Baseline Water Chemistry Data

Allegheny River 2013-2014

Center for Environmental Research & Education Brady Porter, Beth Dakin, Stanley Kabala and John Stolz

Red = 2013

Blue = 2014

Purple = both

Full Watershed Schematic Map

Allegheny River Schematic Map

Warren Waste

Treatment corp.

CAES Water

Treatment

Clarion

FRS Franklin

FRS Creekside

FRS Josephine

Tunnelton

McCutcheon

Keystone

Armstrong Power Cheswick

West Hickory Parker Ust L&D7 Ust L&D5 Dst L&D2

Total Dissolved Solids

Allegheny Tribs. Sources: Geology,

Marcellus Shale water, AMD,

Road Salt Runoff

Remarks:

TDS low in tribs above

Crooked Creek.

TDS exceptionally high in

Pine Cr. And Deer Cr.- with

average exceeding SDWS.

Lots of potential contributors

to TDS. Any elevated ions.

Issues: SDWS of 500mg/L

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

mg/

L

Tributary Code

TDS, Allegheny Tribs

UCL

mean

LCL

Exceedance TDS Allegheny

Station Name # times TDS >500mg/L

Max [TDS] mg/L

Mean [TDS] mg/L

PN Pine Cr.- Etna 11/24 3741 773

DR Deer Cr.- Harmarville 6/11 690 496

A22 Allegheny R- Dst L&D 4 1/10 1140 222

C37 Conemaugh R.-Tunnelton 2/34 985 300

BL Blacklick Cr. 3/33 1180 303

CR Crooked Creek 3/32 587 329

Bromide Allegheny Mainstem

0.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

A6 A22 A30 A43 A45 A83 A159 A265 A285

mg

/L

River Mile

Bromide, Allegheny River

UCL

mean

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

A6 A22 A30 A43 A45 A83 A159 A265 A285

tpd

River Mile

Bromide, Allegheny River

UCL

mean

Sources: Marcellus Shale

water, Steel Mills, Coal-fired

Power Plants.

Remarks:

Br virtually undetectable

above Parker.

Br jump from A159 (W.

Hickory) to A83 (Parker)

FRS Franklin?

CAES Clarion?- see trib.

Br increases load from

Parker to L&D2

Crooked Creek?

Kiskiminetas?- see tribs.

Issues: Carcinogenic

Trihalomethanes form when

Br exposed to chlorine and

organics at drinking water

facilities.

PWSA drinking water

intake (Ross)

PWSA & Pitt study (States et al. 2011) reported Br <0.241ppm at intake

Elevated [Br] Allegheny Mainstem

Station Name # times [Br] >0.8mg/L

Max [Br] mg/L Mean [Br] mg/L

A6 Highland Park Dst. L&D 2 8/37 0.21 0.07

A22 Tarentum Dst. L&D 4 0/11 0.06 0.05

A30 Schenley Ust. L&D 5 1/37 0.11 0.07

A43 Kittanning Dst. L&D 7 0/12 0.06 0.04

A45 Kittanning Ust. L&D 7 3/25 0.09 0.06

A83 Parker 3/36 0.10 0.05

A158 West Hickory 1/12 0.11 0.01

A265 Edlred 0/24 0.00 0.00

A285 Port Allegheny 0/24 0.00 0.00

Bromide at A6 (Dst L&D 2)

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.251

8-O

ct-1

2

26

-Jan

-13

6-M

ay-1

3

14

-Au

g-1

3

22

-No

v-1

3

2-M

ar-1

4

10

-Ju

n-1

4

18

-Se

p-1

4

mg/

L

Date

Br concentration at A6 (Dst L&D 2) States & Casson 2011 max = 0.241ppm

States & Casson ave 0.106ppm

PWSA & Pitt study (States & Casson et al. 2011) reported 2010-2011 [Br]

average 106ppb with max of 241ppb at drinking water intake just upstream. Our 2013-2014 values have a Mean of 0.07ppm = 70ppb and all points are below 211 ppb

Is [Br] getting better?

Bromide Tributaries

Sources: Marcellus Shale

water, Steel Mills, Coal-

fired Power Plants

Remarks:

Br virtually undetectable in

tribs above Redbank Cr.

CAES-Clarion: Ok.

Blacklick, Conemaugh

(C37), & Kiskiminetas have

high Br loads and

contribute to Allegheny

mainstem before drinking

water intake in Pittsburgh.

Issues: Form carcinogenic

Trihalomethanes when

exposed to chlorine and

organics at drinking water

facilities.

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

mg/

L

Tributary code

Bromide, Allegheny Tribs

UCLmeanLCL

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

tpd

Tributary code

Bromide, Allegheny Tribs

UCLmeanLCL

Elevated [Br] Allegheny Tribs Station Name # times [Br]

>0.8mg/L Max [Br] mg/L Mean [Br]

mg/L

PN Pine Cr.- Etna 11/26 0.80 0.11

DR Deer Cr.- Harmarville 6/11 0.32 0.11

BF Buffalo Cr- Freeport 4/26 0.15 0.06

KS Kiskiminetas Cr. 17/24 0.30 0.13

KS-L Kiskiminetas Cr.- Leechburgh 8/12 0.18 0.10

LY Loyalhanna-Kingston 1/37 0.09 0.01

C37 Conemaugh R.-Tunnelton 20/37 0.38 0.13

BL Blacklick Cr. 18/36 1.80 0.35

C75 Conemaugh R-Seward 1/37 0.18 0.03

CR Crooked Creek 20/24 0.38 0.21

CR Crooked Creek- Ford City 9/12 0.18 0.11

MH Mahoning Cr. 7/25 0.11 0.07

RD Redbank Cr. 5/25 0.12 0.07

Chloride Mainstem

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

A6 A22 A30 A43 A45 A83 A159 A265 A285

mg

/L

River Mile

Chloride, Allegheny River

UCL

mean

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

A6 A22 A30 A43 A45 A83 A159 A265 A285

tpd

River Mile

Chloride, Allegheny River

UCL

mean

Sources: Road Salt, AMD,

Marcellus waste

Remarks: Cl generally low

throughout mainstem sites

CL load jumps between W.

Hickory & Parker.

Load doubles between

Kittanning (L&D 7) and

Tarentum (L&D 4).

Crooked Creek?

Kiskiminetas?

Way below SDWS in all

mainstem sites.

Issues: SDWS <250mg/L

Chloride Tributaries Sources: Road Salt, AMD,

Marcellus waste

Remarks: Pine Creek [CL]

average 244mg/L

Kiskiminetas River highest

Cl loading.

Crooked Cr.- low loading.

Issues: Regulated

secondary water quality

standard < 250mg/L

Harmful to aquatic life,

especially freshwater clam

(Unionidae) glochidia

larvae and some fish

species.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

mg/

L

Tributary code

Chloride, Allegheny Tribs

UCL

mean

LCL

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

tpd

Tributary code

Chloride, Allegheny Tribs

UCLmeanLCL

Exceedances [Cl] Allegheny Tribs

Station Name # times [Cl] >250mg/L

Max [Cl] mg/L Mean [Cl] mg/L

PN Pine Cr.- Etna 9/26 678 244

DR Deer Cr.- Harmarville 1/11 325 129

BL Blacklick Cr. 0/36 225 54

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

18

-Oct

-12

26

-Jan

-13

6-M

ay-1

3

14

-Au

g-1

3

22

-No

v-1

3

2-M

ar-1

4

Pine Creek (PN) 2013

mg

Cl/

L

[Cl] in Pine Creek is seasonal, but always elevated

Source of high [Cl] Pine Creek

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

0 500 1000 1500 2000

mg/

L

TDS mg/L

Pine Creek TDS Composition

Chloride

Sodium0

50

100

150

200

250

300

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

mg/

L

Tributary code

Chloride, Allegheny Tribs

UCL

mean

LCL

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

mg/

L

Tributary code

Sodium, Allegheny Tribs

UCLmeanLCL

Sulfate Mainstem

Sources: AMD

Remarks:

Major jump in load between:

W. Hickory and Parker

?

Parker and Kittanning L&D 7

Redband Cr.

Armstrong Coal Plant?

Kittanning L&D 7 and

Tarentum L&D 4.

Kiskiminetas /Conemaugh

influence.

All mainstem sites well below

SDWR.

Issues: SDWR <250mg/L

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

A6 A22 A30 A43 A45 A83 A159 A265 A285

mg

/L

River Mile

Sulfate, Allegheny River

UCLmeanLCL

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

A6 A22 A30 A43 A45 A83 A159 A265 A285

tpd

River Mile

Sulfate, Allegheny River

UCL

mean

Sulfate Tributaries

Sources: AMD

Remarks: Conemaugh at

Tunnelton (C37) had 265

and 295mg/L.

Kiskiminetas and

Conemaugh have high

loads.

Issues: SDWR <250mg/L

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

18

-Oct

-12

26

-Jan

-13

6-M

ay-1

3

14

-Au

g-1

3

22

-No

v-1

3

2-M

ar-1

4

10

-Ju

n-1

4

18

-Se

p-1

4

C37

mg

SO4/L

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

mg/

L

Tributary code

Sulfate, Allegheny Tribs

UCLmeanLCL

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

PN

DR BF

KS

KS LY

C3

7 BL

C7

5

CR

CR

-FC

MH

MH

-T RD

RD

-SC

CL5

0

CL9

4

CL1

10 FC OC

TC1

TC3

3

BC

tpd

Tibutary Code

Sulfate, Allegheny Tribs UCL

mean

LCL

Exceedances [SO4] Allegheny

Station Name # times [SO4] >250mg/L

Max [SO4] mg/L

Mean [SO4] mg/L

C37 Conemaugh R.-Tunnelton 2/37 295 118

Summary of Allegheny Water

Chemistry Data • TDS- Ionic Load

– SDWS <500mg/L are exceeded in Pine Cr., Deer Cr., Allegheny-Tarentum (L&D 4), Conamaugh R., Blacklick Cr., and Crooked Creek.

– TDS shows chemical problems, but does not diagnose.

• Bromide- Marcellus & Coal-bed Methane brines. – Elevated >0.8mg/L in some tributaries (Kiski, Conemaugh, BL). – Lower in Mainstem sites- reduced threat to drinking water.

• Chloride- – SDWS 250mg/L are being exceeded in Pine Creek- Etna Road Salt

Runoff + possible soil or aquifer contamination.

• Sulfate- AMD – Kiskiminetas & Conemaugh major contributors to load. – Only Exceeded SDWS <250 at Conamaugh.

Acknowledgements

• Upper Allegheny River Partner:

Iron Furnace Chapter of TU.

Bruce Dickson.

• Lower Allegheny Partner Field Crew:

Dr. Beth Dakin, Lauren Drumm,

Maria Nagle, Emily Mashuda,

Dr. Maria Wheeler & Oliver Dugas.

• WVWRI: Paul Ziemkiewicz & Melissa O’Neal

• Project funding by the Colcom Foundation