Water Quality

Land application of municipal wastewater biosolids is the most common method of biosolids management used in North Carolina and the United States. Biosolids have characteristics that may be beneficial to soil and plants. Land application can take advantage of these beneficial qualities, whereas disposal in landfills or incineration poses no beneficial use of the waste. However, recent studies have...

Fort Gordon is a U.S. Department of the Army facility located in east-central Georgia, approximately 10 miles west of Augusta, Georgia). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) South Atlantic Water Science Center is working cooperatively with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon to assess the quality of...

The U.S. Geological Survey South Atlantic Water Science Center, South Carolina office, in cooperation with Charleston Water System (CWS), is evaluating the hydrodynamics of the Bushy Park Reservoir to determine the effects on water-quality conditions.

In the Brunswick, Georgia area, saltwater has contaminated the Upper Floridan aquifer for nearly 50 years. Saltwater contamination has constrained further development of the Upper Floridan aquifer in the Brunswick area, which has stimulated interest in the development of alternative sources of water supply, primarily from the shallower surficial and Brunswick aquifer systems. USGS is working...

Episodic droughts and increased pumpage since the mid-1970s have caused unprecedented ground-water level decline in the Upper Floridan aquifer in much of the roughly 8,000 square-mile Aucilla-Suwannee-Ochlockonee (ASO) River Basin. To address concerns about water availability, USGS worked with Georgia Environmental Protection Division to improve understanding of the hydrogeologic framework and...

A priority issue for the USGS is to contribute to understanding the processes associated with waste isolation and remediation of contaminated environments. This research involves developing new methods for acquiring water resources information, including methods of data collection and analysis, and producing new understanding that describes or explains processes important to water-related issues.

This proposed investigation aims to increase the frequency of surface-water quality data collection and initiate stream-flow data collection near existing DHEC ambient sites in Horry County. State-of-the-art water-quality and flow sensors that can collect and report water quality and stream-flow data in near real-time will be installed at 3 sites that are currently on the 303(d) list for SC in the...

The objective of the investigation was to develop and apply a groundwater flow and groundwater management model that can be used to better manage the groundwater resources in the Chesterfield County, S.C. area. Objectives of these better management practices would be to help assure sustainability of the groundwater resources in the area. A groundwater-flow model was developed for the Coastal Plain...

State environmental agencies are charged with the protection of groundwater and surface-water systems from water-quality degradation. Although the point-source discharge of wastes to surface waters is allowed up to permitted levels, contaminant releases from non-point sources, such as the discharge of contaminated groundwater, is not regulated. A common cause of groundwater contamination is the...

Peachtree Creek WaterWatch, Atlanta, GA Peachtree Creek is a major tributary to the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, GA. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring stream stage and streamflow at or near the Northside Drive gage location since 1958. The Peachtree Creek watershed occupies a large portion of the northeast metro Atlanta area and collects precipitation runoff that drains into...

The Albemarle Sound region was selected in 2012 as one of two demonstration sites in the Nation to test and improve the design of the National Water Quality Monitoring Council’s National Monitoring Network (NMN) for U.S. Coastal Waters and Tributaries. The goal of the NMN for U.S. Coastal Waters and Tributaries is to provide information about the health of our oceans, coastal ecosystems, and...

The Panola Mountain Research Watershed (PMRW) is a 41-hectare forested watershed in the southern Piedmont physiographic province near Atlanta, Georgia. The watershed contains a naturally regenerated second-growth forest on abandoned agricultural land, typical of the Piedmont. Research at PMRW is focused on how streamflow is generated, and in particular, on how water and solutes move from...