Phosphorus Loading to Milwaukee Harbor from Rivers, Storm Water, and Wastewater Treatment
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
Recent concerns about excessive algal (Cladophora) growth in the nearshore area have prompted a comprehensive study of phosphorus concentrations and loads in the Milwaukee watershed (2000–2008). During this period, total phosphorus (TP) decreased slightly for Outer Harbor water monitoring Station 1 (OH-1) representing the confluence of the three rivers into the Outer Harbor; whereas TP remained the same or slightly increased for Outer Harbor water monitoring Station 2 (OH-2) near the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) outfall. Concentrations of TP at OH-2 () are higher than at OH-1 (). Years with high rainfall and river discharge during May through June produce high daily and annual average TP loads. This appears to be caused by resuspension and erosion of sediments containing TP in the river beds. Jones Island WRF contributes or less than 34% of the total load to the Harbor. An estimate of TP load to Lake Michigan from rivers is (65.7%). Stepwise regression results show that total soluble phosphorus (TSP), total suspended solids (TSS), and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), in that order, are important predictors of TP except for Station OH-2.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the MMSD staff Mary Singer and Eric Waldmer, in providing us with water quality and flow data in a timely manner. Many thanks to Breanne McDonald and Christopher Magruder for reviewing the original draft. This work was funded by MMSD contract No. UNSPECIFIEDM03029P03.
References
American Public Health Association (APHA). (1998). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th Ed., Northwest, Washington, D.C.
Auer, M. T., Tomlinson, L. M., Higgins, S. N., Malkin, S. Y., Howell, E. T., and Bootsma, H. A. (2010). “Great Lakes Cladophora in the 21st century: Same algae—Different ecosystem.” J. Great Lakes Res., 36(2), 248–255.
Auer, M. T., and Bootsma, H. A. (2009). “Cladophora in the Great Lakes: Guidance for water quality managers.” Nearshore areas of the Great Lakes 2009. State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conf. 2008 background paper, Environment Canada and US EPA, 69–77, 〈http://binational.net/solec/sogl2009/SOGL_2009_nearshore_en.pdf〉, (May 15, 2011).
Bootsma, H. A., Young, E. B., and Berges, J. A. (2008). “Water quality management options to control Cladophora growth in the Milwaukee region of Lake Michigan.” Water Institute, Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee., 〈http://v3.mmsd.com/AssetsClient/Documents/waterqualityresearch/WQMOptionstoControlCladophoraGrowth0508.pdf〉 (May 25, 2011).
Bowes, M. J., Smith, J. T., and Neal, C. (2009). “The value of high-resolution nutrient monitoring: A case study of River Frome, Dorset, UK.” J. Hydrol., 378(1-2), 82–96.
Brace, N., Kemp, R., and Snelgar, R. (2000). “Multiple regression.” Chapter 7, SPSS for psychologists, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 206–220.
Fishman, D. B., Adlerstein, S. A., Vanderploeg, H. A., Fahnenstiel, G. L., and Scavia, D. (2009). “Causes of phytoplankton changes in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, during the zebra mussel invasion.” J. Great Lakes Res., 35(4), 482–495.
French, J. R. P., III, Schaeffer, J. S., Roseman, E. F., Kiley, C. S., and Fouilleroux, A. (2009). “Abundance and distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in offshore soft sediments in Western Lake Huron, 2001–2007.” J. Great Lakes Res., 35(1), 120–127.
Higgins, S. N. et al. (2008). “An ecological review of Cladophora glomerata (Chlorophyta) in the Laurentian Great Lakes.” J. Phycol., 44(4), 839–854.
Liu, Y., Soonthornnonda, P., Li, J., and Christensen, E. R. (2011). “Stormwater runoff characterized by GIS determined source areas and runoff volumes.” Environ. Manage., 47(2), 201–217.
McCuen, R. H. (2004). Hydrologic analysis and design, 3rd Ed., Pearson Prentice Hall, NJ.
Mortimer, C. H. (2004). Lake MI in motion: Responses of an inland sea to weather, earth-spin, and human activities, The University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Soonthornnonda, P., Liu, Y., Li, J., and Christensen, E. R. (2007). “MMSD expanded stormwater monitoring program, data analysis, 2000–2006.” Final rep. to MMSD, Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee.
Soonthornnonda, P., and Christensen, E. R. (2008). “A load model based on antecedent dry periods for pollutants in stormwater.” Water Environ. Res., 80(2), 162–171.
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 17.0.1 (SPSS). (2008). [Computer software]. Chicago, SPSS.
Tomlinson, L. M., Auer, M. T., Bootsma, H. A., and Owens, E. M. (2010). “The Great Lakes Cladophora model: Development, testing, and application to Lake Michigan.” J. Great Lakes Res., 36(2), 287–297.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). (1983). “Methods of chemical analysis of water and wastes.” EPA-600/4-79-020, EMSL, Cincinnati.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). (1986). “Quality criteria for water.” Gold Book, EPA-440/5-86-001, Washington, D.C.
WI Dept. of Natural Resources (WNDR). (2003). “The Wisconsin pollutant discharge elimination system (WPDES) permit.” WPDES Permit No. WI-0036820-02-0, WI Dept. of Natural Resources, 〈http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/ww/〉 (December 1, 2009).
WI Dept. of Natural Resources (WNDR). (2010). “Stormwater discharge permits.” NR217. WDNR, Madison, WI. 〈http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/wqs/phosphorus/index.htm〉 (Dec. 1, 2009).
Zou, Y., and Christensen, E. R. (2010). “Phosphorus speciation and loads in stormwater and CSOs of the MMSD service area, 2000–2008.” Final Rep. to Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, 〈http://v3.mmsd.com/AssetsClient/Documents/waterqualityresearch/11-036%20Phosphorus%20Speciation.pdf〉 (May 15, 2011).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • February 2012
Pages: 143 - 151
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 3, 2011
Accepted: Jul 14, 2011
Published online: Jul 16, 2011
Published in print: Feb 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.