Engineering Commons^™

Wachusett Reservoir Contaminant Spill Modeling Using Ce-Qual W2, Cory S. Devonis

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This research studies contaminant spills in the Wachusett Reservoir by two dimensional modeling utilizing CE-QUAL W2. The Wachusett Reservoir, located in central Massachusetts, has a capacity of 65 billion gallons and is the primary water source for the metropolitan Boston area. There are numerous inflows and outflows to and from the Wachusett Reservoir, with the Quabbin Aqueduct supplying approximately half of the total water entering the Wachusett. The Quabbin Aqueduct connects the Quabbin Reservoir (412 billion gallons) to the Wachusett Reservoir and supplies water to maintain desired water surface elevations in the Wachusett during time of high demand and low …

Perchlorate Reduction By Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria, Amber R. Boles

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Perchlorate (ClO4-) contaminated water is becoming a wide-spread problem as more sites are being identified worldwide. Biological perchlorate reduction is a promising alternative to conventional physical/chemical treatment processes and has the advantage of reducing perchlorate to the benign products, chloride and oxygen. A number of bacteria are capable of reducing perchlorate using a variety of electron donors including organic carbon compounds, hydrogen, iron, and reduced sulfur compounds. Previous studies in our laboratory successfully used a novel, sulfur oxidizing bacterial consortium (SUPeRB) to reduce perchlorate in both batch culture and in packed bed reactors (PBR). There were two main objectives of …

Sub-Daily Multi-Objective Models For Optimizing Hydropower In The Deerfield River, Kelcy Adamec

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This document is part of the Connecticut River Watershed Project, a federally authorized collaborative project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The project began in September 2008 with Congressional funding for this project with TNC and the USACE as equal funding partners.

The Connecticut River Watershed Project will identify management modifications for more than seventy influential dams in the Connecticut River Basin to increase environmental benefits while maintaining beneficial human uses such as water supply, flood control, and hydropower generation. Key …

Investigating Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Compounds And Their Disinfection Byproducts Within Drinking Water Treatment, Kirsten E. Studer

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Emerging public health concerns relating to the epigenetic effects of EDCs, along with the

reconceptualization of dose response curves, provides a compelling rationale for addressing

estrogenically active contaminants in drinking water. These environmental health concerns are

now known to have long lasting impacts, especially on fetal development. For this drinking

water research, the estrogenic EDC byproducts were identified and the treatment processes were

compared using the dose applied, the number of byproducts formed and the relative

quantification of the treatment byproducts. The analytical optimized method presented and

implemented in this research successfully determined the percent degradation of the parent

compound …

Investigating Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Compounds And Their Disinfection Byproducts Within Drinking Water Treatment, Kirsten E. Studer

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Emerging public health concerns relating to the epigenetic effects of EDCs, along with the reconceptualization of dose response curves, provides a compelling rationale for addressing estrogenically active contaminants in drinking water. These environmental health concerns are now known to have long lasting impacts, especially on fetal development. For this drinking water research, the estrogenic EDC byproducts were identified and the treatment processes were compared using the dose applied, the number of byproducts formed and the relative quantification of the treatment byproducts. The analytical optimized method presented and implemented in this research successfully determined the percent degradation of the parent compound …

Biodegradation Of Ethylene Dibromide (Edb) Under In Situ And Biostimulated Conditions At Mmr, Robert Mckeever

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

An extensive microcosm study was conducted to investigate the biodegradation of 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB) under in situ and biostimulated conditions within a plume at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Cape Cod, MA. This particular EDB plume is unique because it has persisted for over 38 years, is more than 61 m below the ground surface, and has both aerobic and anaerobic zones with EDB levels above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 0.05 μg/L (ppb). Microcosms were constructed with in situ materials and conducted under environmentally relevant conditions (field EDB concentrations; incubated at 12°C). The results showed that natural attenuation occurred …

2-D Spill Modeling In The Wachusett Reservoir With Cequal-W2 For Years 2003-2006, Bryan R. Sojkowski

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This study examines the effects of various environmental conditions on the behavior of a contaminant spill as it travels across the Wachusett Reservoir. The reservoir, located in central Massachusetts, is a 65 billion gallon water body that supplies drinking water to the Boston Metropolitan area and consists of numerous inflows and outflows. The Quabbin Reservoir, a 412 billion gallon system, accounts for close to half of the inflow. The Wachusett Reservoir receives Quabbin water through the Quabbin aqueduct located on its eastern side. CEQUAL W2, a two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic and water quality model was utilized to perform numerous simulations. …

Utilizing A Decision Support System To Optimize Reservoir Operations To Restore The Natural Flow Distribution In The Connecticut River Watershed, Brian Pitta

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Reservoir development on the Connecticut River Basin has altered the natural hydrograph and detrimentally affected the region's aquatic ecosystems that thrive on natural variability. This thesis examines ways in which flows in the river and its triburaries can be returned to a more natural regime withouy negatively impacting other users. The analysis offers alternative operations to meet the various objectives as well as evaluates the impacts of climate change on the basin. This paper focuses on the upper third of the basin as a proof of concept to demonstrate the decision support system and to generate initial results for the …

Conventional Water Treatment Processes For Removing Pharmaceutical And Endocrine Disrupting Compounds, Jing Lin

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are natural or synthetic compounds that act like hormones in the endocrine system and disrupt the physiologic function of endogenous hormones. Although no standards concerning EDCs in drinking water have been established, there are rising concerns about the effects of EDCs in drinking water on human health.

The main objective of this study is to conduct bench scale experiments to investigate the effectiveness of conventional drinking water treatment processes at removing selected endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from municipal water supplies. It was also a goal of this work to provide …

Annual, Monthly, And Storm Scale Analysis Of Chloride Fluxes From Highway Deicing Agents To The Cambridge Reservoir, Marie Rivers

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This research project analyzed streamflow, specific conductivity, and precipitation data for two tributary locations of the Cambridge Reservoir. MassDOT deicing agent application data was also analyzed for state maintained roads in the drainage areas of the two tributaries. The purpose of this project was to determine the load of chloride to the reservoir from the state maintained roads. All data was considered on an annual, monthly, and individual storm scale. A hydraulic model for runoff was developed and the mass load of chloride was determined. The study area consisted of USGS gage 01104415 (Lincoln Street) which is a tributary to …

Advanced Oxidation Of Drinking Water Using Ultraviolet Light And Alternative Solid Forms Of Hydrogen Peroxide, Zachary F. Monge

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

With the increasing focus on removing emerging, unregulated drinking water contaminants, the use of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has become more prevalent. A commonly used AOP is the ultraviolet light/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) AOP. This process utilizes the formation of hydroxyl radicals to oxidize contaminants to less harmful forms. In this analysis, two alternative solid forms of H2O2, sodium perborate (SPB) and sodium percarbonate (SPC) were used as sources of H2O2 in the UV/H2O2 AOP. The potential advantage of SPB and SPC is that they are solids in nature, and as a result, the shipping costs and shipping energy requirements can …