Sources of High Total Dissolved Solids to Drinking Water Supply in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 5
Abstract
Fossil fuel extraction activities generate wastewaters that are often high in total dissolved solids (TDS) and specific constituents that can affect drinking water, if these wastewaters enter surface waters. Control of TDS in source waters is difficult without identification of the potential sources of high TDS wastewater associated with fossil fuel activities. Characteristics of natural waters, oil and gas-produced waters, and coal-related wastewaters were analyzed to extract information about constituent concentrations and anion ratios. Statistical analysis of the anion ratios indicates that the ratio is higher in coal-related wastewaters than in oil and gas-produced waters, suggesting that wastewaters can be distinguished based on this ratio. An approach that compared the ratio with bromide concentration for the wastewaters can serve to separate oil and gas-produced waters from brine treatment plant discharges, and from the various coal-related wastewaters. This method was applied to surface water quality data collected from two tributaries in Southwestern Pennsylvania from September 2009 to September 2012. Results show that this constituent and ratio method, combined with mixing curve calculations, can be used to identify water quality changes in these two tributaries. Similar mixing models, when applied to regionally relevant high TDS wastewater data, may be used in other areas experiencing water quality changes resulting from fossil fuel extraction activities.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support for this research from the Colcom Foundation and the Heinz Endowments. Additional support was provided to the corresponding author by a Dean’s Fellowship from the Carnegie Institute of Technology and a Graduate Fellowship from the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research, both at Carnegie Mellon University, and an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholarship. Furthermore, the authors are grateful to the five peer reviewers who provided important insights and suggestions that significantly improved the paper.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 5 • May 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 18, 2012
Accepted: May 9, 2013
Published online: May 11, 2013
Published in print: May 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Jun 17, 2014
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