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A WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT of the OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR and ITS TRIBUTARY WATERSHED: 1973-2002 Amelie C. Van Den Bos Thesis Submitt

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A WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT of the OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR and ITS TRIBUTARY WATERSHED: 1973-2002 Amelie C. Van Den Bos Thesis Submitt A WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR AND ITS TRIBUTARY WATERSHED: 1973-2002 Amelie C. Van Den Bos Thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering Committee: Dr. Thomas J. Grizzard (Chair) Dr. Adil N. Godrej Dr. Charles B. Bott July 2003 Falls Church, Virginia Keywords: Water quality, eutrophication, reclaimed water, potable water reuse, Occoquan, reservoir management Copyright 2003, Amelie C. Van Den Bos A WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR AND ITS TRIBUTARY WATERSHED: 1973-2002 Amelie C. Van Den Bos ABSTRACT The Occoquan Reservoir is a public water supply in northern Virginia. The Occoquan Watershed has developed over the years from rural land uses to metropolitan suburbs within easy commuting distance from Washington, DC. Due to this urbanization, the Occoquan Reservoir is especially vulnerable to hypereutrophication, which results in problems such as algal blooms (including cyanobacteria), periodic fish kills, and taste and odor problems. In the 1970’s, a new management plan for the Occoquan Reservoir called for the construction of the Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority (UOSA), an advanced wastewater treatment plant that would take extraordinary measures for highly reliable and highly efficient removal of particulates, organics, nutrients, and pathogens. Eliminating most of the water quality problems associated with point source discharges in the watershed, this state- of-the-art treatment is the foundation for the successful indirect surface water reuse system in the Occoquan Reservoir today. A limnological analysis of thirty years of water quality monitoring data from the reservoir and its two primary tributaries shows that the majority of the nutrient and sediment load to the reservoir comes from nonpoint sources, which are closely tied to hydrometeorologic conditions. Reservoir water quality trends are very similar to trends in stream water quality, and the tributary in the most urbanized part of the watershed, Bull Run, has been identified as the main contributor of sediment and nutrients to the reservoir. Despite significant achievements in maintaining the reservoir as a source of high quality drinking water, the reservoir remains a phosphorus-limited eutrophic waterbody. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank her family and friends for their support while she was completing this degree. In addition, she expresses her gratitude to the staff of the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory (OWML) for collecting the data analyzed in this paper, and making the laboratory such a pleasant place to work. This thesis would not have been possible without the patient guidance of Harry Post and Mary Lou Daniel of OWML. Thomas Bonacquisti of the Fairfax County Water Authority, Evelyn Mahieu of the Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority, and Norm Goulet of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission were also extremely helpful in providing information and answering questions. Last, but not least, the author thanks Charles Bott for serving on her committee, Adil Godrej for his encouragement, and Thomas Grizzard for making all of this possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………… vi LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………….. xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….. 1-1 Site Description…………………………………………………… 1-1 Occoquan History…………………………………………………. 1-4 Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority…………………………….…. 1-5 Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Program……………………........ 1-8 Fairfax County Water Authority…………………………………..... 1-8 Current Water Quality Conditions…………………………………. 1-11 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………. 2-1 Limnology…………………………………………………………. 2-1 Reservoir Water Quality………………………………………….… 2-1 Reservoir Morphology…………………………………………. 2-1 Location and Climate……………………………………….….. 2-3 Thermal Stratification………………………………………….. 2-4 Nutrient Loading………………………………………….……….. 2-5 Point-Source Nutrients…………………………………………. 2-5 Nonpoint Source Nutrients……………………………………. 2-6 Internal Nutrient Cycling………………………………………. 2-8 Trophic State Assessment………………………………………….. 2-9 Eutrophication Modeling…………………………………….…. 2-10 Virginia Water Quality Standards…………………………………… 2-12 Nutrient Criteria Development…………………………………. 2-13 Impaired Waters………………………………………………… 2-16 Chesapeake Bay Agreement……………………………….……. 2-17 Occoquan Reservoir Water Quality Management…………………… 2-18 Monitoring Requirements………………………………………. 2-19 UOSA Effluent Quality………………………………………… 2-19 Watershed Management…………………………………………. 2-22 Copper Sulfate………………………………………………….. 2-24 Hypolimnetic Aeration………………………………………….. 2-25 Nitrification…………………………………………………….. 2-26 Management in Perspective……………………………………… 2-27 Chapter 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS……………………………………. 3-1 Sampling Stations……………………………………………………. 3-1 Rain Gages…………………………………………………………… 3-3 Collection and Lab Analysis…………………………………………. 3-6 Flows………………………………………………………………… 3-10 Loads………………………………………………………………… 3-10 Seasonal Data Analysis………………………………………………. 3-11 Data Display…………………………………………………………. 3-12 iv Chapter 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………….. 4-1 Hydrometeorologic Conditions……………………………………… 4-1 Precipitation, Pool Elevation, and Drought……………………… 4-1 Storage Capacity…………………………………………………. 4-5 Inflows and Outflows………………………..……………………. 4-5 Hydrologic Summary…………………………………………….. 4-9 Watershed Water Quality……………………………………………. 4-14 UOSA Water Quality……………………………………………. 4-14 Tributary Stream Ambient Water Quality………………………... 4-15 Temperature……………………………………………... 4-16 Dissolved Oxygen………………………………………... 4-16 Alkalinity and pH………………………………………… 4-19 Total Dissolved Solids and Conductance………………… 4-20 Total Suspended Solids and Turbidity…………………… 4-22 Nitrogen…………………………………………………. 4-24 Phosphorus……………………………………………… 4-27 Degradable Organic Matter……………………………… 4-28 Metals……………………………………………………. 4-29 Loads………………………………………………………………… 4-30 Reservoir Water Quality……………………………………………… 4-37 Temperature……………………………………………………… 4-37 Dissolved Oxygen………………………………………………… 4-42 Alkalinity, pH, and Hardness……………………………………... 4-45 Total Dissolved Solids and Conductance…………………………. 4-48 Secchi Depth, Total Suspended Solids, and Turbidity……………. 4-51 Nitrogen………………………………………………………….. 4-55 Phosphorus………………………………………………………. 4-61 Nitrogen: Phosphorus Ratio……………………………………… 4-64 Degradable Organic Matter………………………………………. 4-64 Chlorophyll a……………………………………………………... 4-67 Nitrogen Management……………………………………………. 4-69 Synthetic Organic Chemicals……………………………………… 4-69 Trophic State Assessments…………………………………………… 4-75 Carlson’s Trophic State Index…………………………………….. 4-75 Vollenweider Input-Output Model……………………………….. 4-82 Rast, Jones, and Lee Input-Output Model………………………... 4-85 Trophic State Outlook…………………………………………… 4-86 Chapter 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………….. 5-1 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………….. 6-1 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1-1 Occoquan Watershed 2000 Land Use and Monitoring Stations 1-2 1-2 Schematic of Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority Water Reclamation 1-6 Facility Processes 1-3 Fairfax County Water Authority Process Flow Diagrams 1-9 2-1 Longitudinal Zonation in Environmental Factors Controlling Primary 2-2 Productivity, Phytoplankton Biomass, and Trophic State within Reservoir Basins 2-2 Leading Sources of Lake, Reservoir, and Pond Impairment 2-7 2-3 Leading Pollutants in Impaired Lakes, Reservoirs, and Ponds 2-8 2-4 Best Management Practices Identified in the Occoquan Watershed 2-23 3-1 Occoquan Watershed Map with Monitoring Stations and Boundaries 3-2 3-2 OWML Raingage Network Theissen Polygons 3-5 4-1 Daily Time Series of Theissen Average Rainfall in Occoquan Basin, 4-2 1951-2002 4-2 Time Series of Seasonal Occoquan Basin Rainfall from Theissen Polygons 4-2 4-3 Pool Elevation in Occoquan Reservoir, 1973-2003 4-3 4-4 Palmer Drought Severity Index for Virginia Division 4, by Month 4-4 for 1998-2002 4-5 Area Capacity Curve for Occoquan Reservoir 4-6 4-6 Occoquan Reservoir Storage from Original, 1995, and 2000 Surveys 4-6 4-7 Daily Basin Rainfall, Flows, and Remaining Storage in the Occoquan 4-7 Reservoir, 1998 4-8 Daily Basin Rainfall, Flows, and Remaining Storage in the Occoquan 4-7 Reservoir, 1999 4-9 Daily Basin Rainfall, Flows, and Remaining Storage in the Occoquan 4-8 Reservoir, 2000 vi Figure Page 4-10 Daily Basin Rainfall, Flows, and Remaining Storage in the Occoquan 4-8 Reservoir, 2001 4-11 Daily Basin Rainfall, Flows, and Remaining Storage in the Occoquan 4-9 Reservoir, 2002 4-12 Annual Flows from POTW’s in the Occoquan Watershed 4-11 4-13 Annual Occoquan Basin Streamflows as a Function of Annual Basin 4-11 Rainfall 4-14 Percent Flow Difference between Annual Occoquan Basin Inflows 4-12 and Outflow 4-15 Comparison of Computed Annual Occoquan Basin Inflows and Outflow, 4-13 1982-2002 4-16 UOSA Annual (1978-2002) and Daily (1998-2002) Percentages of 4-14 Watershed Inflow 4-17 Long Term Average of UOSA Final Effluent Quality, 1982-2002 4-15 4-18 Seasonal Average Total Alkalinity in Reservoir Inflows and Outflow 4-20 4-19 Total Dissolved Solids as a Function of Specific Conductance for Station 4-21 ST45, 1989-2002 4-20 Time Series of Total Dissolved Solids in UOSA Plant Discharge 4-21 4-21 Seasonal Average Specific Conductance in Reservoir Inflows and Outflow 4-22 4-22 Seasonal Average Total Suspended Solids in Reservoir Inflows and Outflow 4-23 4-23 Seasonal Average Turbidity in Reservoir Inflows and Outflow 4-24 4-24 Seasonal Average Ammonia Nitrogen in Reservoir Inflows and Outflow 4-25 4-25 Seasonal
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