Effects of wastewater-lagoon discharge through wetlands on water quality in Bonifas Creek, Gogebic County, Michigan

Open-File Report 2000-100
Prepared in cooperation with the Lac Vieux Desert Band of the Superior Chippewa
By:  and 

Links

Abstract

The Lac Vieux Desert Band of the Superior Chippewa (LVD) recently constructed a wastewater-treatment facility that discharges effluent twice annually from settling lagoons to wooded wetland areas adjoining the channel of Bonifas Creek, a small stream that flows near the LVD community in Watersmeet, Michigan. This report describes the hydrology of the site and the results of analyses of water samples from Bonifas Creek and the settling lagoons. Water samples were collected from sites on the creek upstream and downstream of the effluent-receiving area, before and after discharge from the lagoons. The concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate increased from the upstream to the downstream site, but the concentrations of sodium, chloride, and sulfate decreased. These changes in water chemistry, however, were similar both before and after the release from the lagoons, and are consistent with known pattern of influxes of ground water into Bonifas Creek. Therefore, it appears that the discharge of wastewater into the area adjoining Bonifas Creek is unlikely to have any immediate effect on the quality of water in the creek. 

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Effects of wastewater-lagoon discharge through wetlands on water quality in Bonifas Creek, Gogebic County, Michigan
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2000-100
DOI 10.3133/ofr00100
Year Published 2000
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Lansing, MI
Contributing office(s) Michigan Water Science Center
Description v, 12 p.
Country United States
State Michigan
County Gogebic County
Other Geospatial Bonifas Creek
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details