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Chemical Quality of Effluents and Their Influence on Water Quality in a Shallow Aquifer
Author(s) -
Purtymun W. D.,
Buchholz J. R.,
Hakonson T. E.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1977.00472425000600010008x
Subject(s) - aquifer , effluent , water quality , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , dilution , canyon , nitrate , groundwater , environmental engineering , environmental chemistry , geology , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , biology , thermodynamics
The chemical quality of liquid effluent released from an industrial waste treatment plant at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory controls the quality of water in a shallow aquifer in the alluvium of Mortandad Canyon. The dilution of the effluent with surface flow in the canyon reduces the concentrations of the chemicals as they move down gradient into the aquifer. Mass estimates of residual chemicals in solution in the aquifer average 1–6% of the total chemicals released to the canyon from 1963–1974. The average annual concentration of sodium, nitrate, chloride, and total dissolved solids in the aquifer through a 12‐year period was directly correlated with annual average concentrations in the effluent. This relationship provides a means of predicting the impact of the chemical effluents on the quality of water in the aquifer.