rounded on
the back that are % to % inch wide.)
8. Flowers in spherical heads, seeds larger, up to size of corn
kernel; leaves shallowly and broadly triangular in cross-
section Burreed, SPARGANIUM
9. Leaves arising at intervals along the stem 10
9. Leaves arising at base of the plant 11
10. Plants with jointed stems, swollen at the joints, or with
creeping rootstocks; stems with alternate, simple leaves
Smartweed, POLYGONUM
10. Stems prostrate or creeping, branched, and often jointed
and rooted at the joints; leaves opposite; spreading plant,
often forming floating mats over extensive water areas
crowding out other plants; broken-off branch fragments
root readily, and stems may elongate as much as 200 inches
in one season Alligatorweed, ALTERNANTHERA
11. Fleshy or tuber-bearing rootstocks and rosettes of sheath-
ing basal leaves; leaves variable, some kinds arrowhead
shaped Duck Potato, SAGITTARIA
223
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Plate 56. Burreed (Sparganium).
224
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Plate 57. Alligatarweed (Alternanthera).
225
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Plate 58. Smartweed (Pofygonum) X
226
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Plate 59. Walerhyacinth (Eichhornia).
227
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Plate 60. Waterchestnut (7>apa) X '/i.
228
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11. Not as above, floating plants 12
12. Plants floating with fibrous, branched roots and rosettes
of stalked leaves, the leaf stalks often inflated and bladder-
like Waterhyacinth, EICHHORNIA
12. Plants with floating rosettes of stalked leaves, commonly
several rosettes produced on branches of the same plant at
the end of flexible, cardlike, sparsely-branched submersed
stems; plant thrives at depths of 2 to 5 feet and favors
muddy bottoms with high organic content; leaf stalks in-
flated, but not as conspicuously as in waterhyacinth
Waterchestnut, TRAPA
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20
Control of Excess Production
General Control
ULTIMATE control of nuisance aquatic organisms can be accom-
ed only by taking appropriate actions against the basic cause.
Generally the introduction of organic materials or certain inorganic
nutrients into the Nation's waterways is responsible for the explosion
of a plant or animal population into a nuisance state. Drainage from
fertilized lands, inadequately treated domestic or industrial waste dis-
charges, street and storm drainage, improperly managed refuse dumps,
wastes from confined animal feeding areas and other agricultural activi-
ties, irrigation return flows, improper logging practices, construction
site siltation, and inadequate treatment of rural sanitary wastes each
contributes its abundant share to the receiving water degradation. Each
waste source, point and non-point, must be treated or controlled
adequately if this Nation's waters are to be used to the extent that is
and will be necessary to respond to the needs of this and the future
society.
A maintenance concept must be adopted and implemented by all
users of streams, lakes, ponds, or reservoirs. The water front is an
aquatic extension of the surrounding lands. To achieve the most
lasting beauty, it must be maintained periodically in a fashion similar
to that of private lawns or the areas adjacent to the Nation's parkways.
If not, nuisances and unsightliness will prevail. Controls developed to
cure water ills other than those that will correct the basic cause are
not singular operations. They are remedial, temporary measures only.
They provide some degree of transitory success, and they must be re-
peated at intervals throughout the season to maintain the degree
of water quality ncessary for specified uses. The mechanism triggering
a nuisance development is usually such that it will re-establish itself
another year, thus continuous surveillance and maintenance are neces-
sary components of water management.
Controls designed to correct the basic cause often involve the con-
struction and continuous operation of a treatment system that will
remove those substances from the waste water that are contributing
230
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to the receiving waterways' degradation. Such waste water treatment
systems often involve the expenditure of substantial sums of money, as
well as a great deal of planning and community or corporate effort.
Furthermore, it must be recognized by the citizens affected by the
degraded water that the planning and construction of waste water
treatment plants involve a considerable period of time between the
date of initiation and the date of operation. An additional factor of
consideration is that waterways that have been polluted will require
time to rid themselves of the pollution and regain a quality and flora
and fauna that will support a higher degree of future water use.
Slimes
Much work has been done on the control of Sphaerotilus because of
the severity of the problems that it causes in activated sludge sewage
treatment plants, cooling towers, and receiving waterways. The use of
chlorine has been considered to be the most feasible substance for
large scale use to control a slime organism such as Sphaerotilus. The
discharge of residual chlorine in the waste water to a receiving water-
way has created additional problems because of its toxicity to fish and
other aquatic life.
In water treatment plants a high initial dose of chlorine followed
by the maintenance of residual chlorine in the effluent water has been
found necessary to remove established slime growths. On a routine basis,
of course, the addition of chlorine to water prior to use imposes an
added cost-burden upon the consumer that would be unnecessary with
appropriate waste water treatment or control upstream.
Sphaerotilus slime growths have been controlled through the prac-
tice of an intermittent discharge of waste waters. To effect such con-
trols, it appears from the literature that waste holding capacity must
provide for five or six days of waste retention with a discharge of the
waste materials over a one- or two-day period.
Chlorination of water appears to be the most satisfactory method of
controlling the development of other iron bacteria. Free chlorine
residual must be maintained throughout the distribution system. When
iron bacteria have been present, and although the kill may be effective,
tastes and odors in the water supply are still possible from decomposing
organisms.
When iron bacteria grow profusely in drainage ditches, and an in-
festation of a lake or reservoir may be likely as a result, effective con-
trol has been accomplished with the application of copper sulfate at
a dosage rate of about three parts per million of the blue vitriol. As
with the use of chlorine, great care must be exercised in the use of
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copper sulfate for the control of aquatic nuisances to prevent damage
to organisms desired by man.
There appears to be no straightforward solution to the technological
problem of controlling massive pollution by sulfate-reducing bacteria.
Sterilization of the water is almost always out of the question. There
are some expedient measures available that provide air or oxygen to
the water as a means of inhibiting the organism's growth. If the water
is aerobic, the growth of these organisms can be alleviated. Acidification
to a pH value below 5 will prevent the growth of sulfate-reducing bac-
teria. Most clean water associated aquatic life will also be inhibited in
waters with this pH characteristic.
The chromate ion is an inhibitor of ordinary corrosion, as well as a
powerful inhibitor of the growth of sulfate-reducing bacteria. It has
been used at concentrations as low as 2 mg/1 to stop development of
these nuisance organisms in confined areas. The application of sodium
nitrate has been found helpful in reducing the evolution of hydrogen
sulfide. Sodium nitrate provides oxygen to the water, as well as nutrient
for the photosynthesizing plants.
It becomes readily obvious that the temporary control of these, or
for that matter other aquatic organisms, is an expensive and continuing
operation. The most lasting results will be obtained by addressing
remedial actions to the cause of the problem.
Plant Nuisances
Methods have been developed and perfected that effect an adequate
temporary reduction and control of plant nuisances under a number
of circumstances. Controls may be either mechanical or chemical and
their selection and use depend upon the the nature and scope of the
problem, the type and the extent of the control desired, and com-
parative costs of alternative control measures. Mechanical controls are
limited principally to rooted aquatic plants with the exception that
microstrainers have been employed successfully in the removal of
algae from water supply intakes and other areas. Chemical. controls
have been used for algae and vascular aquatic plants. Each control
has its limitations based upon the dimensions of the area to be treated
and the relative costs of the control operation.
From the standpoint of nutrient removal and as an asset to eutrophi-
cation control, harvesting the aquatic crop annually or at more fre-
quent intervals would be advantageous. The economics of present har-
vesting technology and the scope of the problem however necessitate a
critical evaluation of the benefits derived as opposed to the cost in-
volved. As stated in am earlier chapter, the volume and weight of
aquatic vegetation presents certain constraints upon feasible harvesting
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procedures. Aquatic vegetation is about 90 percent water by weight
and this fact adds a tremendous burden to the collection and transporta-
tion of the harvested vegetation, as well as the use to which it may be
put.
Some methods and equipment used for the physical and mechanical
removal of water weeds are reservoir draw down and drying, burning,
hand pulling, hand cutting, hand raking, chain dragging, hand oper-
ated under-water weed saws, and power driven under-water weed cutting
and weed removal units. The type of control employed depends on the
field situation, the extent of control required, and the labor and other
costs involved. Mechanical control has the advantage of removing the
vegetation and its contained nutrients from the waterway, as well as
precluding the effects of decomposition products. Such controls are
especially valuable to reclaim shallow areas with vegetative nuisances.
Mechanical controls, on the other hand, substantially exceed costs of
chemical controls in most instances in both monetary and personnel
resources required to accomplish the task.
Specific chemical control measures depend upon the type of nuisance
and local conditions. A good algicide or herbicide must: (1) be reason-
ably safe to use; (2) kill the specific nuisance plant or plants; (3) be
non-toxic at the plant killing concentration to fish, fish food organisms,
and terrestrial animals that use the water; (4) not prove seriously
harmful to the ecology of the general aquatic area; (5) be safe for
water contact by humans or animals or provide suitable safeguards
3? PRESSURE HOSE
AND NOZZLE WITH
DISCHARGE
/- HOSE RETURN-
TO WASH CRYSTALS
STAINLESS STEEL
STRAINER WITH
HOLES
POWER
SOURCE
,FOOT VALVE
WITH SCREEN
Figure 19. Equipment designed for algal control. Blue vitriol crystals are
placed over perforated drum in chemical solution tank.
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during the unsafe period; and (6) be of reasonable cost. The cost figure
assumes added significance, and depends upon the physical dimensions
of the waterway on which control is desired. A procedure that might
be suitable for a pond from both the cost and toxicity standpoint might
not be feasible in a control program for specific areas on a large lake
or impoundment.
For the chemical control of algae, it may be necessary only to know
the acreage of water requiring treatment and the methyl orange
alkalinity of the water to be treated. For the chemical control of
vascular aquatic plants it is necessary usually to know the volume of
water receiving treatment. A formula is used to ascertain the amount
of chemical to apply to a given area: Length (ft.) times width (ft.)
times average depth (ft.) times 62.4 (wgt. of a cu. ft. of water) divided
by 1,000,000 equals the pounds of chemical (active ingredient) needed
to give a concentration of 1 mg/1. This number multiplied by the
required chemical concentration in milligrams per liter for treatment
equals the pounds of chemical needed for the designated area. Various
formulations of chemicals are used. For example, a formulation con-
taining two pounds of active ingredient per gallon would necessitate
dividing the pounds of chemical by two to arrive at the gallons of
commercial formulation required to control the specific nuisance.
Algal Control
Since 1900, copper sulfate (blue vitriol) has been used for the con-
trol of algae. The solubility of copper in water is influenced by the
pH and alkalinity, as well as temperature. Thus, the dosage required
for algal control depends upon the chemistry of the water being
treated, as well as the susceptibility of the particular organisms to
the copper. Arbitrary dosage rates have been used successfully. These
generally prescribe a concentration of 0.3 mg/1 commercial copper
sulfate (CuSO4 . 5H2O) for the total volume of water when the total
methyl orange alkalinity is below 40 mg/1. This dosage is comparable
to 0.9 pounds of copper sulfate per acre foot of water. In waters where
the total methyl orange alkalinity exceeds 40 mg/1 the dosage rate is in-
creased to 1 mg/1 for the upper two feet of water regardless of actual
depth, or an equivalent of 5.4 pounds of the commercial copper sulfate
per surface area to be treated.
Algal control treatments can be complete or marginal depending
upon the size, shape, relative water fertility and estimated cost of the
project. Complete treatment is the systematic application of a calcu-
lated amount of chemical over the entire surface area affected by the
nuisance. It ensures that a major proportion of the total algal popula-
tion is eliminated at one time so that a longer recovery period is re-
quired before an algal bloom reappears. The interval between neces-
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22
20
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AVERAGE DEPTH (FEET)
Figure 20. Chemical Dosage Chart. To achieve a chemical concentration of ] mg/l in
water having an average depth of 8 feet requires 10 pounds of the active chemical
for an area 200 feet by 100 feet, or 21.8 pounds per acre.
sary complete treatment will be correlated directly with climatological
conditions and the avaiable nutrients used by the remaining algal
cells that are not killed as a result of the chemical application. One
to three complete treatments per season should be sufficient to give
reasonable control within the lake environment.
Marginal treatment, on the other hand, is designed to obtain tem-
porary relief in a restricted area where more extensive activity is not
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feasible or is financially impossible. In this procedure a strip of water
200 to 400 feet wide lying parallel with the shore and all protected
bays are sprayed in the same manner as in a complete treatment opera-
tion. No other part of the total area is treated even though many algae
may be present. As a result of marginal treatment the algal population
and the odor intensity along the lake's periphery are reduced. The
duration of freedom from the algal nuisance following marginal treat-
ment is dependent upon the density of the algal population in the
center of the lake and its ability to infiltrate the treated area through
the actions of winds, waves, and currents. Marginal treatment must be
repeated oftener than that of complete treatment.
Copper sulfate may be applied to a given waterway by bag dragging,
dry feeding, liquid spray, or an airplane application of either dry or
wet materials. Because rapid and uniform distribution of the algicide
is essential, the size and scope of the problem determine to some extent
the method employed.
For maximal effectiveness, algal control measures should be under-
taken before the maximal development of the algal bloom. If the
problem area cannot be treated before the algal population has be-
come dense, judgment must be used in determining the area that
should receive treatment at a given time. When organic materials
such as algae or aquatic weeds are killed instantly, their decomposition
may result in sufficient oxygen use to remove from the water the oxygen
required for the support of fish and other aquatic life. A fish or orga-
nism kill will result from this situation. When the algal scum is dense,
Plate 61. Mechanical weed cutting and removal.
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it is good practice to subdivide the total area to be treated into sections
and control the nuisance with chemicals in one section at a time.
Other sections may be treated after an interval of seven to ten days to
ensure that sufficient dissolved oxygen is present to satisfy the oxygen
demands of the decomposing algae.
Any chemical applied to water for the control of the problem must
be used with caution and the benefits to be derived, as well as the
environmental costs of such an operation, must be evaluated. Obviously
the chemical employed is toxic to aquatic life because the purpose of
the application is to kill and thereby control a portion of the biotic
system. The effects of the chemical on that aquatic life necessary for
man's water uses, and the extent to which these beneficial organisms
will be injured either directly or subtly by the chemical application,
must be understood and considered before a decision is reached to
apply the chemical. The necessity and probability of additional appli-
cations and the cumulative effects of such additions on the aquatic
ecosystem must receive similar consideration.
Vascular Plants
In the control of submersed aquatic plants it is often desirable to
concentrate control efforts on localized areas along the shoreline such
as bathing beaches and around piers and to develop channels through
weed beds so that boaters will have access to deeper water. Sometimes
it is advantageous to treat more extensive areas in an effort to curtail
an advancing population of a weed species such as Eurasian water-
milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum Linnaeus). Chemical controls of aquatic
vegetation, both algae and vascular plants, must be regarded cur-
rently as a temporary remedy for the situation. The control of vascular
plants should last for the season during which the control is applied.
When nutrients and other factors are suitable, the removal of a vascular
plant population may promote the growth of phytoplankton or a
bottom dwelling alga such as Chara. The successive growth of these
organisms is stimulated by a release of nutrients to the water from
the decomposing vascular plants that have been killed by the chemical
and the penetration of sunlight through the water mass. Conversely,
the control of an algal population often gives rise to the development
of rooted aquatic plants within the ecosystem. Thus, the control of one
nuisance may well stimulate the occurrence of another under suitable
conditions and necessitate additional control actions.
The control of nuisance aquatic vegetation by biological or viral
means is in the research and demonstration phase. Some work has been
done with plant-eating fish, as well as certain plant-eating insects,
but an ultimate solution to the vast aquatic nuisance problem that
faces many sectors of this Nation has not yet been found.
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Most States have laws or regulations that address specifically the use
of pesticides to control nuisances in the aquatic environment. Some
States regulate only the commercial applicators. Others regulate all
chemical users. Before chemicals are applied to control any aquatic
pest it is well to check with the appropriate State agency to ascertain
the legality of the proposed chemical application and to obtain assist-
ance in designing a control program for the particular problem. Very
often the State authorities have a vast resource of data relating to the
problem at hand and are in a position to provide technical assistance
to the property owners in designing an appropriate abatement and
control program that will not harm the overall aquatic ecosystem.
The application of the chemical to water involves certain hazards
that must be understood and against which public rights must be
protected. Factors that must be considered are the short- and long-
range toxicity to all aquatic life, the deposition and possible accumu-
lation of the chemical upon the lake bottom, the subsequent reaction
upon the community of bottom organisms, the impact resulting from
the destruction of too much biological growth at one time, and the
possible disturbance or impairment of the general aquatic environment.
It is essential that all pesticides including algicides and herbicides and
related chemicals be applied in a manner fully consistent with the
protection of the entire environment. When there is reasonable doubt
regarding the environmental effects of the use of a given pesticide in a
control program, no use should be made of the pesticide in question.
Animal Nuisances
Chemicals have been employed to control dense populations of
nuisance animals. All such efforts have not been without their attendant
problems. A classic example was the attempt to control midges in
Clear Lake, California in 1949 when a chlorinated hydrocarbon in-
secticide DDD was applied. Following a second application of the
insecticide in 1954 and a third application in 1957, western grebes
were found dead along the lake shore. It then became evident that
the persistent insecticide was being concentrated within the aquatic
food web with the result that birds who feasted at the aquatic table
received a resulting lethal dose. This unfortunate historic episode
underscored dramatically the complexities associated with the appli-
cation of a pesticide to the aquatic environment. It further stimulated
a great deal of research directed toward finding less hazardous materials
for the control of nuisance organisms.
Numerous chemical formulations have been tried for the control
of various animal pests. At the present time there is no general method
of chemical control that can be recommended.
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Plate 62. Helicopter application of a granular herbicide.
The control of mosquitoes is a combination of mechanical and
chemical means coupled with a routine and periodic surveillance of
larval production. The mechanical means involves a destruction of
areas for mosquito breeding and egg deposition. Containers that hold
water after rainfall serve as excellent breeding sites and should be
collected and removed from the landscape. The aquatic vegetation
that provides cover for adults and egg deposition should be managed
to reduce to a minimum the floatage and the amount of intersection
line between plants and the water surface. Mosquito breeding areas
that cannot or should not be drained may be treated with a surface
film of oil or with the application of a larvicide following a determina-
tion that such procedures will not inflict irreversible damage to the
environment. The periodic and continuing surveillance are essential
parts of an adequate mosquito control program. Such surveillance in-
volves a continual search for likely breeding areas and a periodic
sampling of those areas to determine the mosquito larval population
and development. Such surveillance usually is accompished by dipping
a specified quantity of water from a suspected breeding area and count-
ing the number of larvae that it contains and comparing the count
so obtained with a count taken at a previous time. Trends in develop-
ment can thus be noted and appropriate action taken.
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Leeches are killed readily by exposure to a temperature of 20 °F for
a few hours. As water temperatures fall with the onset of winter,
leeches become more and more sluggish and finally bury themselves in
the mud or work their way beneath stones on the bottom of shallow
water. Freezing of bottom muds accomplished by a rapid lowering
of the water level after the first thin ice starts to form on the water
has been effective in controlling leeches where such mechanical con-
trol measures can be practiced.
In general chemicals for leech controls have not proved successful,
although chemicals such as copper sulfate will kill those leeches
readily that are exposed to it. The principal difficulty with chemical
controls is the fact that leeches are a very mobile organism and they
dislike to remain in an area that has received chemical treatment for
a sufficient length of time for them to receive a fatal dose. Weekly
distributions of a slurry composed of ten pounds of copper sulfate
and five pounds of copper carbonate or lime per acre of bathing area
have shown some success as a temporary remedial leech control meas-
ure. The literature records further that the application of 100 pounds
of powdered lime per acre per day in shallow waters has controlled
leeches temporarily in localized beach areas. It must be appreciated
that such dosage rates result in significant concentrations of the applied
chemical in the water environment. The effects of such application,
as well as alternative measures available, must be considered and
evaluated prior to the instigation of a control program.
Swimmer's Itch Control
A substantial degree of control for the individual bather can be
obtained by rubbing the body with a rough towel immediately on
coming out of the water and before the water film has an opportunity
to dry on the body surface. Such action will crush the cercariae before
they have an opportunity to penetrate the skin. A freshwater shower
taken immediately after leaving the water also is effective. The common
practice of alternately swimming and sunbathing provides an excellent
opportunity for a bather to receive a severe infection of swimmer's
itch when infective cercariae are abundant in the water.
Chemical controls have been aimed toward virtual elimination of the
intermediate host snail population within and around the bathing
area. Lake waters with a total methyl orange alkalinity of 50 mg/1
or greater have been treated successfully with a mixture of two pounds
of copper sulfate plus one pound of copper carbonate for each 1,000
square feet of bottom area to be treated. Lake waters with a methyl
orange alkalinity of less than 50 mg/1 have been successfully treated
with two pounds of copper carbonate per 1,000 square feet of bottom.
It has been found ncessary to apply such chemicals to at least 300 to
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400 feet of lake frontage to a width of 200 feet or to the drop off
whichever is less. Often it is desirable to treat up to 1,000 uninterrupted
shoreline feet. Treatment should be conducted from the shoreline out-
ward until the entire area is covered. One treatment is effective during
a season and sometimes will maintain control throughout two swim-
ming seasons.
The time of year that chemical treatment is undertaken is important
because it involves the life cycle and habits of snails and fish. Studies
indicate that very few young snails are infected with cercariae. Early
in summer, numerous immature infections are present in the adult
snails that have survived the winter. The majority of the cercariae
complete their development and first begin to emerge from the snails
in late June and early July. The infected snails in most cases continue
to give off cercariae until their death in late summer or early fall. In
the north central lake States the optimum time to apply chemical con-
trols for swimmer's itch is between mid-June and July 4.
The theory of chemical application is to precipitate the maximum
amount of copper on the bottom of the area receiving treatment where
it will make direct contact with the snails. As the snails crawl over
the treated area they adsorb the precipitated copper on the lake or
pond bed until a lethal dose occurs.
For small scale operations very simple equipment will suffice to dis-
tribute the chemical mixture. An open-end, 50-gallon drum may be
half-filled with water and placed in a suitable boat. Fifty pounds of
copper sulfate (snow grade) should be added and stirred until dissolved.
To this solution 25 pounds of copper carbonate is added slowly and
stirred to make a suspension of the copper sulfate-copper carbonate
mixture. A vigorous reaction takes place inside the drum with the
addition of the copper carbonate and frothing is caused by the carbon
dioxide produced. When all of the copper carbonate has been added
and the chemical action has subsided the drum is filled with water
and the solutfon is ready for use. It should be borne in mind that
these chemicals are irritating to the mucous membranes of the human
eye, nose, and throat. Prolonged exposure of the skin to this concen-
trated mixture should be avoided and precautions should be taken to
protect anyone associated with the control measure.
The chemical solution from the drum is allowed to flow by gravity
through a hose and pipe arrangement that will distribute the chemical
solution evenly over the bottom of the area to be treated. Often an
inverted "T" pipe with quarter inch holes drilled at three-inch intervals
across the bottom portion of the pipe is a useful mechanism to dis-
tribute the chemical. The boat is propelled slowly back and forth so
that the mixture can be distributed as evenly as possible. A drum filled
with the 50 pounds of copper sulfate and 25 pounds of copper car-
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bonate as described above is sufficient to treat 25,000 square feet of
bathing area. Other methods of application include the trailing of a
number of lengths of hose from the rear of the boat, which are weighted
at the outlet end, to ensure introduction of the chemical solution
directly on the bottom.
The chemical should be applied beneath the surface of the water
directly over the snail beds when the water is very calm. Even slight
ripples on the water's surface represent sufficient water movement
to decrease the efficiency of the treatment. Applying the chemicals
beneath the surface of the water concentrates the chemical within the
treatment area and reduces its adverse effects on the ecology of the
surrounding area. Areas to be treated should be marked carefully
and subdivided into small sections to ensure even distribution of the
calculated amount of chemical. Swimming should be prohibited for
at least two hours after treatment to prevent undue chemical disper-
sion.
The chemicals applied to kill snails in the control of the swimmer's
itch organism are, by nature, toxic to aquatic life. Any fish that may
be trapped within the treated area or that are confined to live or bait
traps will be killed. Usually the area requiring treatment for the
control of swimmer's itch is small in relation to the total area of the
water body in question thus the loss of fish food organisms as a result
of the treatment will have a negligible effect upon the fishery. All pre-
cautions should be taken during the treatment operation to reduce
to a minimum adverse effects upon the environment. The introductions
of chemicals for this purpose usually are supervised by representatives
of State governmental agencies to ensure minimal environmental harm.
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21
Federal Programs for Pollution
Abatement and Control
' I 'HE most comprehensive program ever enacted to clean up the
-•- Nation's waters became law on October 18, 1972. Known as the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, the new law
mandates a sweeping Federal-State campaign to prevent, reduce and
eliminate water pollution.
The law proclaims two general goals for the United States:
(1) To achieve wherever possible by July 1, 1983, water that is clean
enough for swimming and other recreational uses, and clean enough
for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish and wildlife,
(2) and by 1985, to have no discharges of pollutants into the
Nation's waters.
Those are goals. They reflect deep national concern about the con-
dition of the Nation's waters and a strong commitment to end water
pollution.
Enforcement
The River and Harbor Act of 1899 outlawed the discharge of pollut-
ants other than municipal sewage into the navigable waters of the
United States except by permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The EPA cooperated closely with the Corps of Engineers in fulfilling
the mandate of this Act. Applications for permit to discharge pollut-
ants received a comprehensive evaluation within the Agency and, as
a result, recommendations were made to the Corps of Engineers for
action on the application. The recommendations (1) supported issu-
ance of a permit in accordance with the application, (2) supported issu-
ance of a conditional permit based upon a clear declaration by the
applicant of an implementation program with acceptable dates for the
control or treatment of pollution, and (3) supported a rejection of
the application as presented.
While the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 had provided for the
issuance of permits by the Corps of Engineers, the Federal Water
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Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 have instituted a new
permit program under EPA guidance and assistance that has shifted
administration and enforcement to State governments. Under the new
law, no discharge is permitted except as authorized by a discharge
permit. This new amendment extends to previously exempt munici-
pal discharges, so that all potential pollutants are now covered. While
EPA issues guidelines for State permit programs, it retains a right to
review a State-issued permit affecting another State's water resources.
Discharge permits must be consistent with effluent limitations, guide-
lines, and other requirements of the statute. They must be for periods
no longer than five years, and may be terminated when there is a
violation of a condition of the permit or when changed conditions
dictate the need for further reduction of the permitted discharge.
Similarly, EPA may withdraw approval of a State permit program if
the agency determines the State has failed to fulfill the requirements
of the Act.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act provided for two enforce-
ment mechanisms for pollution abatement. The first was a Federal
conference; the second provided for a 180-day notice to violators. The
enforcement conference was initiated with Federal, State and interstate
water quality agency representatives and followed, if necessary, by a
public hearing and finally court action. Conferences could be called
by the Federal Government when water pollution from one State
affected the health or welfare of persons in an adjoining State, or
when requested by or with the consent of the Governor of a State,
or if the shipment of shellfish was endangered. Following a conference,
recommendations for pollution abatement were transmitted to the
States by the EPA Administrator. If appropriate abatement actions
were not taken, the Administrator could reconvene the conference or
call a formal public hearing. If action was still not forthcoming the
matter could be taken to the courts. Such conferences were an excellent
mechanism for focusing public attention on polluters and the particular
pollution problem. As a pure enforcement mechanism, they could
become cumbersome. During 1972 the EPA initiated six new enforce-
ment conferences and reconvened or convened additional sessions of
seven conferences addressing areas on which initial action had begun
previously.
The 180-day notification was a mechanism whereby violators of
water quality standards were given an opportunity to comply with
such standards voluntarily without legal action. If the violator failed
to produce results acceptable to the Agency, court action could follow.
In the first nine months of fiscal year 1972, EPA served 180-day notices
on 26 industries and 56 municipalities.
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Under the 1972 Amendments, EPA has the authority to enforce the
provisions of the law through both administrative and judicial channels.
When the Administrator finds a person to be in violation of a permit
condition or other provision of the law, he must notify the polluter,
and shall either issue an administrative order prohibiting further
violation or pursue a judicial remedy for appropriate relief.
If the Administrator finds that violations within a State are wide-
spread because of State inaction, he may so notify the State, and the
Federal Government will assume enforcement responsibilities until the
State can satisfy the Administrator that it will enforce the law.
In order to insure compliance with the law, EPA has been given
broad inspection and monitoring powers. The agency has a right of
entry to all effluent sources and authority to inspect records, data
and information, monitoring equipment, and effluents. If a State
develops similar procedures, the Administrator may transfer this author-
ity to the State.
The Administrator may also bring suit if he finds that a particular
pollution source presents an imminent and substantial danger to
human health or danger to an individual's livelihood, such as the
inability to market shellfish.
Research
The search for new answers to existing problems is an important
facet of the Federal pollution control program. The research and
demonstration program is aimed toward the development of new and
innovative ideas for the treatment or control of water pollution that
have wide applicability throughout the United States or within the
industry or other field of research endeavor. Research is aimed toward
fulfilling the needs of EPA's water pollution abatement programs.
It is conducted in the EPA laboratories located in strategic regions
throughout the Nation or through contracts primarily with industry
or through grants primarily with universities, industries, States, and
municipalities. Contract projects are funded entirely with Federal
funds whereas grant projects require some level of matching support
from the grantee.
Research currently is conducted in all program activities and in-
cludes pollution control technology for municipal, industrial, agricul-
tural and mining activities, water quality control technology, waste
treatment and ultimate disposal technology, water quality requirements
and vessel wastes and oil spills control.
In January 1972 the Environmental Protection Agency sponsored
publication of the Environmental Protection Research Catalog. Part I
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of the Catalog contains 897 pages and documents 5,488 project descrip-
, tions on air, water, solid waste management, pesticides, radiation and
noise research. The Catalog contains ongoing research notices as of
October 1971 that are concerned with environmental protection, pollu-
tion, and contamination. The listed research projects are supported
largely by the Federal Government but conducted in academic insti-
tutions, State and local organizations laboratories, private foundations,
professional associations, and industrial organizations, as well as
Federal laboratories. Part II of the two part Catalog is a 1,445-page
subject and investigator index to the project descriptions described
in Part I.
Municipal Wastes
The greatest single category of Federal spending for environmental
quality is for construction or improving waste treatment plants and
interceptor sewers to carry wastes to the treatment plant. The Federal
Water Pollution Control Act provides that grants may be made to
States, municipalities, inter-municipal or interstate agencies to assist
in the construction of waste treatment works that are needed to
prevent the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage or
other wastes into any waters.
Based on 1968 municipal wastes facilities data, there are about 13,000
communities served with sewer systems. Of this number, 1500 discharge
raw sewage only. Thus out of a sewered population of 140 million
persons, 9.5 million or 6.8 percent discharge raw sewage to the receiving
waterways. The vast majority (80 percent) of the sewage treatment
installations provide a secondary level of treatment, which removes
about 85 to 90 percent of the biochemical oxygen demand and 90 per-
cent of the suspended solids. Nineteen percent of the sewered popula-
tion in 1968 provided primary treatment only and the remainder
provided various degrees of treatment including advanced waste
treatment.
In addition to the need for new sewage treatment works to treat
the raw or inadequately treated sewage from a substantial population
within the United States, over 1,000 communities outgrow their treat-
ment systems every year. Because of the continuing population growth
in metropolitan areas and industrial expansion, there is a need to
enlarge and upgrade many of the existing sewage treatment plants;
particularly when problems of eutrophication occur in receiving water-
ways a need for phosphorus and sometimes nitrogen removal occurs.
The construction of a waste water treatment facility is only a part
of the job to treat waste waters and prevent water pollution. The
facilities must be operated in a continuing manner so that the plant
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will function in accordance with its design. Often waste treatment
plant operators profit from training to maximize their operating skills.
The EPA conducts a training program to fulfill this need. Short-term
training courses are offered also for those who may be interested in
enlarging their understanding of interrelationships within the aquatic
environment, of chemical and biological investigative procedures to
identify and define water pollution, and of laboratory analytical
techniques.
An operations and maintenance program is conducted within the
Federal Government to ensure that waste treatment facilities con-
structed with Federal funds can effectively and efficiently treat waste
waters. A portion of this program is devoted to the publication of
manuals for operating waste treatment installations.
A municipal waste water facilities inventory is maintained that
describes each waste water treatment facility and gives information
on its location, the community served, the waters to which it dis-
charges, the type of treatment employed and the various operational
components of the treatment facility, the population served by the
unit, its designed capacity, the volume of waste flow, and any require-
ments for treatment plant improvements or needs.
Training
Water pollution control and water quality training grants are offered
to expand the base and improve training in the causes, control and
prevention of water pollution and to increase professional, scientific,
and technical manpower. Grants are awarded to public and private
agencies and educational institutions for the purpose of increasing
the training of undergraduates in design, operation, and maintenance
of waste water treatment works.
Water pollution control research fellowships are offered to increase
the number of water pollution control specialists by supporting
advanced specialized education and training of individuals. Qualified
individuals with master's degrees are eligible for fellowships.
Training activities in State and local manpower development are
directed toward designing and carrying out innovative and imaginative
training projects which complement existing programs. Such activities
provide advanced teacher training to those involved in conducting
operator training programs and train operators in advanced waste
treatment technology. State, local or district water pollution control
agencies or a private non-profit institution designated by a public
agency are eligible.
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Industrial Wastes
The 1972 amendments changed the thrust of enforcement from
water quality standards, regulating the amount of pollutants in a
given body of water, to effluent limitations, regulating the amount of
pollutants being discharged from particular point sources. Ambient
water quality requirements can still dictate the amount of pollutants
permitted for a discharger. The Administrator is directed to publish
regulations by October 18, 1973, establishing guidelines for effluent
limitations. These regulations shall identify the best practicable control
technology available for various industrial categories. Factors for con-
sideration are the cost-benefit of applying such technology, the age
of equipment and facilities involved, and the process employed. Indus-
trial discharges must meet these standards by July 1, 1977. Public
treatment works must meet effluent limitations based on secondary
treatment by this same date.
In addition, the Administrator shall identify the best available
technology for preventing and reducing pollution. He is also respon-
sible for identifying technology which would achieve the elimination
of the discharge of pollutants. In both cases, he must take into account
the factors enumerated above. Industrial dischargers are obliged to
meet these standards by July 1, 1983, the same date given for achieving
the national goal designed to protect fish, shellfish, wildlife and
recreation. They must meet zero-discharge requirements if the Admin-
istrator determines that such a requirement is economically and
technologically feasible. By July 1, 1983, public treatment works must
use the best practicable waste treatment technology over the life of
the works. New sources of discharge are required to use the best
available technology as determined by the Administrator and pub-
lished in the regulations. Zero-discharge by 1985 is a goal, not a require-
ment under the law.
Non-Point Source Wastes
Non-point source wastes that create water quality problems are
more diffuse than those resulting from municipal and industrial
activities and are characterized generally by wide-spread environmental
degradation rather than easily noticed point-source impacts. Major
sources causing appreciable adverse aquatic effects include animal
feedlot and other wastes with resulting ammonia toxicity and dis-
solved oxygen problems from organic enrichment; irrigation return
flows and tiled land run-off with increases in receiving water minerals,
pesticides and nutrients; logging and general forestry practices with
sediment load increases; rural sanitation facilities that foster infectious
agents, allergens and taste and odor-producing substances; pesticides
application and run-off with resulting toxicity and pesticides accumula-
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tion in the food web; construction site siltation; and general land
run-off.
FEEDLOT WASTES
Wastes from feedlots are a key source of agricultural pollution.
The total production of such wastes is approximately 1.7 billion
tons annually. Agricultural waste sources are scattered throughout
the Nation. Large cattle herds are fed in the Midwest, Southwest,
and West; poultry in the South and in the Middle Atlantic States;
and hogs in the Midwest and South. Run-off from animal feeding
operations is 10 to 100 times more concentrated in oxygen-consuming
organic materials than is raw domestic sewage.
Federal effort to attack this and other non-point source pollutional
problems is in its infancy. The first task is to inventory the particular
problem and define its pollutional nature and extent. On-site evalua-
tions and comprehensive studies must be a part of this assessment
to develop a quantitative knowledge of the problem. Following this,
criteria and other guidelines will be developed to control the non-point
source wastes and provide measures to effect control operations. A
considerable base of information is available on the characteristics
of the livestock feedlot waste problem and on control measures that
appear to be feasible in decreasing water pollution from these sources.
FORESTRY AND LOGGING
The application of pesticides and fertilizers for high yield forest
production, as well as log harvesting methods currently used, result
in pesticide, nutrient, sediment, and organic waste contamination of
receiving watercourses. Burning of harvested areas and log rafting
cause related problems. Means for the prevention or control of these
problems are required to enable forest-using agribusiness to meet
water quality standards.
Tasks that must be completed include expansion of existing monitor-
ing systems to evaluate more precisely the effects of forestry practices
on water quality. Comprehensive studies of selected representative
logging operations are needed to assess pollutional problems and to
recommend specific control measures. Research is involved to develop
means to prevent pollution from log rafting practices, and training
will be necessary to ensure the dissemination of information and to
promote the adoption of control methods.
IRRIGATION AND AGRICULTURAL RUN-OFF
The development of agriculture has grown along with population
and industrial development. At first, land was cleared and plowed
and barnyard manures were used as fertilizer. Precipitation was the sole
moisture source. With the agricultural invasion of the arid West
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and the deterioration in the fertility of land settled earlier, irrigation
systems were developed, inorganic fertilizers were applied, and the
pesticide era began. With control technology in its infancy, results
in serious water quality problems included inorganic chemical salts,
nitrogen and phosphorus aquatic-vegetation-stimulating nutrients,
sediments, and pesticides.
Many waters, including the Arkansas and Rio Grande Rivers are
now unfit because of their salt content for public or industrial supply
or irrigation. Violations of salinity water quality standards have been
recorded on the San Joaquin River. The Colorado River is a note-
worthy waterway with its salt problems. The cost of losses from nutrient-
stimulated aquatic plant growths and their control in 17 western
States has been estimated at $14 million annually. Methods are needed
to prevent and control 1 billion tons of sediment and run-off and
pollution from 700 million pounds of pesticides and 10 million tons
of fertilizers that reach the watercourses each year.
On January 14, 1972, the EPA promulgated a policy on the control
of nutrient run-off from agricultural lands. In this policy it was noted
that management of agricultural nutrients will require appropriate
limitation of erosion and sediment run-off, the effective use of applied
fertilizers by the plants, the application of fertilizers under the right
climatic and proper growth conditions, and the retention of animal
waste on the land. The policy stated that animal wastes should not
be applied to farm lands and under adverse soil or weather conditions
except when planned methods will ensure that they remain on the
land. Wastes should be stored in designated structures until they
can be incorporated into the soil. Watering and feeding points should
be established away from waterways along with the establishment of
run-off and erosion control measures to prevent the concentration of
animal wastes in the vicinity of streams. When a high density of
animals is created through confinement, fencing of the streams travers-
ing such areas should be used as a means of preventing water pollution
by the wastes of the confined animals and the physical destruction
of the stream beds and banks.
The policy was developed to promote the voluntary use of the
stated guidelines in a fertilizer program for individual farms and
to encourage such use through a strong effort by the presently available
educational programs of Federal, State, and local agencies and educa-
tional institutions, and through technical assistance.
PESTICIDES
Pesticides include a wide variety of chemical compounds to control
undesired life forms that threaten man, his possessions, and portions
of the natural environment that he values. Over 900 pesticidal chemicals
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are formulated into more than 60,000 preparations in the United
States. Production and sale of synthetic organic pesticides reached
1.2 billion pounds in 1968 and more than half of those were used in
farming.
The Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 mandated that the
EPA conduct a study and investigation of methods to control the
release of pesticides into the environment and include an examination
of the persistency of pesticides in the water environment and alter-
natives thereto. A report addressing the effects of pesticide pollution,
the persistency and degradation of pesticides, alternatives to pesticide
uses and other related information has been prepared for submission
to the Congress and will be available for distribution soon.
CONSTRUCTION SITE SILTATION
Man's land development activities have upset drastically the natural
and necessary geologic processes of sedimentation by greatly accelerating
erosion. Deposition of excess quantities of sediments pollutes down-
stream waters and damages land.
The energy responsible for erosion is provided by falling rain and
flowing run-off water. One inch of precipitation falling on one acre
of exposed soil weighs 110 tons. Approximately 10 percent of the
sediment quantity reaching the rivers of this country each year is
contributed by erosion from lands undergoing highway construction or
land development. Sediment yields in streams flowing from urbanized
drainage basins vary from approximately 200 to 500 tons per square
mile each year. In contrast the urbanized areas have a sediment yield
of from 1,000 to 100,000 tons per year.
The technical capability of controlling erosion and sediment deposi-
tion is available. It involves protection of disturbed soils from the
energy of falling rain and flowing run-off water by installing protective
covers, controlling run-off and trapping sediments in transport. The
EPA in September 1971 published a bulletin on the "Control of
Erosion and Sediment Deposition from Construction of Highways
and Land Development." The purpose of this publication was to define
the nature and extent of the problem and to suggest erosion and
sediment control measures that can be employed not only to protect
the lands but also to protect the receiving waterways from sediments
that otherwise would be washed from the lands. In addition to filling
in receiving waterways and covering waterway bed habitats, sediments
carry adsorbed nutrients, pesticides, and other materials that may have
a deleterious effect on the receiving environment.
The Subsurface Environment
Actions that the EPA can take relating to the subsurface environ-
ment include technical assistance, research, and enforcement activity.
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As a part of its technical assistance program, the Agency published
a selected annotated bibliography on subsurface water pollution in
March 1972. This bibliography represented published summaries of
research reports as abstracted and indexed in the semi-monthly journal
"Selected Water Resources Abstracts." The three-part bibliography
resulted from a search of nearly 34,000 items from October 1968
through December 1971. Part I considers pollution associated with
subsurface waste injection. Part II addresses pollution associated with
saline water intrusion. Part III considers pollution associated from
percolation from surface sources.
Vessel Wastes
The Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 mandated the Environ-
mental Protection Agency to promulgate standards of performance
for marine sanitation devices to prevent the discharge of untreated or
inadequately treated sewage into or upon the navigable waters of the
United States from vessels with installed toilet facilities. In June 1972
EPA published final standards laying out a number of steps to curtail
discharges of vessel sewage into U. S. navigable waters. These standards
pertain to about 500,000 recreational boats, 14,000 fishing vessels,
6,000 tow and tug boats, 1500 Corps of Engineers' ships, boats and
crafts, 700 U. S. Navy ships, 700 U. S. commercial vessels, and an
unknown number of foreign flag ships. According to the law, the
standards become effective for new vessels two years after promulga-
tion and for existing vessels five years after promulgation.
The Coast Guard has regulatory authority concerning the imple-
mentation of marine sanitation device standards and may distinguish
among classes, types, and sizes of vessels, as well as between new and
existing vessels and may waive applicability of standards and regula-
tions as necessary or appropriate.
The EPA standards are implemented with the promulgation of a
Coast Guard regulation governing the design, construction, installa-
tion, and operation of any marine sanitation devices onboard vessels.
The Coast Guard is mandated to certify a marine sanitation device
that shall be deemed to be in conformity with the EPA standards.
Federal vessel pollution control regulations preempt any State statutes
or regulations pertaining to the control of human body wastes from
vessels on their effective dates.
The Federal standard provides that marine sanitation devices in-
stalled on vessels shall be designed and operated to prevent the
overboard discharge of sewage, treated or untreated, or of any waste
derived from sewage, into the navigable waters of the United States.
To provide for some vessel pollution control prior to the legal effective
252
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date of the regulation, incentive provisions were provided for owners
and operators of existing vessels to install currently available vessel
waste treatment devices. Any existing vessel equipped with a marine
sanitation device on which is installed a treatment system that will
reduce fecal coliform bacteria to no more than 1000 per 100 milliliters
and prevent the discharge of an effluent with visible floating solids
shall not be required to comply with the no-discharge provision of
the regulation for a specified period of time depending upon the
date of installation. If the treatment device is installed within three
years after the promulgation of the regulation the treatment device
may be used as long as it remains operable. If such a device is installed
after three years from the date of initial promulgation of the imple-
menting Coast Guard regulations but before the effective date of the
Federal regulation, the device may be used for a period of three years
following the regulation's effective date. There is a provision in the
regulation whereby a State may apply and obtain a regulation com-
pletely prohibiting discharge from a vessel of any sewage into particular
waters of the State or specified portions thereof where a complete
prohibition is required by applicable water quality standards.
Water Quality Standards
The Water Quality Act of 1965 authorized the establishment and
enforcement of water quality standards for interstate waters including
coastal waters. This piece of legislation has been a keystone of America's
clean water program. In developing water quality standards, the States
initially held public hearings to define particular water uses for the
States' interstate streams. Such water uses included domestic water
supply, recreation, fish and other wildlife, agricultural, and industrial.
Following the designation of water uses for particular stream reaches,
water quality criteria were established by the States to ensure that
the water would be of a quality to support the designated use. In
addition, an implementation program was established that outlined
the pollution abatement measures that would be required to meet the
designated criteria. The States then submitted their individual water
quality standards to the Federal Government and, upon approval,
the standards became Federal-State water quality standards. The first
responsibility for implementing and enforcing the water quality stand-
ards rests with the State. If the State does not act on a violation,
however, Federal enforcement action can ensue.
The criteria that were adopted to protect interstate and coastal
waters varied to some extent among the several States. In general
the criteria specified a minimum water quality applicable in all places
at all times. Minimal water quality criteria would prevent the discharge
of materials attributable to pollutional discharges that would float
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as unsightly objects, settle to form putrescent sludge deposits, impart
tastes or odors to water or fish or other organisms, result in a toxic
action to fish or other water users, or serve to stimulate the growth
of undesirable biota. Generally specific numerical criteria were re-
corded for the water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and often
other water quality constituents. Specific criteria for nitrogen and
phosphorus were designated for some of the,major lake water resources.
The 1972 Amendments provide that water quality standards shall be
developed and apply to all interstate and intrastate navigable waters.
In addition to setting water quality standards, where effluent limita-
tions will not be stringent enough to meet water quality standards,
the States are required to establish maximum daily loads of pollutants
permitted in the waters that will allow the propagation of fish and
wildlife. A similar assessment must be made for thermal discharges.
States are also required to develop a continuing planning process
which is able to deal with the changing patterns of water pollution
within the State. Beginning in 1975, the States must submit to Congress
and EPA annual reports with an inventory of all point sources of
discharge, an assessment of existing water quality and projected goals,
and proposals of programs for nonpoint source control. EPA must
submit a similar report to Congress on January 1, 1974.
TOXIC AND PRETREATMENT EFFLUENT STANDARDS
As part of the comprehensive authority vested in the Administrator,
he is directed to publish a list of toxic pollutants and effluent limita-
tions for these substances. Such limitations may constitute an absolute
prohibition against discharging. Additionally, the Administrator must
publish pretreatment standards requiring any industry discharging into
,a municipal sewage treatment plant to pretreat its effluent so that it
does not interfere with the operation of the plant or pass through the
plant untreated or without adequate treatment.
OCEAN DUMPING
The new ocean dumping legislation, the Marine Protection, Research
and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, passed by the 92nd Congress and signed
into law by the President on October 27,' 1972, declares it to be the
national policy "to regulate the dumping of all types of materials
into ocean waters and to prevent or strictly limit the dumping into
ocean waters of any material which would adversely affect human
health, welfare or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological
systems or economic potentialities." Currently, criteria are being
developed to control this source of pollution.
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Other Activities
There are a host of additional activities associated with the control
of water pollution. There is a national multi-agency oil and hazardous
materials contingency plan that provides the organizational and com-
munications mechanism for combining Federal, State, and local efforts
into a coordinated response to control and clean up spills of oil and
hazardous materials. A technical assistance program is available to
help States solve pollution problems. Field studies can be undertaken
under this program to define an environmental problem and proffer
recommendations for its control or for environmental enhancement.
A significant involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency
is in planning activities for pollution control. Clean water will be
achieved only by systematically controlling pollution in entire river
basins. Furthermore, we must be sure that actions taken today will
be adequate to meet the needs of tomorrow. Thus, long-range plans
are made with provisions for future growth of waste loads, population,
industry, and water uses.
Criteria are currently being developed to define a polluted dredge
spoil that would be unacceptable for open-water disposal. Information
is being collected on the number and extent of bathing beaches that
are closed annually because of pollution, as well as the number of
shellfish areas that are closed because of pollution. When data of
this type are compared for one year with those of another, an index
of accomplishment or nonaccomplishment in the fight against water
pollution control is provided.
Water quality data are collected on a number of fixed water quality
stations throughout the Nation. These data are stored on computer
tape in such a manner that it will be possible to compare the water
quality in a particular location from which samples have been collected
with the water quality standards for that reach of waterway. Additional
data that will be available for the same location will include informa-
tion on municipal and other point sources of wastes, a resume of the
implementation program to abate pollution from indicated sources
and a designation indicating the violation of any time frame within
the implementation program.
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Gi
ossary
ABSORPTION—The taking up of one sub-
stance into the body of another.
ACID MINE DRAINAGE—Drainage from
certain mines of water containing
minerals and having a low pH. The
low pH is commonly caused by oxi-
dation of iron sulfide to sulfuric
acid. Mine water usually contains a
high concentration of iron.
ACTINOMYCETES-—Mold-like bacteria in-
volved in the decomposition of or-
ganic matter and may be responsible
for tastes and odors in water supplies.
ADSORPTION—The adherence of a gas,
liquid, or dissolved material on the
surface of a solid.
AEROBIC ORGANISM—An organism that
thrives in the presence of oxygen.
AESTHETIC INSULTS—A degradation of
beauty through arrogant mistreatment.
ALGICIDE—A specific chemical highly
toxic to algae. Algicides are often ap-
plied to water to control nuisance
algal blooms.
AMOEBA—A genus of unicellular proto-
zoan organisms of microscopic size,
existing in nature in large numbers;
many living as parasites; some species
pathogenic to man.
ANAEROBIC ORGANISM—A microorganism
that thrives best, or only, when de-
prived of oxygen.
ARTIFICIAL SUBSTRATE—A device placed
in the water for a period extending to
a few weeks that provides living
spaces for a multiplicity of drifting
and natural-born organisms that
would not otherwise be at the par-
ticular spot because of limiting
physical habitat. Examples of artificial
substrates 'include glass slides, tiles,
bricks, wooden shingles, concrete
blocks, multiplate-plate samplers, and
brush boxes.
BENTHIC REGION—The bottom of all
waters; the substratum that supports
the benthos.
260
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BENTHOS—Bottom-dwelling organisms;
the benthos comprise: (1) sessile ani-
mals such as the sponges, barnacles,
mussels, and oysters, some of the
worms, and many attached algae; (2)
creeping forms, such as snails and
flatworms; and (3) burrowing forms
which include most clams and worms.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (B.O.D.)
—A measure of the quantity of oxy-
gen used in the biochemical oxida-
tion of organic matter in a specified
time, at a specified temperature, and
under specified conditions. In general,
a high B.O.D. indicates the presence
of a large amount of organic material.
It is normal to find a B.O.D. of 2 to
3 mg/1 in river waters receiving natu-
ral drainage.
BIODEGRADATION—The destruction or
mineralization of either natural or
synthetic organic materials by the
microorganisms of soils, waters, or
wastewater treatment systems.
BIOMASS—The weight of all life in a
specified unit of environment, for
example, a square foot of stream
bottom. An expression dealing with
the total mass or weight of a given
population, both plant and animal.
BLACK FLY LARVAE (Simuliidae)—
Aquatic larvae that produce a silk-
like thread with which they anchor
themselves to objects in swift waters.
With a pair of fan-shaped structures,
a larva of this type produces a cur-
rent of water toward its mouth and
from this water ingests smaller orga-
nisms. The adults are terrestrial; fe-
males feed on the blood of higher
animals.
BLOODWORMS (Chironomidae)—Cylindri-
cal elongated midge larvae with pairs
of prolegs on both the first thoracic
and last abdominal segments. Al-
though many species are blood-red in
color, some are pale yellowish, yellow-
ish red, brownish, pale greenish
yellow, and green. Most feed on
diatoms, algae, tissues of aquatic
plants, decaying organic matter, and
plankton. Some are associated with
rich organic deposits. Midge larvae
are important as food for fishes.
BLOOM—A readily visible concentrated
growth or aggregation of plankton
(plant and animal).
COLIFORM BACTERIA—A group of bacteria
predominantly inhabiting the intes-
tines of man or animals, but also
occasionally found elsewhere. Fecal
coliform bacteria are those organisms
associated with the intestine of warm
blooded animals that are used com-
monly to indicate the presence of
fecal material and the potential
presence of organisms capable of caus-
ing disease in man.
DAMSELFLY NYMPH (Odonata)—The
immature damselfly. This aquatic in-
sect nymph has an enormous grasping
lower jaw and three flat leaf-like gill
plates that project from the posterior
of the abdomen. Nymphs live most of
their lives searching for food among
submerged plants in still water; a
few cling to. plants near the current's
edge; and a very few cling to rocks in
flowing water. The carnivorous adults
capture lesser insects on the wing.
DERMATITIS—Any inflammation of the
skin. One type may be caused by the
penetration beneath the skin of a
cercaria found in water; this form
of dermatitis is commonly called
"swimmer's itch."
DIATOMETER—An apparatus that holds
microscopic slides in the water. It is
held in place by means of floats and an
anchor. Living diatoms, by means of
their thin gelatinous coating, become
attached to the glass slides. The slides
are removed from the diatometer, at
intervals generally of 14 days, dried,
and shipped to the laboratory for
study, identification, and enumera-
tion.
DIATOMS—Organisms closely associated
with algae that are characterized by
the presence of silica in the cell walls
which are sculptured with striae and
other markings, and by the presence
of a brown pigment associated with
the chlorophyll.
DRAGONFLY NYMPH (Odonata)—The im-
mature dragonfly. This aquatic insect
nymph has gills on the inner walls of
261
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its rectal respiratory chamber. It has
an enormous grasping lower jaw that
it can extend forward to a distance
several times the length of it head.
Although many of these nymphs climb
among aquatic plants^ most sprawl
in the mud where they lie in ambush
to await their prey. The carnivorous
adults capture lesser insects on the
wing.
ECOLOGY—The branch of biology that
deals with the mutual relations of
living organisms and their environ-
ments, and the relations of organisms
to each other.
ECOSYSTEM—The functoning together of
the biological community and the
non-living environment.
EPILIMNION—That region of a body of
water that extends from the surface
to the thermocline and does not have
a permanent temperature stratifica-
tion.
EPITHELIAL LAYER—Cellular tissue cov-
ering all the free body surfaces, cu-
taneous, mucous, and serous, includ-
ing the glands and other structures
derived therefrom.
EUTROPHIC WATERS—Waters with a good
supply of nutrients; they may support
rich organic production, such as algal
blooms.
EUTROPHICATION—The intentional or un-
intentional enrichment of water.
FALL OVERTURN—A physical phenome-
non that may take place in a body
of water during the early autumn. The
sequence of events leading to fall
overturn include: (1) cooling of sur-
face waters, (2) density change in
surface waters producing convection
currents from top to bottom, (3) cir-
culation of the total water volume
by wind action, and (4) vertical tem-
perature equality, 4°C. The overturn
results in a uniformity of the physical
and chemical properties of the water.
FLOC—A small, light, loose mass, as of
a fine precipitate.
FOOD WEB—The dependence of orga-
nisms upon others in a series for
food. The chain begins with plants
or scavenging organisms and ends
with the largest carnivores.
GELATINOUS MATRIX—Jelly-like intercel-
lular substance of a tissue; a semisolid
material surrounding the cell wall of
some algae.
GLOBULAR—Having a round or spherical
shape.
HELLGRAMMITES (Corydalidae)—Dobson-
fly larvae. Full-grown larvae are 2 to
3 inches in length; they have a dark-
brown rough-looking skin, large jaws,
and posterior hooks. The aquatic lar-
val stage lasts 2 to 3 years. They are
secretive and predaceous, living under
rocks and debris in flowing water.
These larvae are considered one of the
finest live baits by fishermen. Pupa-
tion occurs on shore, under rocks and
debris near the stream edge. The ter-
restrial adults are short lived.
HERBICIDE—Substances or a mixture of
substances intended to control or de-
stroy any vegetation.
HEPATIC VEIN—The vein leading from
the liver.
HETEROCYST—A specialized vegetative
cell in certain filamentous blue-green
algae; larger, clearer, and thicker-
walled than the regular vegetative
cells.
HIRUDIN—A substance extracted from
the salivary glands of the leech that
has the. property of preventing co-
agulation of the blood.
HOMOTHERMOUS—Having the same tem-
perature throughout.
HYPOLIMNION—The region of a body of
water that extends from the thermo-
cline to the bottom of the lake and
is removed from surface influence.
INTRAPERITONEAL—Within the peritoneal
or abdominal cavity.
LARVA—The worm-like form of an in-
sect on issuing from the egg.
LEECHES (Hirudinea)—Segmented worms,
flat from top to bottom, with ter-
minal suckers that are used for at-
tachment and locomotion. Various
species may be parasites, predators, or
scavengers; most are aquatic.
LUMEN—The space in the interior of a
tubular structure, such as an artery
or the intestine.
262
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MACROORCANISMS — Plant, animal, or
fungal organisms visible to the un-
aided eye.
MAYFLY NAIADS (Ephemeridae)—The im-
mature mayfly. Paired gills are at-
tached to the upper surface of the
outer edge of some or all of the first
seven abdominal segments. The abdo-
men terminates in three, rarely two,
slender tails. Mouth parts are par-
ticularly suited for raking diatoms
and rasping decaying plant stems. The
terrestrial adults lack functional
mouth parts and live only a few hours.
MENINGOENCEPHALITIS—An inflammation
of the brain and its membranes.
MESENTERIC VEIN—The large vein lead-
ing from the intestines in the ab-
dominal cavity.
MIRACIDIUM—The ciliated free-swimming
larva of a trematode worm.
MORPHOMETRY—The physical shape and
form of a water body.
NON-POINT WASTE SOURCE—A general,
unconfined waste discharge; not a
point source waste.
NUTRIENT BUDGET—A quantitative de-
termination of the major nutrients
flowing to, retained within, and dis-
charged from a system.
OLIGOTROPHIC WATERS—Waters with a
small supply of nutrients; hence, they
support little organic production.
ORGANOLEPTIC—Affecting or employing
one or more of the organs of special
sense.
PATHOGENIC BACTERIA—Bacteria capable
of causing disease.
PENSTOCK—A sluice for regulating flow
of water, a conduit for conducting
water.
PERIPHYTON—The association of aquatic
•organisms attached or clinging to
stems and leaves of rooted plants or
other surfaces projecting above the
bottom.
PESTICIDE—Any substance used to kill
pest organisms including insecticides,
herbicides, algicides, fungicides, and
bacteriacides.
PHOTIC ZONE—The surface waters that
are penetrated by sunlight.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS—The process by which
simple sugars are manufactured from
carbon dioxide and water by living
plant cells with the aid of chlorophyll
in the presence of light.
PHYTOPLANKTON—Plant microorganisms,
such as certain algae, living unat-
tached in the water.
PLANKTON—Organisms of relatively small
size, mostly microscopic, that either
have relatively small powers of loco-
motion or drift in the water subject
to the action of waves and currents.
PLASTIDS—A body in a plant cell that
contains photosynthetic pigments.
POINT WASTES SOURCE—Any discernible,
confined and discrete conveyance such
as any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel or
conduit from which pollutants are or
may be discharged.
POPULATION EQUIVALENT—A means of ex-
pressing the strength of a waste by
equating it to the strength of waste
from an equivalent number of per-
sons.
PROFUNDAL ZONE—The deep- and bot-
tom-water area beyond the depth of
effective light penetration. All of the
lake floor beneath the hypolimnion.
PUPA—An intermediate, usually quies-
cent, form assumed by insects after
the larval stage, and maintained until
the beginning of the adult stage.
SECCHI Disc—A circular metal plate, 20
cm in diameter, the upper surface of
which is divided into four equal
quadrants and so painted that two
quadrants directly opposite each other
are black and the intervening ones
white.
SEDCWICK-RAFTER COUNTING CELL—A
plankton-counting cell consisting of a
brass or glass receptacle 50 by 20 by I
millimeter sealed to a 1- by 3-inch
glass microscope slide. A rectangular
cover glass large enough to cover the
whole cell is required. The cell has a
capacity of exactly 1 milliliter.
SEICHE—A periodic oscillation of a body
of water whose period is determined
by the resonant characteristics of the
containing basin as controlled by the
263
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physical dimensions. These periods
generally range from a few minutes
to an hour or more. (Originally the
term was applied only to lakes but
now also to harbors, bays, oceans,
etc.)
SESTON—The living and nonliving
bodies of plants or animals that float
or swim in the water.
SETTLEABLE SctLios^Suspended solids
that will settle in quiescent water or
sewage in a reasonable period. Such
period is commonly, though arbi-
trarily, taken as two hours.
SEWERED POPULATION—The population
served by wastewater collecting
sewers.
SNAIL—An organism that typically
possesses a coiled shell and crawls on a
single muscular foot. Air breathing
snails, called pulmonates, do not have
gills but typically obtain oxygen
through a "lung" or pulmonary
cavity. At variable intervals most
pulmonate snails come to the surface
of the water for a fresh supply of
air. Gill breathing snails possess an
internal gill through which dissolved
oxygen is removed from the surround-
ing water.
SPECIES (Both singular and plural)—An
organism or organisms forming a
natural population or group of popu-
lations that transmit specific char-
acteristics from parent to offspring.
They are reproductively isolated from
other populations with which they
might breed. Populations usually ex-
hibit a loss of fertility when hy-
bridizing.
STANDING CROP—The biota present in an
environment at a selected point in
time.
SUBLETHAL CONCENTRATION—A concen-
tration in which an organism can sur-
vive, but within which adverse phys-
iological changes may be manifested.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS—Solids mixed with
and generally imparting a cloudy ap-
pearance to water, sewage, or other
liquids.
SWIMMER'S ITCH—A rash produced on
bathers by a parasitic flatworm in the
cercarial stage of its life cycle. The
organism is killed by the human body
as soon as it penetrates the skin; how-
ever, the rash may persist for a
period of about 2 weeks.
THERMOCLINE—The layer in a body of
water in which the drop in tempera-
ture equals or exceeds one degree
centigrade for each meter or approxi-
mately three feet of water depth.
TRANSECTION SAMPLING—Samples col-
lected at defined intervals along an
imaginary line connecting two points.
TROPHOGENIC REGION—The superficial
layer of a lake in which organic pro-
duction from mineral substances takes
place on the basis of light energy.
TUBIFICIDAE—Aquatic segmented worms
that exhibit marked population in-
creases in aquatic environments con-
taining organic decomposable wastes.
TROPHOLYTIC REGION—The deep layer
of the lake where organic dissimilation
predominates because of light de-
ficiency.
WATER QUALITY CRITERIA—A scientific
requirement on which a decision or
judgment may be based concerning
the suitability of water quality to
support a designated use.
WATER QUALITY STANDARD—A plan that
is established by governmental au-
thority as a program for water pollu-
tion prevention and abatement. Usu-
ally it includes a delineation of des-
ignated water uses, criteria, and
pollution abatement, implementation
and surveillance programs.
ZOOPLANKTON—Animal microorganisms
living unattached in water. They in-
clude small Crustacea, such as ctapEhia
and cyclops, and single-celled animals,
such as protozoa.
264
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Appendix
ACRES
Hectares
Square Meters
Acres
Acres
Acre-feet
Grams per square meter
Kilograms per hectare
Milligrams per square centimeter
Milligrams per cubic meter
X 2.471
X 2.471 X
X 4047
X 43,560
X 325,851
X 8.922
X 0.8922
X 89.22
X 2.72X1
Acres.
Acres.
Square meters
Square feet.
Gallons.
Pounds per acre.
Pounds per acre.
Pounds per acre.
Pounds per acre-foot
AREA
Circle
Rectangle
Sphere
Square
Trapezoid
Triangle
—Square of the diameter X 0.7854.
—Length of the base x height.
—Square of the radius X 3.1416 X 4.
—Square the length of one side.
—Add the two parallel sides X height -=- 2.
—Base X height -f- 2.
CIRCUMFERENCE
Circle—Diameter X 3.1416
DISSOLVED OXYGEN
Micromoles per liter X 32 X 10~3
Millimoles per liter X 32
Micromoles per microliter x 32 X 103
Millimoles per square meter x 2848 x It
— Milligrams per liter.
= Milligrams per liter
— Milligrams per liter
= Pounds per acre.
DOSAGE FORMULA (Chemical)
Length (ft.) X Width (ft.) X Average Depth (ft.) X 62.4 X Desired Concentration in
ppm X 10~0 = Pounds of active Material Needed.
Speed of Boat (feet per hour) X Width of Spray Pattern (feet) X Depth of Calculated
Treatment (feet) x 62.4 x Desired Concentration in ppm x 10-° = Pounds of Ac-
tive Material Needed Per Hour.
FEET
Fathoms X 6.08 —
Meters X 3.281 —
Acres X 43,560 =
Square meters X 10-76 =
Square feet X 929 X 10"1 =
Gallons X 1337x10-" =
Cubic feet X '-48 =
Gallons per minute X 2.228 X 10-* =
Cubic feet per second X 448.8 —
Million gallons per day X 1-547 —
Cubic feet per second X 6463 X 10"1 =
Feet.
Feet.
Square feet.
Square feet.
Square meters.
Cubic feet.
Gallons.
Cubic feet per second.
Gallons per minute.
Cubic feet per second.
Million gallons per day.
265
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GALLONS
Acre-feet ......................... X 325,851 = Gallons.
Cubic feet ...................... X 7.48 = Gallons.
Liters ........................... X 2642 X io~* = Gallons.
Pounds of water .................. X 1198 X 10"* = Gallons of water.
Gallons per minute ............... X J440 = Gallons per day.
Gallons of water ................. X 8-345 = Pounds of water.
Gallons .......................... X 1337 X 10~* = Cubic feet-
Gallons ...... „ ................... X 231 = Cubic inches.
Gallons .......................... X 3.785 = Liters
Cubic feet per second ............. X 6463 X 10-* = Million gallons per day.
Cubic feet per second ............. X 44f3-8 = Gallons per minute.
Gallons per minute .............. X 2.228 x 1C"3 = Cubic feet per second.
Million gallons per day ........... X 1-547 = Cubic feet per second.
Parts per million ................. X 8-345 = Pounds per million
gallons.
MILES
Kilometers ....................... X 6214 X 10"4 = Miles.
Statute Miles ..................... X 1-15 = Nautical miles.
Miles ............................ X !-609 = Kilometers.
Nautical Miles Per Hour ......... X LO = Knots.
PHOSPHORUS
microgram atoms phosphorus per gram (^g-atP/g) = 31 parts per million phosphorus
(P)-
microgram atoms phosphorus per liter (^g-atP/1) = 31 parts per billion phosphorus
(P)-
phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) x 0.436 = phosphorus (P) equiv.
phosphate (PO4) x 0-326 = phosphorus (P) equiv.
PARTS PER MILLION
Milligrams per liter .............. X 1-0
Grams per liter .................. X 1000
Micrograms per liter ............. X 10"3
Micrograms per gram ............. X 1-0
Cubic centimeters per liter ........ x 1.4545
Milligrams per gram .............. X 10s
Cubic millimeters per liter ...... X 1-0
Cubic microns per milliliter ....... x 10~°
Parts' per million ................. X 8.345
Parts per million.
Parts per million.
Parts per million.
Parts per million.
Parts per million.
Parts per million.
Parts per million.
(volume).
Parts per million.
(volume).
Pounds per million
gallons.
266
-------
NITRATE (NO3) X 0.226 = nitrogen (N) equiv.
POUNDS
Milligrams per square meter x 8922
Grams per square meter X 8-922
Kilograms per hectare X 0.8922
Milligrams per square centimeter . . x S922
Milligrams per liter X 2.72
Milligrams per cubic meter x 2.72 X l°~a
Micrograms per square meter x 8-92 X l°e
Acre-feet o£ water X 2.7 X 10°
Gallons of water X 8-345
Parts Per Million X Cubic Feet Per Second X 5-4
(Gallons per minute X 2.228 X 10-" = Cubic feet per
Parts per million x 8-34 X gallons per day x 10-°
(Gallons per minute X 1440 = Gallons per day).
STANDARD UNITS
Areal standard units = 2(V X 20/i = 400/i2
Cubic standard units = 2
-------
Temperatures—Centrigrade to Fahrenheit *
Temp.0
0
10
20
30
40
50 . .
C. 0
320
500
68.0
86.0
104.0
122.0
* Temperatures in
degrees Fahrenheit in
Temp."
30 ..
40
50
60
70 ...
80 .
90
100 ...
F. 0
—1.11
4.44
1000
1556
21.11
. . 26.67
32.22
37.78
1
33.8
51.8
69.8
87.8
105.8
123.8
2
35.6
53.6
71.6
89.6
107.6
125.6
3
37.4
55.4
73.4
91.4
109.4
127.4
4
39.2
57.2
75.2
93.2
111.2
129.2
5
41.0
59.0
77.0
95.0
113.0
131.0
6
42.8
60.8
78.8
96.8
114.8
132.8
7
44.6
62.6
80.6
98.6
116.6
134.6
8
46.4
64.4
82.4
100.4
118.4
136.4
9
48.2
66.2
84.2
102.2
120.2
138.2
degrees Centigrade expressed in left vertical column and in top horizontal row; corresponding temperatures in
body of table. (From: Welch, P.S. 1948. Limnological Methods. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.)
Temperatures — Fahrenheit to Centigrade *
1
—0.56
5.00
10.56
16.11
21.67
27.22
32.78
38.83
2
0.00
5.56
11.11
16.67
22.22
27.78
33.33
38.89
3
0.56
6.11
11.67
17.22
22.78
28.33
33.89
39.44
4
1.11
6.67
12.22
17.78
23.33
28.89
34.44
40.00
5
1.67
7.72
12.78
18.33
23.89
29.44
35.00
40.56
6
2.22
7.78
13.33
18.89
24.44
30.00
35.56
41.11
7
2.78
8.33
13.89
19.44
25.00
30.56
36.11
41.67
8
3.33
8.89
14.44
20.00
25.56
31.11
36.67
42.22
9
3.89
9.44
15.00
20.56
26.11
31.67
37.22
42.78
* Temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit expressed in left vertical column and in top horizontal row; corresponding temperatures in de-
grees Centigrade in body of table. (From: Welch, P.S. 1948. Limnological Methods. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.) -
-------
BIO-ASSAY DOSAGE CHART
For Preliminary Screening of an Effluent Waste
Total
Galloi
Percent of Waste
in test jar
100
75
56
32
18
5.6
1
0
(mV\
ns required
Waste added
(ml)
2,500
1,875
1,400
800
450
140
25
0
7,190
2
Dilution water
added (ml)
0
625
1,100
1,700
2,050
2,360
2,475
2,500
12,810
31/s
BIO-ASSAY DILUTION CHART
A Guide to the Selection of Experimental Concentrations, Based on
Progressive Bisection of Intervals on a Logarithmic Scale
Col. 1 Col. 2 Col. 3 Col. 4 Col. 5
10.0
8.7
7.5
6.5
5.6
4.9
4.2
3.7
3.2
2.8
2.4
2.1
1.8
1.55
1.35
1.15
1.0
269
-------
DILUTION TABLE
To prepare solutions of concentrations indicated
at left, take number of milliliters of stock solu-
Concentration Desired -1.1.1 j i i-» -.u
tion shown below, and make up to one liter with
suitable dilution water.
%
100.
10.
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
.56
.32
.18
.1
.056
.032
.018
.01
.0056
.0032
.0018
.001
.00056
.00032
.00018
.0001
.000056
.000032
.000018
.00001
.0000056
.0000032
.0000018
.000001
ppmor
mg/L
1,000,000
100,000
56,000
32,000
18,000
10,000
5,600
3,200
1,800
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
.56
.32
.18
.10
.056
.032
.018
.010
Stock
ppbor
FF sol: 10%
"g/L lOOgm/L
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
Stock
sol: 1%
lOgm/L
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
Stock
sol: .1%
Igm/L
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
Stock
sol: .01%
.lgm/L
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
Stock
sol: .001%
.01 gm/L
1,000
560
320
180
100
56
32
18
10
5.6
3.2
1.8
1.0
270
-------
Oubject Index
. Page
Actions to Abate Pollution 30
Aesthetic Insults g; 44
Aesthetic Problem Control ' 23
Aesthetic Qualities 9,11
Algae 18, 177
Algal Assets 172
Algal Bloom 174
Algal Control 132,234
Algal Control Equipment 233
Algal Counting 80
Algal Crop Maxima 176
Algal Identification 196
Algal Nuisances 20,173
Algal Problems, Water Supply 124
Algal Sampling, Lakes 114
Algal Standing Crop 55, 103
Algal Volume Determination 82
Amoebic Meningoencephalitis .... 194
Artificial Substrates 75
Asiatic Clams 185
Bacterial Sampling 92
Basin Planning 35,255
Benthos Standing Crop 104
Biochemical Oxygen Demand 85
Biological Axiom 48
Biological Magnification 8,50
Biological Sampling 89
Biology of Water Pollution 70
Black Flies 182
Blue Vitriol 234
Brule River, Wisconsin-Michigan.. 146
Caddisflies 50,179
Carbon-Nitrogen Ratio 105
Catherwood Diatometer 77
Cercariae 187
Chara 20,174
Chara Control 236
Chattooga River, Georgia 153
Chemical Nuisance Controls 234
Chemical Treatment 234
Chlorophyll Determination . .79, 128,156
Citizen Action 28
Citizen Groups 27
Clean Water Organisms 88
Clean Water Zone 47
Coliform Bacteria 85
Collecting Benthos 70
Collecting Jars 74
Color, Causes 15,171
Concentration Zones, Benthos 104
Conclusions 161
Conference "44
Control Station Selection 89
Conversion to a Quantity 85,143
Copper Sulfate 234
Copper Sulfate Application 236
Page
Core Samplers 73, 78
Corrosion 124, 171,232
Court Evidence 119
Data Collection 66, 68
Data Evaluation 145
Decomposition Zone 47
Deer Flies 183
Degradation Zone 47
Density Currents 99
Density of Water 97
Diatometer 77
Diphyllobothrium latum 193
Dispersal of Water Plants 137, 175
Dissolved Oxygen Profiles 114,155
Dredge Spoil Criteria 255
Dredging 55
Drift 136,147
Drift Nets 74
Drop Counting Method 81
Drought Effects 140
Dying Lakes 20
Ecology, definition 6
Effluent Limitations 41
Ekman Dredge 72
Electrofishing 78
Encephalitis 182
Enforcement 39
Environmental Catastrophes 138
Environmental Impact Statements. 36
Epilimnion 98
Erosion 25
Eutrophication 53, 104
Eutrophication Recovery 136,139
Federal Water Pollution Control
Act 34,41
Feedlots 249
Feedlots, cattle 24
Field Data 66
Field Investigative Objectives 62
Field Maps - Ill
Filariasis 182
Filter Clogging 124
Fish Kills 12,118
Fish Kill Investigation 13, 117
Fish Samples 78, 120
Fish Sampling 112
Fish Standing Crop 55,104
Fish Tapeworm 193
Floating Solids 13
Flood Effects 134,140
Food Web 5
Forestry and Logging 249
Formula for Conversion 85
271
-------
Page
Goal, society 8, 41
Government's role 32
Grants 38
Graph 145
Hand Picking Samples 79
Hair Identification 117
Harvesting the Crop 55,232
Heat Pollution 51
Herbicide Properties 233
Hester—Dendy Sampler 75
Horse Flies 183
Hypolimnion 98
Ice Effects , 100, 140
Industrial Pollution 26
Industrial Wastes 86,248
Industrial Water Use 27
Insults, environmental, definition.. 9
Inventory of Industrial Wastes 248
Iron 144,148
Iron Bacteria 125, 168
Iron Bacterial Control 231
Irrigation 25, 249
Laboratories 66, 94
Lake Michigan 20,135,157
Lakes, number 2
Lake Reclamation 140
Lake Stratification 98
Lake Tahoe ; 10, 175
Lateral mixing 84
Laws 40
Leaching 123
Leech Control 240
Leeches 183
Light 21,100
Limiting Factors 175
Limiting Phosphorus 176
Limnological References 59
Magnification, biological 8,50
Maintenance of Water Environ- v
ment .,-. 230
Map Usage 64, 111
Marine Sanitation Devices 252
Mayflies 70,179
Menominee River, Michigan 148
Migration 137
Midges 22,53,178
Mine Pollution 25,139
Mixing 84, 99
Mobile Laboratories 94
Mosquito Control 239
Mosquitoes 181
Municipal Wastes 246
National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 36
National Technical Advisory Com-
mittee on Water Quality 10,59
Nitrogen 53
Nitrogen-Carbon Ratio 105
Nitrogen-Phosphorus Ratio 105
Non-point Source Wastes 248
Non-point Waste Source Sampling. 86
Nuisance Control 230
Page
Nutrient Policy 250
Nutrients 53
Nutrient Sources 176
Nutrient Retention in Sediments.. 110
Objectives 62
. Observing the Environment 69
Oil 16,55
Oil Contingency Plan 255
Oil, Effects on Aquatic Life 17,55
Oil Pollution Control 37
Oil Spills 24
180-Day Notice 244
Orange-peel Dredge 73
Organic Wastes 47, 138
Organism Effect on Pollution 50
Organism Infiltration 136
Organization of Data 144
Periphyton , 76
Pesticides 250
Petersen Dredge 73
Phosphate Mining 101
Phosphorus .54,100,123,143
Phosphorus Cycle 101
Phosphorus in Agricultural Drain-
age 54
Phosphorus in Sewage 54, 85
Phosphorus-Nitrogen Ratio 105
Photic Zone 100
Photosynthesis 100
Photosynthetic Oxygen Production. 173
Plankton Sampling 91
Pollution, definition 7
Pollution, varieties 43
Ponar Dredge 73
Pond Life 96
Potomac River, Maryland 151
Pounds per day 85,145
Preservation of Samples 75,120,127
Primary Sewage Treatment 85
Qualitative Sampling 70
Recommendations , 162
Reconnaissance Survey 64
Recovery 133
Recovery Zone 47
Recycling Wastes 27
References 57
Repopulation Mechanisms 137
Report Organization 161,163
Report Outline 160
Report Review 166
Reports 159
Report Writing 159
Research 32, 38,245
Reservoir Effects 102
Reservoirs 1,123
Riffle Sampling 75
River and Harbor Act of 1899
16,33, 39,243
Runoff, land 3
Sample Analyses 78
Sample Collection :. .72,121
Sample Concentration 7^5,81
272
-------
Page
Sampling 72, 89
sampling Frequency, Lakes 115
Sampling Frequency, Streams 92
Sampling tools 71
Schistosomiasis 192
Seasonal Effects 93, 141
Secondary Sewage Treatment 85
Sebasticook Lake, Maine 102, 126
Sediment 24,102, 110
Sediment Examination 82
Sedwick-Rafter Cell 80
Settleable Solids 14,46
Settled Solids 15
Settling Plankton 81
Sewage 85
Sewage Decomposition 129
Sewage Fungus 169
Sewage Sampling 85
Sewage Treatment 128
Sieves •.. 71
Siltation 139
Silts 45
Siltation Recovery 139,251
Slime Control 231
Slimes 18, 167,231
Sludge Boils 19
Sludgeworms 22,50
Snail Control 241
Solids 16
Sphaerotilus natans 169
Splitting Samples 79
Sponges 178
Stabilization Ponds 130
Stable Flies 183
Standard Methods 57
Standards, water quality 254
Standing Crops 55
Station Selection, Lake 112
Station Selection, Stream 87
Stratification 98
Stove-pipe Sampler 74
Study Objectives 63
Study Plan 83
Study Planning 64
Submersed Plants 78, 104
Subsurface Environment 251
Sulfate Bacterial Control 232
Sulfur Bacteria 169
Summary 161
Suspended Solids 85
Page
Swimmer's Itch 187
Swimmer's Itch Control 240
Tastes and Odors 17, 124
Taxonomic References 196, 202
Technical Assistance 39
Temperature Profiles 114, 154
Thermal Pollution 51
Thermocline 98
Tolerant Organisms 91
Tools for Sample Collection 71
Toxic Algae 194
Toxic Substances 22, 44, 138, 254
Training 28, 147
Transections in Sampling 113
Tributary Sampling 87
Trickling Filter Flies 130
Trickling Filter Plants 129
Trickling Filters 129
Trophogenic Zone 100
Vertical Sampling 114
Vascular Plant Assets 172
Vascular Plant Identification 202
Vascular Plants 21
Vessel Wastes 37,252
Waste Stabilization 130
Water Pollution Control Laws. . .38, 245
Water Quality Act of 1965 35, 253
Water Quality Criteria 58
Water Quality Criteria Data 58
Water Quality Improvement Act of
1970 37
Water Quality References 59
Water Quality Standards 10,36,254
Water Supply Problems 122
Waterway Recovery 133
Water Weed Removal 232
Water Weight 97
Weed Control 232,237
Weed Nuisances 173
Weed Standing Crop 55, 104
Wilding Sampler 74
Wind Effects 141
Winter Sampling '... .93,114,141
Words misused 165
Writing 163
Wuchereria bancrofti 182
•fr U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1973 0—503—148
273
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