Establish a relationship between water and our culture.
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:Abstract. This laboratory work examines the
relationship between turbidity (NTU) and total suspended
sediment concentration (TSS, mg/L) for a Cecil Ap
soil, a
common Southeastern Piedmont soil type. We show a 1:1
correlation between NTU and TSS for the silt and clay
fractions, but a smaller ratio for clay and bulk-soil
samples. These results suggest that NTU measurements
can be used to estimate sediment concentrations for fine
soil fractions, but underestimates the total sediment
concentration when sand-size fractions are present.
INTRODUCTION
Landscapes are dramatically altered as the population
increases, due to the need for new roadways, housing,
businesses, and internal infrastructure to support the needs
of growing communities. This new development, and
associated land disturbing activities, has proven to have
adverse impacts on navigable waters and upstream
tributaries by allowing sediment to enter the natural
ecosystem (Paul and Meyer 2001).
Increased turbidity adversely affects aquatic
ecosystems by reducing photosynthesis and, therefore,
primary productivity at all levels of the food chain (TAG,
2002). Turbidity has also been correlated to indices of
biological integrity (IBI) showing that IBI factors are
higher with lower NTU values (Walters et al., 2001).
With increasing urbanization and land development,
there is no doubt that Georgia streams are at risk to
increased sediment loading. Failure of construction sites
to correctly apply Best Management Practices and meet
sediment total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) will result
in stream ecosystem degradation.
The Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act (ESCA) of
1975 has been amended several times over the years.
One key issue of the ESCA is the assignation of a
sediment standard. Further studies conducted by a panel
of scientist concluded that an annual mean instream
turbidity standard of 25 NTU should be established to
identify whether a stream was impaired by sediment
(Rasmussen 1995). Rather than use an annual mean, a
change in turbidity of )25 NTU for individual storms was
added to the ESCA in 1994.
Furthermore, an effort was made to establish and
implement a statewide program to protect waters of the
state from excess erosion and sedimentation occurring
from land disturbing activities. This resulted in (Georgia
R.& Reg. Chapter 391-3-6-16) being amended to the
ESCA in 2000 stipulating new regulations for controlling
stormwater runoff from construction practices (TAG,
2002).
Along with the ESCA, use of Best Management
Practices (BMPs) by agricultural, forest, and urban
development have reduced the amount of sediment
entering Georgia streams (Rivenbark, 2002). However,
land disturbing activities such as road and building
construction still cause increases in sediment loading.
Increases in sediment from non-point sources in urban
areas are causing significant degradation of U.S. rivers
and streams (Lettenmaier et al., 1991).
METHODS
The goal of this paper is to establish a unique
relationship between turbidity and sediment concentrations
using samples of Cecil Ap
soil, which is a soil type
common in the Southeastern Piedmont region.
Several methods are available for measuring sediment
concentrations in water. Typically, sediment
concentrations are measured using suspended sediment
concentration (SSC), total suspended sediment
concentration (TSS) and turbidity (NTU) with the latter
now being more common.
Turbidity measurement with nephelometric