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David J. Wangsness

Publications and source records attributed to David J. Wangsness.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

Effects of advanced wastewater treatment on the quality of White River, Indiana

In 1983, the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, completed construction of advanced wastewater treatment (AWT) systems to enlarge and upgrade its existing Belmont Road and Southport Road secondary treatment plants. A nonparametric statistical procedure, a modified form of the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank-sum test, was used to test for trends in water quality at two upstream and two downstream sites on White River and at the two treatment plants. Results comparing the pre- (1978-1980) and post- (1983-1988) AWT periods show statistically significant improvements in the quality of the treated effluent and of the White River downstream from the plants. Water quality at sites upstream from the city was relatively constant during the period of study. Total ammonia (as N) decreased 14.6 mg/L and BOD5 (five-day biochemical oxygen demand) decreased 10 to 19 mg/L in the two effluents. Total ammonia in the river downstream from the plants decreased 0.8 to 1.9 mg/L and BOD5 decreased 2.3 to 2.5 mg/L. Nitrate (as N) increased 14.5 mg/L in the plant effluents and 2.0 to 2.4 mg/L in the river because of in-plant nitrification. Dissolved oxygen concentration in the river increased about 3 mg/L because of reduced oxygen demand for nitrification and biochemical oxidation processes.

Indiana↗
USGS1997

Design and implementation of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: a United States example: understanding the limitations of using compliance-monitoring data to assess the water quality of a large river basin

In the 1980s it was determined that existing ambient and compliance-monitoring data could not satisfactorily evaluate the results of hundreds of billions of dollars spent for water-pollution abatement in the United States. At the request of the US Congress, a new programme, the National Water-Quality Assessment, was designed and implemented by government agency, the US Geological Survey (USGS). The Assessment has reported status and trends in surface- and ground-water quality at national, regional, and local scales since 1991. The legislative basis for US monitoring and data-sharing policies are identified as well as the successive phases of the design and implementation of the USGS Assessment. Application to the Danube Basin is suggested. Much of the water-quality monitoring conducted in the United States is designed to comply with Federal and State laws mandated primarily by the Clean Water Act of 1987 and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1986. Monitoring programs generally focus on rivers upstream and downstream of point-source discharges and at water-supply intakes. Few data are available for aquifer systems, and chemical analyses are often limited to those constituents required by law. In most cases, the majority of the available chemical and streamflow data have provided the information necessary to meet the objectives of the compliance-monitoring programs, but do not necessarily provide the information requires for basin-wide assessments of the water quality at the local, regional, or national scale.

Book chapter↗
USGS1993

Effects of advanced treatment of municipal wastewater on the White River near Indianapolis, Indiana: Trends in water quality, 1978-86

The City of Indianapolis has constructed state-of-the-art advanced municipal wastewater-treatment systems to enlarge and upgrade the existing secondary-treatment processes at its Belmont and Southport treatment plants. These new advanced-wastewater-treatment plants became operational in 1983. A nonparametric statistical procedure--a modified form of the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank-sum test--was used to test for trends in time-series water-quality data from four sites on the White River and from the Belmont and Southport wastewater-treatment plants. Time-series data representative of pre-advanced- (1978-1980) and post-advanced- (1983--86) wastewater-treatment conditions were tested for trends, and the results indicate substantial changes in water quality of treated effluent and of the White River downstream from Indianapolis after implementation of advanced wastewater treatment. Water quality from 1981 through 1982 was highly variable due to plant construction. Therefore, this time period was excluded from the analysis. Water quality at sample sites located upstream from the wastewater-treatment plants was relatively constant during the period of study (1978-86). Analysis of data from the two plants and downstream from the plants indicates statistically significant decreasing trends in effluent concentrations of total ammonia, 5-day biochemical-oxygen demand, fecal-coliform bacteria, total phosphate, and total solids at all sites where sufficient data were available for testing. Because of in-plant nitrification, increases in nitrate concentration were statistically significant in the two plants and in the White River. The decrease in ammonia concentrations and 5-day biochemical-oxygen demand in the White River resulted in a statistically significant increasing trend in dissolved-oxygen concentration in the river because of reduced oxygen demand for nitrification and biochemical oxidation processes. Following implementation of advanced wastewater treatment, the number of river-quality samples that failed to meet the water-quality standards for ammonia and dissolved oxygen that apply to the White River decreased substantially.

Indiana↗
USGS1992

Recovery of benthic-invertebrate communities in the White River near Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, following implementation of advanced treatment of municipal wastewater

The City of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, completed construction of advanced-wastewater-treatment systems to enlarge and upgrade existing secondary-treatment processes at the City’s two municipal wastewater-treatment plants in 1983. These plants discharge their effluent to the White River. A study was begun in 1981 to evaluate the effects of municipal wastewater on the quality of the White River near Indianapolis. As part of this study, benthic-invertebrate samples were collected from one riffle upstream and two riffles downstream from the treatment plants annually from 1981 through 1987 (2 times before and 5 times after the plant improvements became operational). Samples were collected during periods of late-summer or early-fall low streamflow with a Surber sampler. Upstream from the wastewater-treatment plants, mayflies and caddisflies were the predominant organisms in the benthic-invertebrate community (from 32 to 93 percent of all organisms; median value is 67 percent) with other insects and mollusks also present. Before implementation of advanced wastewater-treatment, the benthic-invertebrate community downstream from the wastewater treatment plants was predominantly chironomids and oligochaetes (more than 98 percent of all organisms)-organisms that generally are tolerant of organic wastes. Few intolerant species, such as mayflies or caddisflies were found. Following implementation of advanced wastewater treatment, mayflies and caddisflies became numerically dominant in samples collected downstream from the plants. By 1986, these organisms accounted for more than 90 percent of all organisms found at the two downstream sites. The diversity of benthic invertebrates found in these samples resembled that at the upstream site. The improvement in the quality of municipal wastewater effluent resulted in significant improvements in the water quality of the White River downstream from Indianapolis. These changes in river quality, in turn, have resulted in a shift from mostly pollution-tolerant to mostly pollution-intolerant organisms in the benthic-invertebrate community of the White River downstream from Indianapolis. The recovery was not immediate, however, with one of the downstream sites requiring 3 years before pollution-intolerant organisms became numerically dominant.

Indiana↗
USGS1983

Water and streambed-material data, Eagle Creek watershed, Indiana, August 1980-December 1982

Water quality studies within the Eagle Creek watershed, Indiana, were done by the U.S. Geological Survey in August 1980, October 1982, and December 1982 in cooperation with the city of Indianapolis, Department of Public Works. Streambed-material and water samples were collected from Finley and Eagle Creeks at various flow rates and were analyzed for selected metals, non-metals, insecticides, and acid-extractable and base-neutral-extractable compounds. Water samples also were analyzed for volatile organics. This report lists all the data collected and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey during the 1980 and 1982 surveys but does not interpret the data. (Author 's abstract)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1981

Preliminary water-quality assessment of the upper White River near Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana

The White River Park Commission is planning the development of park facilities along the White River through Indianapolis. A key element in the planning is the determination of whether water quality of the river is suitable for recreation. A preliminary water-quality assessment of the river in Indianapolis on August 4-5, 1980, indicates that, during low-flow steady-state conditions, water quality of the river is suitable for partial body contact recreation (any contact with water up to, but not including, complete submergence). Dissolved-oxygen concentrations varied but were higher than the Indiana water-quality standards established to ensure conditions for the maintenance of a well-balanced, warm-water fish community. High fecal-coliform densities that have been observed in the White River during high stream-flow are probably caused by stormwater runoff from combined sewers. However, during the low-flow steady-state conditions on August 4-5, 1980, fecal coliform densities were within the Indiana standards for partial body contact recreation. Concentrations of organic matter (based on biochemical-oxygen demand and dissolved- and suspended-organic carbon concentrations), nutrients, and heavy metals in the White River were generally within the limits recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and were generally similar to values for other Indiana rivers. Chromium, copper, lead, zinc, and mercury are accumulating in bottom materials downstream from 30th Street (river mile 235.58). The source of these metals is probably stormwater runoff from combined sewer overflows. The phytoplankton densities of the White River were high (>500 cells per milliliter). The dominant phytoplankton species are indicative of rivers moderately affected by organic wastes. The highest cell concentrations, upstream from dams on the White River, significantly affected dissolved-oxygen concentration and pH.

Indiana↗
USGS1980

Behavioral and catastrophic drift of invertebrates in two streams in northeastern Wyoming

Invertebrate drift samples were collected in August 1977 from two streams in the Powder River structural basin in northeastern Wyoming. The streams are Clear Creek, a mountain stream, and the Little Powder River, a plains stream. Two major patterns of drift were recognized. Clear Creek was sampled during a period of normal seasonal conditions. High drift rates occurred during the night indicating a behavioral drift pattern that is related to the benthic invertebrate density and carrying capacity of the stream substrates. The mayfly genes Baetis, a common drift organism, dominated the peak periods of drift in Clear Creek. The Little Powder River has a high discharge during the study period. Midge larvae of the families Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae, ususally not common in drift, dominated the drift community. The dominance of midge larvae, the presence of several other organisms not common in drift, and the high discharge during the study period caused a catastrophic drift pattern. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1977

Physical, chemical, and biological relations of four ponds in the Hidden Water Creek strip-mine area, Powder River Basin, Wyoming

The Hidden Water Creek area in Wyoming was mined from 1944 to 1955 and abandoned. The open pits filled with water and pond-type ecosystems developed. Light was transmitted to greater depths within two control ponds located outside the mine area. The lower light transmittance in the ponds within the mined area probably was due, in part, to the greater number of phytoplankton cells. Also, unconsolidated soil material within the mine area was observed to slough off the pond banks, which could add to the concentration of suspended sediments. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were lower in the ponds within the mined area. Most of the major ions (calcium, magnesium, sulfate, and sodium) were present in greater concentrations in the ponds within the mined area. Higher concentrations of bicarbonate and total hardness were in the water within the mined area. Biological communities were less diverse and chemical concentrations fluctuated more in the mined area than in the ponds outside the mined area. (Woodard-USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗