cristina tillberry summer reu 2013 8/8/13 impact of the high park fire on water quality in the fort...
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CRISTINA TILLBERRYSUMMER REU 2013
8/8/13
Impact of the High Park Fire on Water Quality in the Fort Collins Area
A study in conjunction with Dr. Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, Kaelin Cawley, and Amanda Hohner
High Park Fire
87, 284 acres1 fatality259 homes
destroyedBurned June 9
to July 1, 2012
Figure: Study area showing burned area and location of proposed sampling locations on the Poudre River
Cache La Poudre Watershed
Poudre River is the main source of drinking water for three major water districts, including Fort Collins, CO
Drinking water intake facility is within burn area
Sampling river water at three different test sites Control site upstream of burn area Burn area downstream Water intake facility in burn area
Figure: Filters from control site water sample (left) and burn area site water sample (right)
Motivation
Determine how wild fires affect water quality and drinking water treatment
Characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) in water DOM may hinder the treatment facility to efficiently
treat the waterAnalyze similarities and differences in data
between before coagulation and after coagulation samples
What did we do?
Surface water samples were collected from three sites on the Poudre River and filtered Reference site Impacted – upstream Impacted – downstream (water intake facility)
Used different techniques to gather data from samples Size Exclusion Chromatography UV-Visible Spectroscopy Fluorescence Spectroscopy / Excitation and Emission
MatricesCoagulated samples to compare data from before
and after
SEC: Size Exclusion Chromatography
Physically separates compounds based on size
Measures hydrodynamic volume, not actual molecular weight
Uses porous particles to separate different sized molecules in the sample
Particles that are smaller than the pores in the column will enter the pores longer path and longer transit
timeFigure: Diagram describing process of size exclusion chromatography
UV-Visible Spectroscopy
Measures the absorbance from a sample
Light is shined onto the cuvette light absorbance for the
sample is compared to the light absorbance of the water blank
UV-Vis data used to correct EEMs data
Figure: UV-Vis spectroscopy diagram
Fluorescence Spectroscopy
A technique that measures the emission of radiation by a material that has been excited
Once the output is determined, a fluorescence spectrum can be created
From spectrum, fluorescence index (FI) can be used to determine type of DOM in the water Higher FI: more microbial input Lower FI: more terrestrial
input
Also referred to as excitation and emission matrices (EEMs) Figure: Fluorescence spectroscopy diagram
Coagulation
Coagulant added to water to settle impuritiesClear water at top is removed and filtered
Figure: Coagulant added to water to remove impurities
Results - SEC
Ran SEC samples before and after coagulation
DOM: dissolved organic matterJT: jar test
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
PBR 5/4/13
DOMJT
Time (min)
UV
254
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35-202468
10121416
PNF 5/4/13
DOMJT
Time (min)
UV
254
Figure: SEC data for control site and water intake facility in burn area before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - SEC
Sample Mw (DOM) Mw (JT)
PBR130401 1029 710
PBR130420 1086 539
PBR130504 970 617
PBR130514 1653 750
PBR130601 1939 802
PNF130401 1163 831
PNF130420 1078 714
PNF130504 1289 1056
PNF130514 1203 1033
PNF130601 832 1032
PBR: control sitePNF: water intake facility in burn areaDate: 130401 (April 1, 2013)Mw: Weight average molecular weight
A: absorbanceM: molecular weight
Table: MW data for control site and water intake facility in burn area before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
𝑀𝑤=∑ 𝐴𝑖 𝑀 𝑖
∑ ( 𝐴𝑖 )
Results - Molecular Weight
3/27/2013 4/6/2013 4/16/20134/26/2013 5/6/2013 5/16/20135/26/2013 6/5/20130
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
PBR Mw
mw (dom)mw (jt)
Date
Mole
cula
r W
eig
ht
3/27/2013 4/6/2013 4/16/20134/26/2013 5/6/2013 5/16/20135/26/2013 6/5/20130
200400600800
100012001400
PNF Mw
mw (dom)mw (jt)
Date
Mole
cula
r W
eig
ht
Snow melt
Snow melt
Figure: MW data for control site and water intake facility in burn area before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - Fluorescence
Excitation and Emission Matrix (EEMs) dataColor: intensityContour lines: peaks
Figure: EEMs data for control site before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - Fluorescence
Sample FI (DOM) FI (JT)
PBR130401 1.36 1.66
PBR130420 1.38 1.63
PBR130504 1.35 1.61
PBR130514 1.37 1.64
PBR130601 1.35 1.60
PNF130401 1.44 1.70
PNF130420 1.43 1.67
PNF130504 1.44 1.69
PNF130514 1.41 1.70
PNF130601 1.35 1.60
Higher FI: more microbial inputLower FI: more terrestrial input
Table: Fluorescence Index for before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation samples
Conclusions
Molecular weight Increased after snow melt for control site Decreased after snow melt for impacted water intake
facilityIntensity of radiation emission wavelengths
decreased after coagulation According to EEMs contour plots
More terrestrial input before coagulation Coagulants removed most of terrestrial matter Microbial input is more evident when terrestrial input
is removed
What’s next?
Collecting storm samples Determine differences between storm run off and
snow meltDetermine differences between summer and
winter samplesDetermine if more or less terrestrial input in
water More shrubs growing back in burn area
Stop terrestrial input
Sampling is fun!
Gathering water samples from the Poudre River
References
[1] Rosario-Ortiz, F. & Summers, R.S. (2013). The impact of the high park fire on the source water quality for utilities in fort collins area: Cache la poudre river watershed. (University of Colorado).[2] Coble, P. G. (1996). Fluorescence contouring analysis of doc intercalibration experiment samples: a comparison of techniques. (University of Washington).[3] International Humic Substances Society. (2007, December). What are humic substances?. Retrieved from http://www.humicsubstances.org/whatarehs.html[4] Iowa State University of Science and Technology. (2008). High performance liquid chromatography (hplc) . Retrieved from http://www.protein.iastate.edu/hplc.html[5] Tissue, B. M. (2000). Size exclusion chromatography (sec). Retrieved from http://www.files.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/sep/lc/size-exc.html[6] Gullapalli, S. (2010, June 26). Optical characterization of group 12-16 (ii-vi) semiconductor nanoparticles by fluorescence spectroscopy. Retrieved from http://cnx.org/content/m34656/1.1/[7] Williams, M., McKnight, D., Simone, B., Cory, R., Miller, M., Gabor, R., Hood, E. (2011). PARAFAC workshop spring 2011. (University of Colorado).[8] Maie, N., Watanabe, A., Kimura, M. (2004). Chemical characteristics and potential source of fulvic acids leached from the plow layer of paddy soil. (Nagoya University).[9] Reusch, W. (2013). UV-Visible Spectroscopy. Retrieved from http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/VirtTxtJml/Spectrpy/UV-Vis/uvspec.htm#uv1[10] Kauffman, J.M. (2005). Water fluoridation: A review of recent research and actions. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, 10(2): 38-44. Retrieved from http://www.usaus-h2o.org/modules/treatment-and-distribution/
Questions?