Chemical and Microbiological Water Quality of Subsurface Agricultural
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In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Lenawee Conservation District Chemical and Microbiological Water Quality of Subsurface Agricultural Drains during a Field Trial of Liquid Dairy Manure Effluent Application Rate and Varying Tillage Practices, Upper Tiffin Watershed, Southeastern Michigan By Sheridan Kidd Haack and Joseph W. Duris Open-File Report 2008–1189 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Mark D. Myers, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2008 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Haack, S.K., and Duris, Joseph W., 2008, Chemical and microbiological water quality of subsurface agricultural drains during a field trial of liquid dairy manure effluent application rate and varying tillage practices, Upper Tiffin Watershed, southeastern Michigan: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008– 1189, 38 p. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. ii Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Scope ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Management Practices ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Chemical and Microbiological Indicators of LDME Transport to Subsurface Drains ....................................... 6 Conditions at the Study Area ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Sampling and Analytical Methods .................................................................................................................................. 8 Sampling Procedures ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Chemical Analyses ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Microbiological Analyses ........................................................................................................................................... 10 Bacteria Enumeration and Preservation .............................................................................................................. 10 Microbiological Indicators of LDME Transport to Subsurface Drains ........................................................... 10 Immunological Test for O157 Antigen ............................................................................................................... 10 DNA Extraction ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) ..................................................................................................................... 13 Multiplex PCR for Shiga-Toxin-Producing E. coli ............................................................................................ 13 PCR for Bovine Bacteroidetes Gene ................................................................................................................. 14 Quality Assurance/Quality Control ..................................................................................................................... 14 Results of Chemical and Microbiological Analyses ................................................................................................... 14 Specific Conductance and pH .................................................................................................................................... 15 Bacteria Concentrations ............................................................................................................................................. 15 Nutrient Concentrations .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Chemical Indicators of LDME Transport to Subsurface Drains ........................................................................... 22 Microbiological Indicators of LDME Transport to Subsurface Drains ............................................................... 26 Study Limitations .............................................................................................................................................................. 28 Summary and Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 29 References Cited .............................................................................................................................................................. 31 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................................................ 36 Figures 1. Map showing location of Upper Tiffin Watershed Conservation Effects Assessment Project area ....... 3 Tables 1. Treatment definitions and abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 8 2. Rainfall during the course of the field trial .......................................................................................................... 8 3. Methods of nutrient analysis and reporting limits ............................................................................................. 9 4. Water-quality field data and bacteria concentrations for LDME on date of application and for all tile-water samples ...................................................................................................................................... 11 5. Nutrient concentrations in LDME, field blank, and tile-water samples ....................................................... 17 6. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Ambient Water-Quality Criteria and 25th percentiles for nutrients in Ecoregion VI (Corn Belt) and Level III Ecoregion 57 (Huron/Erie Lake Plain) ........................ 21 iii 7. Results of antibiotic and wastewater chemical analyses for LDME, pre-application sample, and NT8000 treatment (Tile 6) over time ............................................................................................................ 23 8. Results of wastewater-chemical analyses for field blank and for all treatments after the first significant rainfall event ........................................................................................................................................ 25 9. Results of analyses for microbiological indicators in subsurface drain water for NT8000 treatment before and after addition of liquid dairy manure effluent ............................................................ 27 10. Results of analyses for microbiological indicators in LDME and all treatments before LDME application and at 6 days post-application ........................................................................................................ 28 1–1. Wastewater-method compound names, U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory reporting limits, and possible compound uses or sources ........................................................ 36 1–2. Antibiotic analytes by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry .............................................................. 38 Conversion Factors and Abbreviated Water-Quality Units Multiply By To obtain Length inch (in.) 2.54 centimeter (cm) ft (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Area acre 0.4047 hectare (ha) Volume gallon (gal) 3.785 liter (L) milliliter (mL) 0.03381 ounce, fluid (fl. oz) microliter (µL) 0.0001 milliliter (mL) Flow rate gallon per acre (gal/acre) 9.354 liter per hectare (L/ha) gallon per acre per year 9.354 liter per hectare per year [(gal/acre/)yr] [(L/ha/)yr] Mass pound (lb) 0.4536 kilogram (kg) pound per gallon (lb/gal) 119.826 gram per liter (g/L) iv Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows: °F=(1.8×°C)+32 Specific conductance is given in microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius (µS/cm at 25°C). Small volumes are reported in milliliters (mL) and microliters (µL). Very small masses are given in nanograms (ng; a nanogram is one billionth of a gram). Pore sizes