SUMMARY Regional Water Quality NEWSLETTER DATE: Report for December 2016 A Tempe, Glendale, Peoria, Chandler, Phoenix, ADEQ, CAP, SRP, Epcor NSF Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research ASU Regional Water Quality Partnership http://faculty.engineering.asu.edu/pwesterhoff/research/regional-water-quality-issues/ 1. Taste and Odor compounds were below detection limits in all WTP samples and in almost all canal samples. The production in the canals that was observed in November is no longer occurring. Lake Pleasant had the highest concentrations which were still less than the threshold odor values of 10 ng/l. 2. UV absorbance values were very similar to October and November and were in a similar range as observed through the summer when DOC concentrations ranged from 2-3 mg/l. The new DOC analyzer will be ready for analysis in January. 3. The primary source of surface water was the Verde River water at the time of sampling. CAP diversions to the Arizona Canal decreased as water demand has increased. 4. Microbial concentrations were for coliforms decreased as the temperatures have decreased. The data is now showing a distinct trend with temperature. Several samples from November had elevated levels of Mycobacterium. 5. Our best wishes for the Holidays! 1
Topics Du Jour Microbial Water Quality Data Over the years the regional water quality center has collected data on numerous different topics but very little data has been collected on basic microbial water quality. Therefore, we have initiated microbial sampling for E. Coli, total coliforms and mycobacterium in the canal system to determine potential impacts on both water quality and sources of possible contamination. The values for coliforms for sampling in December are lower than the previous months consistent with the decrease in temperatures. Several samples had elevated levels of Mycobacterium. Note that Mycobacterium require one month to process and the samples are from November. All Values are cfu per 100 ml Sample E. coli Coliform Blank Average 0 0 AZ Canal at Highway 87 average 9 704 South Canal below CAP Cross- connect average 32 560 Cap Canal at Cross-connect average 24 656 AZ Canal at 56th St. average 16 1072 AZ Canal- Central Avenue average 35 1008 Pima Average 5 792 AZ Canal above CAP Cross-connect average 20 912 Waddell Canal average 5 1000 Verde River @ Beeline average 18 1040 AZ Canal below CAP Cross-connect average 30 688 head of the Consolidated Canal average 5 704 Middle of Consolidated Canal average 5 400 Head of Tempe Canal average N/A N/A Mycobacterium (November) colonies 0 AZ Canal at Highway 87 21 South Canal below CAP Cross- connect 148 Cap Canal at Cross-connect 0 AZ Canal at 56th St. 12 AZ Canal- Central Avenue 4 AZ Canal at Pima 9 AZ Canal above CAP Cross-connect 1 Waddell Canal 0 Verde River @ Beeline 46 AZ Canal below CAP Cross-connect 11 1
head of the Consolidated Canal 7 Middle of Consolidated Canal 9 Head of Tempe Canal N/A CONT Contaminated with other bacteria 2
Source Trend in supply Discharge to water supply system Salt River Verde River Reservoirs at 46% full Reservoirs At 33% full Quick Update of Water Supplies for December, 2016 (during day of canal/wtp December 5th, 2016 ) Flow into SRP Canal System Dissolved organic carbon Concentration (mg/l) ** 8 cfs 236 cfs into Arizona 2.9 mg/l Canal 333 cfs 95 cfs into South Canal 3.0 mg/l 49 cfs of CAP water into Arizona Canal Colorado River Lake Pleasant is 67.8% full (Lake Powell is 49.8% full) Lake Pleasant is* releasing 0 cfs Groundwater Pumping *** 172 cfs pumping by SRP *CAP is not releasing from Lake Pleasant **Concentration of DOC in the terminal reservoir ***CAP water is being delivered to the Arizona Canal. 172 cfs Groundwater Pumping into SRP Canals 3.0 mg/l 0.5 to 1 mg/l Data from the following websites: http://www.srpwater.com/dwr/ http://www.cap-az.com/departments/water-operations/lake-pleasant http://lakepowell.water-data.com/ 3
The following views are from SRP website, and show which wells are operating along the various canals. 4
5
Dissolved Organic Carbon In Reservoirs and Treatment Plants DOC = Dissolved organic carbon UV254 = ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (an indicator of aromatic carbon content) SUVA = UV254/DOC TDN = Total dissolved nitrogen (mostly nitrate from groundwater) December 2016 Data Reservoir Samples - December 5th-6th, 2016 Sample Description Location DOC (mg/l) UV254 (l/cm) SUVA (L/mgm) Havasu (March) N/A 0.016 #VALUE! N/A Lake Pleasant (March) Epilimnion N/A 0.023 #VALUE! N/A Hypolimnion N/A 0.038 #VALUE! N/A Verde River at Tangle N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Verde River at Beeline Highway N/A 0.056 #VALUE! N/A Bartlett Reservoir Epilmnion N/A 0.040 #VALUE! N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Epilimnion N/A 0.037 #VALUE! N/A Saguaro Lake Epi - Duplicate N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Salt River at Blue Point Bridge N/A 0.063 #VALUE! N/A Salt River above Roosevelt N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Roosevelt Reservoir Point 1 Epilmnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Roosevelt Reservoir Point 2 Epilmnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Apache Reservoir Point 1 Epilmnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Apache Reservoir Point 2 Epilmnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Canyon Reservoir Point 1 Epilmnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Canyon Reservoir Point 2 Epilmnion N/A N/A N/A N/A Hypolimnion N/A N/A N/A N/A TDN (mg/l 6
Water Treatment Plants- December 5th-6th, 2016 DOC SUVA TDN Sample Description (mg/l) UV254 (l/cm) (L/mg-m) (mg/l Union Hills Inlet N/A 0.052 #VALUE! N/A Union Hills Treated N/A 0.038 #VALUE! N/A Tempe North Inlet N/A 0.066 #VALUE! N/A Tempe North Plant Treated N/A 0.030 #VALUE! N/A Tempe South Inlet N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Tempe South Plant Treated N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Greenway WTP Inlet N/A 0.002 #VALUE! N/A Greenway WTP Treated N/A 0.005 #VALUE! N/A Glendale WTP Inlet N/A 0.079 #VALUE! N/A Glendale WTP Treated N/A 0.019 #VALUE! N/A Anthem WTP Inlet N/A 0.048 #VALUE! N/A Anthem WTP Treated N/A 0.052 #VALUE! N/A 24th Street WTP Inlet N/A 0.060 #VALUE! N/A 24th Street WTP Treated N/A 0.036 #VALUE! N/A Chandler WTP Inlet N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Chandler WTP Treated N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Rivers and Canals- December 5th-6th, 2016 Sample Description DOC (mg/l) UV254 (l/cm) SUVA (L/mg-m) TDN (mg/l Waddell Canal N/A 0.052 #VALUE! N/A Anthem WTP Inlet N/A 0.048 #VALUE! N/A Union Hills Inlet N/A 0.052 #VALUE! N/A CAP Salt-Gila Pumping Station (June) N/A 0.037 #VALUE! N/A CAP Mesa Turnout (June) N/A 0.025 #VALUE! N/A CAP Canal at Cross-connect N/A 0.048 #VALUE! N/A Salt River @ Blue pt. Bridge N/A 0.063 #VALUE! N/A Verde River @ Beeline N/A 0.056 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal above CAP Cross-connect N/A 0.053 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal below CAP Cross-connect N/A 0.057 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal at Highway 87 N/A 0.058 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal at Pima Rd. N/A 0.065 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal at 56th St. N/A 0.064 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal - Central Avenue N/A 0.063 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal - Inlet to Glendale WTP N/A 0.079 #VALUE! N/A AZ Canal - Inlet to Greenway WTP N/A 0.002 #VALUE! N/A South Canal below CAP Cross-connect N/A 0.057 #VALUE! N/A Head of Tempe Canal N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A 7
Tempe Canal - Inlet to Tempe's South Plant N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A Head of the Consolidated Canal N/A 0.034 #VALUE! N/A Middle of Consolidated Canal N/A 0.036 #VALUE! N/A Chandler WTP - Inlet N/A N/A #VALUE! N/A 8
Taste and Odor MIB, Geosmin and Cyclocitral are compounds naturally produced by algae in our reservoirs and canals, usually when the water is warmer and algae are growing/decaying more rapidly. They are non toxic, but detectable to consumers of water because of their earthy-musty-moldy odor. The human nose can detect these in drinking water because the compounds are semi-volatile. Since compounds are more volatile from warmer water, these tend to be more noticable in the summer and fall. The human nose can detect roughly 10 ng/l of these compounds. Our team collects samples from the water sources and raw/treated WTP samples. Table 1 - Water Treatment Plants December 5, 2016 Sample Description MIB (ng/l) Geosmin (ng/l) Union Hills Inlet Union Hills Treated Tempe North Inlet Tempe North Plant Treated Tempe South WTP ns ns Tempe South Plant ns ns Treated Anthem Inlet Anthem Treated Chandler Inlet ns ns Chandler Treated Greenway WTP Inlet Greenway WTP Treated Glendale WTP Inlet Glendale WTP Treated 24th St. WTP Inlet 24th St. WTP Outlet 9
Table 2 - Canal Sampling December 5, 2016 System Sample Description MIB (ng/l) Geosmin (ng/l) CAP Waddell Canal AZ Canal South Tempe Canals Union Hills Inlet CAP Canal at Crossconnect 2.3 <2.0 Salt River @ Blue Pt Bridge 2.2 <2.0 Verde River @ Beeline AZ Canal above CAP Cross-connect AZ Canal below CAP Cross-connect AZ Canal at Highway 87 AZ Canal at Pima Rd. 2.3 <2.0 AZ Canal at 56th St. AZ Canal - Central Avenue AZ Canal - Inlet to Glendale WTP Head of the Consolidated Canal Middle of the Consolidated Canal South Canal below CAP Cross-connect Head of the Tempe Canal Tempe Canal - Inlet to Tempe's South Plant ns ns ns ns Salt-Gila (Nov) 2.2 <2.0 Mesa Turnout (Nov) 2.5 <2.0 Table 3 - Reservoir Samples December 6, 2016 Sample Description Location MIB (ng/l) Geosmin (ng/l) 10
Lake Pleasant (Nov) Lake Pleasant (Nov) Verde River @ Beeline Eplimnion 6.5 <2.0 Hypolimnion 6.8 <2.0 Bartlett Reservoir Epilimnion ns ns Bartlett Reservoir Epi-near dock 3.0 <2.0 Bartlett Reservoir Hypolimnion ns ns Salt River @ BluePt Bridge 2.2 <2.0 Saguaro Lake Epilimnion ns ns Saguaro Lake Epi - Duplicate ns ns Saguaro Lake Epi-near dock 3.5 <2.0 Saguaro Lake Hypolimnion ns ns Lake Havasu (Nov) Verde River at Tangle Creek ns ns Roosevelt at Salt River Inlet ns ns 11