GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AND PINE LAKE AREA, New York, USA
PARISI,
1Department
1
Andrew ,
WATSON, Kathleen
2
M. ,
DUDEK,
2
John ,
and BALOGH-BRUNSTAD,
of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 13820, [email protected]
2Department of Chemistry, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 13820
Results
Introduction
The Susquehanna River flows from Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, New York to the Chesapeake Bay Estuary and
it is the longest river of the estuary contributing significantly to the water budget and quality. The river also
provides drinking water for numerous municipalities in three states; monitoring the water quality is necessary to
ensure safe drinking water. The goal of my project was to determine metal concentrations in the river water
between Cooperstown and Unadilla, New York, and in the adjacent but isolated Pine Lake watershed (Figure 1).
In the process, field parameters and nutrient levels were also monitored. I hypothesize that the geochemistry of
the Susquehanna River matches the background geology of the area, with small anthropogenic influence due to
runoff and outflow of the waste water treatment plant (WWTP).
Figure 2. Phoenix Mills, NY, Site 3 on Figure 1.
Figure 3.
Measuring
field
parameters;
A. Parisi and
K. Armstrong
Figure 1. Sampling Locations,
Unadilla, site 14 is about 20
miles to the SW.
Modified from
Balogh-Brunstad, 2009
1
Zsuzsanna
Figure 4.
Water
sampling via
“rope and
bottle”
technique off
Portlandville
bridge, NY
Figure 7: Average Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) along the course of the
river. Note the spike around 38 km from Otsego Lake that is the WWTP
effluent, but it dissipated within 300 m downstream.
Figure 5.
Filtering
water
samples, in
the
laboratory,
A. Parisi.
Methods
Water collection was started in June 2009 and will continue until November 2010.
During summer months water was sampled every two weeks and during the academic year
it was sampled once a month at 14 locations in 2009, and two sites (15&16) were added in
the summer of 2010 (Figure 1). An example of summer sampling conditions is shown in
Figure 2.
At each sampling location, GPS coordinates, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity,
total dissolved solids and dissolved oxygen were measured (Figure 3). These parameters
are important indicators of ecosystem health and their change can show entrance of
possible pollutants to the river system. Water samples were collected at each location in a
one liter Nalgene bottle by lowering the bottle into the fastest flowing part of the river. A
“rope and bottle” technique was used to reach the river levels from bridges or from the bank
(Figure 4). The collected samples were stored on ice and brought back to the laboratories
for preservation, preparation and further analytical work.
Upon arrival to the laboratory, turbidity (a proxy for total suspended solids) was
measured after shaking. Each sample was divided into two aliquots for cation and anion
analyses. The aliquots for cation analysis were filtered with a 0.45 m nylon filter
membrane, acidified below a pH of 2 with concentrated nitric acid to keep cations in solution
and kept at 4oC until further processing. (Figure 5). The aliquots for anion analysis were
filtered and frozen to prevent evaporation and degradation of compounds.
Cation concentrations were determined via atomic absorption spectroscopy, and
recorded in ppm following standard analytical methods for standards, calibration and quality
control (Welz et al. 2005). Fluoride, chloride, nitrate, phosphate and sulfate were
determined with ion chromatography following EPA 300.1 method.
Figure 8: Average pH for the sampling area, slightly basic which
reflects the local bedrock geology of limestone and shale.
References
• Balogh-Brunstad, Z. (2009) Monitoring the water chemistry of
the upper Susquehanna River in Otsego County, New York,
June – October 2009. Biological Field Station Annual Report,
Cooperstown, New York 42:80-96. Print.
• US EPA Method 300.1.
• USGS topographic maps, Cooperstown, Hartwick, Milford,
Mount Vision, Oneonta and West Davenport quadrangles.
• Welz, B. and M. Sperling (2005) Atomic Absorption
Spectrometry. New York: Wiley-VCH. Print.
Acknowledgements
• We thank
Dr. Brian Hagenbuch for coordinating the
Environmental Science and Policy scholarship that partially
funded this research. Additional funding came from the
Chemistry and Geology Departments at Hartwick College. This
work was also supported in part through a Hartwick College
Faculty Research Grant and Milne Family Fund Award for Dr.
Balogh-Brunstad.
• We thank Dr. Richard Benner for his help with the analytical
equipment, and Drs. Eric Johnson and David Griffing for their
advise and support.
• Spatial variation in the geochemistry of the river water was not found during the
sampling times. Field parameters of pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved
solids and turbidity remained relatively constant for each year through the course of
the studied section of the river (Figures 7 & 8).
• When comparing 2010 to 2009 parameters, the river water in 2010 had lower
quantities of: 1) TDS, 2) suspended solids, and 3) major cations and anions. This
could be explained by the smaller amount of rain and runoff in the watershed in
2010 than in 2009.
• Major cation and anion concentrations were within acceptable limits of EPA
guidelines and showed low variations throughout the watershed, with a general
decreasing trend from the headwater toward Unadilla (Figures 9 & 10).
• Heavy metals were below the detection limit of the equipment used at all sampling
locations, except the WWTP outflow.
• At Pine Lake (Sites 15 & 16), all monitored values were lower than in the river (data
is not shown). This was expected, because the Pine Lake area is a small, secluded
watershed with less human input.
• The major exception to the above findings is the WWTP outflow. Most of the
parameters spiked at higher values at the outflow pipe than at other sites. However,
these high concentrations dissipated within 300 meters downstream from the
outflow pipe, because the large volume of river water was able to dilute the effluent.
• Every measured value was within EPA recommended concentrations.
Figure 9: Calcium
concentrations through
the course of the river
provide an example of
major cations and
reflects bedrock
composition.
Concentrations
decrease as river
volume increase from
the headwaters toward
Unadilla, NY.
Figure 10: Sodium
concentrations
showed a typical
patterns of other
detectable ions (Zn,
Fe, Cu, Mn and Al)
with elevated
values. The WWTP
outflow spiked and
dissipated within
300 m downstream.
Sources of the
elevated sodium
are probably surface
runoff and human
waste.
Conclusions
• The Upper Susquehanna Watershed in New York is clean with respect to
heavy metals and anions.
• Elevated concentrations of measured metals and nutrients were only
found at Oneonta’s waste water treatment plant, but they did not exceed
EPA maximum contaminant levels.
• The large volume of river water diluted the outflow concentrations within
300 m of the treatment plant outflow pipe.
• Further monitoring is needed to understand spatial and temporal
variations, especially the effect of rain events and large volume of
surface runoff.