nitrate

DGS participates in inter-agency meeting on Chesapeake Watershed

Date

DGS staff member A. Scott Andres made a presentation “Results of selected UD nutrient monitoring projects in the Nanticoke River watershed” at the inter-agency meeting Chesapeake basin water quality data, trends, and interpretations held August 11, 2016 at the Delaware Department of Agriculture in Dover.

Delaware Geological Survey issues report on groundwater modeling in eastern Sussex County

Date

The Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) has released a new technical report titled Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport in Eastern Sussex County, Delaware with Emphasis on Impacts of Spray Irrigation of Treated Wastewater, which was prepared by Changming He and A. Scott Andres of DGS.

DGS Report of Investigations No. 79 documents development of a detailed study of subsurface hydrogeology, interactions between aquifers and streams, and the effects of spray irrigation of treated wastewater on groundwater beneath southern eastern Sussex County.

RI79 Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport in Eastern Sussex County, Delaware With Emphasis on Impacts of Spray Irrigation of Treated Wastewater

This report presents a conceptual model of groundwater flow and the effects of nitrate (NO3-) loading and transport on shallow groundwater quality in a portion of the Indian River watershed, eastern Sussex County, Delaware. Three-dimensional, numerical simulations of groundwater flow, particle tracking, and contaminant transport were constructed and tested against data collected in previous hydrogeological and water-quality studies.

Scientists study flow of groundwater into bays - results may help track pollution

Date

Scientists study flow of groundwater into bays. Results may help track pollution.

On a small, homemade barge, built from the skeleton of an old ship, a gray slurry of bay bottom sand flows out of a pipe into a bucket. Two scientists, a well driller and two student interns drill a hole in the floor of the Indian River Bay. They’ll install a very long pipe into the hole and use it to monitor groundwater – how much flows into the bay, how salty it is and how many nutrients it carries with it.

OFR1 A Preliminary Report on Nitrate Contamination of Shallow Ground Waters in Delaware

Inspection of water analyses on file at the Delaware Geological Survey revealed that 25 percent of the shallow wells yield water with nitrate concentrations approaching or in excess of the Delaware State Board of Health and U. S. Public Health Service limit of 45 parts per million (ppm). Nitrate concentrations greater than 45 ppm seem to be detrimental to the health of infants during their first few months of life; adults drinking the same water are not affected but breast-fed infants of mothers drinking such water may become ill.