Nutrient loading from the tributaries of the Meander Creek watershed /

Abstract

The Mahoning Valley Sanitary District (MVSD) draws water from Meander Creek Reservoir to supply drinking water to over 300,000 customers. It has had complaints of a "cucumber" taste and order three times in the past decade. One species of algae, Synura petersenii, has been directly related to cucumber taste and odor problems (Schroeder and Martin, 2000). This project is part of a larger study to determine the cause of taste and odor problems in Youngstown's water supply, and propose solutions through reservoir monitoring and watershed management. The purpose was to make preliminary estimates of annual export rates of several chemical and physical constituents from the Meander Creek watershed. The approach taken was to establish flow-gaging stations on all major tributaries to Meander Creek Reservoir and monitor these tributaries for several parameters related to the growth of Synura petersenii. The parameters monitored were suspended solids, total and soluble phosphorus, silica, and two forms of nitrogen, Le. ammonia and nitrate. The average areal runoff rate for the project area was 8.68 in/yr. The following areal pollutant loading rates were obtained for the study area: 26.6 kg/hafyr for suspended solids, 0.023 kg/hafyr for soluble reactive phosphorous, 0.044 kg/hafyr for total phosphorous, 1.412 kg/hafyr for Nitrate, 0.012 kglhafyr for ammonia, and 6.76 kg/hafyr for silica. Site #3 shows some signs of pollution, including high concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus and nitrate.