Transcript Final Research Presentation

Impact of the High Park Fire on Water
Quality in the Fort Collins Area
CRISTINA TILLBERRY
SUMMER REU 2013
8/8/13
A study in conjunction with Dr. Fernando Rosario-Ortiz,
Kaelin Cawley, and Amanda Hohner
High Park Fire
 87, 284 acres
 1 fatality
 259 homes
destroyed
 Burned June 9
to July 1, 2012
Figure: Study area showing burned area and location of proposed sampling locations on the Poudre River
Cache La Poudre Watershed
 Poudre River is the main source of drinking water for
three major water districts, including Fort Collins,
CO
 Drinking water intake facility is within burn area
 Sampling river water at three different test sites



Control site upstream of burn area
Burn area downstream
Water intake facility in burn area
Figure: Filters from control site water sample (left) and burn area site water sample (right)
Motivation
 Determine how wild fires affect water quality and
drinking water treatment
 Characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) in
water

DOM may hinder the treatment facility to efficiently treat the
water
 Analyze similarities and differences in data between
before coagulation and after coagulation samples
What did we do?
 Surface water samples were collected from three
sites on the Poudre River and filtered



Reference site
Impacted – upstream
Impacted – downstream (water intake facility)
 Used different techniques to gather data from
samples



Size Exclusion Chromatography
UV-Visible Spectroscopy
Fluorescence Spectroscopy / Excitation and Emission Matrices
 Coagulated samples to compare data from before
and after
SEC: Size Exclusion Chromatography
 Physically separates
compounds based on size
 Measures hydrodynamic
volume, not actual
molecular weight
 Uses porous particles to
separate different sized
molecules in the sample
 Particles that are smaller
than the pores in the
column will enter the
pores

longer path and longer transit
time
Figure: Diagram describing process of size exclusion chromatography
UV-Visible Spectroscopy
 Measures the
absorbance from a
sample
 Light is shined onto the
cuvette

light absorbance for the
sample is compared to the
light absorbance of the
water blank
 UV-Vis data used to
correct EEMs data
Figure: UV-Vis spectroscopy diagram
Fluorescence Spectroscopy
 A technique that measures the
emission of radiation by a
material that has been excited
 Once the output is
determined, a fluorescence
spectrum can be created
 From spectrum, fluorescence
index (FI) can be used to
determine type of DOM in the
water


Higher FI: more microbial input
Lower FI: more terrestrial input
 Also referred to as excitation
and emission matrices
(EEMs)
Figure: Fluorescence spectroscopy diagram
Coagulation
 Coagulant added to water to settle impurities
 Clear water at top is removed and filtered
Figure: Coagulant added to water to remove impurities
Results - SEC
 Ran SEC samples before and after coagulation
 DOM: dissolved organic matter
 JT: jar test
PBR 5/4/13
PNF 5/4/13
6
16
5
14
12
10
3
DOM
2
JT
1
8
DOM
6
JT
4
2
0
-1
UV 254
UV 254
4
0
10
20
Time (min)
30
40
0
-2 0
10
20
Time (min)
30
40
Figure: SEC data for control site and water intake facility in burn area before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - SEC
Sample
Mw (DOM)
Mw (JT)
PBR130401
1029
710
PBR130420
1086
539
PBR130504
970
617
PBR130514
1653
750
PBR130601
1939
802
PNF130401
1163
831
PNF130420
1078
714
PNF130504
1289
1056
PNF130514
1203
1033
PNF130601
832
1032
PBR: control site
PNF: water intake facility in
burn area
Date: 130401 (April 1, 2013)
Mw: Weight average molecular
weight
𝑀𝑤 =
∑𝐴𝑖 𝑀𝑖
∑ 𝐴𝑖
A: absorbance
M: molecular weight
Table: MW data for control site and water intake facility in burn area before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - Molecular Weight
PBR Mw
Molecular Weight
2500
2000
Snow melt
1500
mw (dom)
1000
mw (jt)
500
0
3/27/2013 4/6/2013 4/16/2013 4/26/2013 5/6/2013 5/16/2013 5/26/2013 6/5/2013
Date
PNF Mw
Molecular Weight
1400
Snow melt
1200
1000
800
600
mw (dom)
400
mw (jt)
200
0
3/27/2013 4/6/2013 4/16/2013 4/26/2013 5/6/2013 5/16/2013 5/26/2013 6/5/2013
Date
Figure: MW data for control site and water intake facility in burn area before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - Fluorescence
 Excitation and Emission Matrix (EEMs) data
 Color: intensity
 Contour lines: peaks
Figure: EEMs data for control site before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation
Results - Fluorescence
Sample
PBR130401
FI (DOM)
1.36
FI (JT)
1.66
PBR130420
1.38
1.63
PBR130504
1.35
1.61
PBR130514
1.37
1.64
PBR130601
1.35
1.60
PNF130401
1.44
1.70
PNF130420
1.43
1.67
PNF130504
1.44
1.69
PNF130514
1.41
1.70
PNF130601
1.35
1.60
Higher FI: more microbial input
Lower FI: more terrestrial input
Table: Fluorescence Index for before (DOM) and after (JT) coagulation samples
Conclusions
 Molecular weight
 Increased after snow melt for control site
 Decreased after snow melt for impacted water intake facility
 Intensity of radiation emission wavelengths
decreased after coagulation

According to EEMs contour plots
 More terrestrial input before coagulation
 Coagulants removed most of terrestrial matter
 Microbial input is more evident when terrestrial input is
removed
What’s next?
 Collecting storm samples
 Determine differences between storm run off and snow melt
 Determine differences between summer and winter
samples
 Determine if more or less terrestrial input in water

More shrubs growing back in burn area

Stop terrestrial input
Sampling is fun!
Gathering water samples from the Poudre River
References
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fort collins area: Cache la poudre river watershed. (University of Colorado).
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http://www.humicsubstances.org/whatarehs.html
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from http://www.protein.iastate.edu/hplc.html
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2011. (University of Colorado).
[8] Maie, N., Watanabe, A., Kimura, M. (2004). Chemical characteristics and potential source of fulvic acids leached from
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[9] Reusch, W. (2013). UV-Visible Spectroscopy. Retrieved from
http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/VirtTxtJml/Spectrpy/UV-Vis/uvspec.htm#uv1
[10] Kauffman, J.M. (2005). Water fluoridation: A review of recent research and actions. Journal of American Physicians
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Questions?