A Water Quality Analysis Of A "Moose Pond Downstream From The Ok Well Field, Central Vermont
Tyler Barnes (ES ’05)
This study focuses on the concentrations and causes for the concentrations of dissolved ations in surface water of the Cox Brook drainage system in central Vermont. Samples ere collected over a two-month period in the fall of 2004 with a total of five sample sets aken in all. These samples were analyzed for their concentrations of cations, and were hen compared to each other in relationship to their location within the Cox Brook rainage basin. Total dissolved solids for the entire basin were low, with levels never exeeding 20/ppm ( Fig. 1).
figure 1
Calcium, magnesium, sodium, silicon, and potassium were found to be the most abundant elements within the system ( Fig. 2).
figure 2
An increase in the concentrations of nearly all elements was observed in the lower half of the system, an area more highly populated than the upper half. This suggests that while proportions of elements within the system remain similar, something in the lower stretch of the system influences the concentrations. Three possible causes for the increased concentrations are: tributary mixing ( Fig. 3), residence time of the water, and anthropogenic influences.
figure 3
The results suggest that the influences of concentrations in the upper half of the system are mostly natural, while the major influence in the lower half appears to be activity by people. Although the concentrations in the lower half of the system are relatively high, they are still within the normal concentrations observed for streams in the area.