Environmental Health and Protection Commons^™

Assessing The Impact Of A Constructed Wetland Biome On The Ecosystem Health Of Cedar Run, Thomas Vasilopoulos, Casey Lee

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A wetlands ecosystem is defined as “an area saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support...a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions” (Batzer and Sharitz, 2007). Wetlands serve as biofilters and thus have been used to treat sewage and wastewater, as well as to restore the health of polluted water systems. Solly Walker and Lorinda Palin, owners of a certified natural and biodynamic farm called Avalon Acres located in Broadway, Virginia, constructed a wetland two years ago, using the stream, Cedar Run, that flows through their property. Pollution from agricultural …

Patterns And Sources Of Anthropogenic Contaminants In The Otter Creek Watershed, Madison County, Kentucky, Elijah J. Wolfe

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Stream systems are often affected by anthropogenic activities that affect water quality and stream ecosystems. Land use typically determines the type and quantity of anthropogenic contaminants entering natural waters. The Otter Creek watershed (170 km²; Madison County, Kentucky) consists predominantly of pasture and rural housing, with some cropland. The basin also receives runoff from the town of Richmond and a sewage treatment plant operates within the watershed. We measured concentrations of nutrients (phosphate, ammonium, nitrate) and fecal microbes to discover levels of anthropogenic contaminants affecting water quality and to identify contaminant sources.

We sampled 4 times in the …

Patterns And Sources Of Anthropogenic Contaminants In The Otter Creek Watershed, Madison County, Kentucky, Elijah D. Wolfe, Walter S. Borowski, Jacob L. Robin

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Stream systems are often affected by anthropogenic contaminants that affect water quality and stream ecosystems. Land use determines the type and quantity of contaminants present in natural waters. The Otter Creek watershed (170 km²; Madison County, Kentucky) consists predominantly of pasture and rural housing, with some cropland. The basin also receives runoff from the town of Richmond and a sewage treatment plant operates within the watershed. We measured concentrations of nutrients (phosphate, ammonium, nitrate) and fecal microbes to discover levels of anthropogenic contaminants affecting water quality and to identify contaminant sources.

We sampled 4 times in the summer …

Non-Point Sources And Point Sources For Nutrient And Fecal Microbe Contamination In A Typical Upland Stream: Tates Creek, Madison County, Kentucky, Walter S. Borowski, Malcolm P. Frisbie

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Tates Creek (Madison County, Kentucky) is characterized by an oversupply of nutrients and fecal microbe contamination. Its watershed is dominated by pastureland and immature woodlands with scattered settlements served by septic systems, whereas, 5% of the watershed drains urban areas of Richmond, Kentucky. Creek waters are eutrophic and commonly display levels of Escherichia coli deemed unfit for human contact by United States Environmental Protection Agency standards. Both point and non-point sources existed for stream contaminants. A secondary sewage treatment plant (STP) discharged effluent into the creek until mid-2011 and was a point source for nitrate and phosphate. Pastureland likely contributes …