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Water Monitoring – Jim Bridger Project – Sweetwater County, Wyoming a
Author(s) -
Florquist Bruce A.,
Hilbelink Paul A.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1976.tb03096.x
Subject(s) - water quality , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , total dissolved solids , turbidity , drilling , streams , water well , groundwater , geology , environmental engineering , oceanography , mechanical engineering , ecology , computer network , geotechnical engineering , computer science , engineering , biology
Beginning in February of 1974 and continuing to and through the start‐up of the first generating unit at the Jim Bridger Power Plant on August 8, 1974, the authors were drilling monitoring holes, collecting water samples and evaluating water quality and ground‐water levels at the project. During the course of this evaluation, considerable data was developed. Some unique and unusual problems were encountered and some of the results are interesting. As of this writing, there are over 25 water quality stations being monitored. Most of these stations are monitoring wells drilled into Tertiary or Cretaceous sedimentary rocks although some monitoring wells are drilled into recent stream alluvium. Also, there are surface‐water monitoring sites on two major streams, the freshwater surge pond and the evaporation ponds that receive the blow‐down water from the power plants' cooling towers. These waters were analyzed for at least 21 minerals and/or ions as well as pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature and such exotics as phenols, hydrazine and ammonia. The indigenous water quality of the area is poor with total dissolved solids ranging to 15,000 mg/l and pH values from 7.3 to 12.3. pH values were found to vary as much as four points between two monitoring stations fifteen feet apart. This water quality is expected to be improved by the importation of relatively high‐quality water from the Green River via a 41‐mile pipeline. Graphs have been prepared showing some of the concentrations of the more important minerals and their relationship to human, cattle, sheep, crop and boiler tolerances. A water suitability chart also shows how the water quality in the various geologic units as well as the surface water relates to various limitations of water use. Seven of the nine toxic substances cited by the Public Health Service standards were analyzed. Of these, silver, arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and cyanide were not present in objectionable quantities. Lead, however, was excessive during some months at all well sites and two surface sites on a stream that parallels an interstate highway for more than 6 miles. The water quality was found to have a definite relationship to the geology. Similarly, the geologic conditions are expected to be the governing factor in the rate and direction of flow of subsurface water. This factor will be of major significance when the blow‐down water in design concentrations of 30,500 mg/l TDS is discharged into the evaporation pond during the projected thirty‐five‐year life of the project.