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Environmental Sciences

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Journal

Sewage disposal plants

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant And The Mississippi River: 50 Years Of Improving Water Quality, D. Kent Johnson, Paul W. Aasen Jan 1989

The Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant And The Mississippi River: 50 Years Of Improving Water Quality, D. Kent Johnson, Paul W. Aasen

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

ABSTRACT-The Metropolitan Waste Control Commission and its predecessors have operated the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Mississippi River at St. Paul, MN, for the past 50 years. Analysis of water quality data collected over the past 60 years shows a general improvement of water quality as the waste treatment process has been upgraded. In 1926, dissolved oxygen ranged from <1 mg/L to 2 mg/L in the river reach from St. Paul to Lock and Dam 3 (August mean values). In 1987, dissolved oxygen values in the same area were 7 mg/L or greater. The drought of 1988 produced severe low flow conditions in the Mississippi River, but dissolved oxygen values continued to meet or exceed the 5 mg/L water quality standard. Biological sampling in 1926 and 1959 showed an absence of clean water organisms. Biological sampling in 1985 showed an abundance of clean water organisms. The most dramatic evidence of this resurgence is the reappearance of the Hexagenia mayfly in St. Paul after a 50 year absence. The water quality improvements in the Mississippi River correlate directly with improved treatment plant processes, particularly the current advanced secondary treatment facility, and with improved waste control throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.


Pollution From Sewage Loading In River And Lakes Downstream From Bemidji, James Ludwig Jan 1972

Pollution From Sewage Loading In River And Lakes Downstream From Bemidji, James Ludwig

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

The deleterious effects and downstream distribution of pollutants from domestic sewage discharged at Bemidji, Minnesota, are examined with reference lo parameters for pollution as defined by the state's Pollution Control Agency (PCA). Periodic overloading of the resort city's sewage treatment plant also is considered, along with problems pertinent to a community upstream of popular vacation facilities on a lake and river system.