Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Hydrology And Water Quality In The Central Kentucky Karst: Phase 1, James F. Quinlan, Donald R. Rowe

KWRRI Research Reports

Study of springs and cave streams has shown that heavy metal-rich effluent from a wastewater treatment plant can be traced to Hidden River Cave (beneath the city of Horse Cave) and thence 4 to 5 miles north to a group of 39 springs at 14 locations along a 5-mile reach of Green River. Nickel, chromium, copper and zinc in these effluent-bearing springs are in concentrations of as much as 30 times greater than other springs upstream and downstream from this reach, 20 times greater than the Green River, and 60 times greater than in shallow domestic wells between Horse Cave …

Hydrodynamic Separation Of Solids From Solid-Liquid Mixtures, Harry J. Sterling Jr., Don J. Wood

KWRRI Research Reports

Several schemes for separating solid pollutants from water flowing in a closed conduit were examined. Separation based on the momentum differential between the solids and liquids and the centrifugal movement of a conveying liquid were both examined under turbulent flow conditions. The study indicated these processes to have limited applications, primarily due to the difficulties in withdrawing a significant fraction of separated flow and the deleterious effects of turbulent mixing. However, utilization of the differential momentum of solid particles and water when flowing laminarly through a pipe was found to be a viable separation scheme. Significant experimental separations (greater than …

A Study Of Naturally Occurring Algicides Produced By Freshwater Algae, Denny O. Harris, Harry D. Caldwell

KWRRI Research Reports

The mode of action of the algicide produced by Pandorina morum was examined by exposing Volvox globator and isolates spinach chloroplasts to a partially purified algicide preparation. Oxygen evolution of Volvox, whole chloroplasts and broken chloroplasts (minus the Calvin cycle),was reduced indicating that the algicide inhibits the light reactions of photosynthesis. Oxygen evolution studies of other Volvocaceae confirmed the observation that Pandorina morum is not significantly influenced by its own inhibitor. Molecular weight approximation by gel filtration established that the inhibitor has a low molecular weight (probably below 100 mw). Field studies indicate that this algicide has tremendous potential as …

Analysis Of Unsteady Flow Toward Artesian Wells By Three-Dimensional Finite Elements, Yang H. Huang, Shen-Jyh Wu

KWRRI Research Reports

A three-dimensional finite element computer program was developed for analyzing unsteady flow toward artesian wells. The program is designed especially for determining the drawdown around an artesian well penetrating fully or partially a nonhomogeneous and anisotropic aquifer of irregular shape and cross section. It can also be used as a general program for aquifer simulation and evaluation. A major advantage of the program lies in the minimum amount of input data required. By assuming the top and bottom boundaries of the aquifer as two arbitrary planes, the aquifer will be divided into six- or eight-node elements, and their nodal coordinates …

Characterization Of Water Movement Into And Through Soils During And Immediately After Rainstorms, C. T. Haan

KWRRI Research Reports

The movement of water into and through soils in the unsaturated state is basic to many water resources problems including rainfall-runoff models, ground water recharge, irrigation, drainage, evapotranspiration and the movement of pollutants in soils. This study was conducted in an effort to determine if the flow equation based on Darcy's Law and the continuity equation could be used to describe watershed infiltration and thus be incorporated into hydrologic models.

The results of the study indicate that even on apparently uniform soils there is a great deal of variability in soil water properties. Handling this variability plus the difficulty of …

The Relation Between Soil Characteristics, Water Movement And Nitrate Contamination Of Ground Water, Grant W. Thomas, Matthew Mcmahon

KWRRI Research Reports

Soils from several areas in Kentucky were placed in columns and leached with Ca(NO₃)₂. Subsoils high in iron oxide were found to retard the leaching of nitrate very significantly. In other soils, the nitrate moved through as fast as or slightly faster than the water.

Field application of nitrogen to corn was most efficient when done in the spring or summer near the time that the corn takes it up. The one exception to this was a red soil, where fall application of nitrogen resulted in little loss due to the retarding effect mentioned in the …

Hydraulic And Sediment Transport Studies In Relation To River Sediment Control And Solid Waste Pollution And Economic Use Of The By-Products, Bruce R. Moore, Michael R. Short

KWRRI Research Reports

The distribution of sediments and conditions of transport were studied in the Kentucky, Big Sandy and Ohio Rivers. The sand and coal were in transport at different flow velocities for the rivers and the deposition of these sediments was a direct function of the flow conditions at a particular locality.

The flow conditions of transport of the sediments were studied in flumes as were the hydraulic conditions in model dredge holes to determine the feasibility of trapping sediment. The conditions of scour and fill were also established and compared with known conditions in a dredge hole in the Ohio River. …

The Generation Of Flood Damage Time Sequences, John P. Breaden

KWRRI Research Reports

There is a need in water resources planning to develop a procedure for determining the time pattern in which flood damages occur as a function of the rise and fall of the flood hydrograph. The widely-used approach for estimation of flood damages does not take into account the fact that the frequency of the annual flood peak may not be the same as the frequency of the total annual flood damages. As examples, several small storms during the year may do more damage than a single larger storm, or flood damages may be reduced by a reduction in flood duration …

Opset Program For Computerized Selection Of Watershed Parameter Values For The Stanford Watershed Model, Earnest Yuan-Shang Liou, L. Douglas James

KWRRI Research Reports

The advent of high-speed electronic computer made it possible to model complex hydrologic processes by mathematical expressions and thereby simulate streamflows from climatological data. The most widely used program is the Stanford Watershed Model, a digital parametric model of the land phase of the hydrologic cycle based on moisture accounting processes. It can be used to simulate annual or longer flow sequences at hourly time intervals. Due to its capability of simulating historical streamflows from recorded climatological data, it has a great potential in the planning and design of water resources systems. However, widespread use of the Stanford Watershed Model …

Solution Geochemistry Of The Water Of Limestone Terrains, John Thrailkill, David B. Beiter, Michael T. Osolnik, Roger H. Postley, William T. Mitchell, Leonard N. Plummer, James R. Riddell, Richard C. Worley, Robert D. Zwicker

KWRRI Research Reports

Limestone groundwater flows mainly in openings it has solutionally enlarged, thus an understanding of the water's state of saturation relative to calcite (the principal mineral component of limestone) is fundamental to an understanding of the nature and evolution of the limestone aquifer. This study investigated the Mammoth Cave-Sinkhole Plain (MCSP) and Cave Hollow (CH) aquifers in Kentucky, both in Missippian limestones.

Both aquifers were always undersaturated with calcite. Except for completely ventilated vadose flows (usually) and some vadose seepage (occasionally), all recharges sampled (sinking streams, vadose flows, and vadose seepage) were also undersaturated. The lack of saturation in the MCSP …

The Effects Of Geographical And Climatic Setting On The Economic Advantages Of Alternative Flood Control Measures, Clyde R. Dempsey, L. Douglas James

KWRRI Research Reports

It has long been realized that tributary urban development and channel improvement greatly affect the flow regime in a given watershed. A previous study used the Stanford Watershed Model to derive relationships expressing how the flood peaks in Sacramento, California, might be expected to vary with changing conditions of urbanization, channelization, and tributary drainage area. In order to observe the effects of climatic setting and geographical location on these relationships, the same type of analysis was applied to a drainage area near Louisville, Kentucky.

If reservoir storage is to be considered in a flood control program, it is necessary to …