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Walter B. Keighton

Publications and source records attributed to Walter B. Keighton.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1969

Water quality and discharge of streams in the Lehigh River Basin, Pennsylvania

The Lehigh River, 100 miles long, is the second largest tributary to the Delaware River. It drains 1,364 square miles in four physiographic provinces. The Lehigh River basin includes mountainous and forested areas, broad agricultural valleys and areas of urban and industrial development. In the headwaters the water is of good quality and has a low concentration of solutes. Downstream, some tributaries receive coal-mine drainage and become acidic; others drain areas underlain by limestone and acquire alkaline characteristics. The alkaline streams neutralize and dilute the acid mine water where they mix. The dissolved-oxygen content of river water, which is high in the upper reaches of the stream, is reduced in the lower reaches because of lower turbulence, higher temperature, and the respiration of organisms. The Lehigh is used for public supply, recreation, waterpower, irrigation, and mining and other industrial purposes. Because the river is shallow in its upper reaches, most of the water comes in contact with the atmosphere as it churns over rocks and around islets and large boulders. Aeration of the water is rapid. When water that was low in dissolved-oxygen concentration was released from the lower strata of the Francis E. Walter Reservoir in June 1966, it quickly became aerated in the Lehigh River, and for 40 miles downstream from the dam the water was nearly saturated with oxygen. Most of the river water requires only moderate treatment for industrial use and public distribution throughout the Lehigh River valley. At times, however, some segments of the main river and its tributaries transport industrial wastes and acid coal-mine drainage. Usually the relatively high concentrations of solutes in water and the ensuing damage caused to quality by such waste discharges are more extensive and prolonged during droughts and other periods of low streamflow. For many years the Lehigh River flow has been continuously measured and its water chemically analyzed. Since May 1966 an instrument installed by the U.S. Geological Survey at Easton, Pa., has continuously recorded such water-quality parameters as specific conductance, temperature, and dissolved oxygen content.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1966

Fresh-water discharge salinity relations in the tidal Delaware River

Sustained flows of fresh water greater than 3,500, 4,400, and 5,300 cubic feet per second into the Delaware River estuary at Trenton, NJ assure low salinity at League Island, Eddystone, and Marcus Hook, respectively. When the discharge at Trenton is less than these critical values, salinity is very sensitive to change in discharge, so that a relatively small decrease in fresh-water discharge results in a relatively great increase in salinity. Comparison of the discharge-salinity relations observed for the 14-year period August 1949-December 1963 with relations proposed by other workers but based on other time periods indicate that such relations change with time and that salinity is affected not only by discharge but also by dredging; construction of breakwater, dikes, and tidal barriers; changing sea level; tidal elevation; tidal range; and wind intensity and direction.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1965

Delaware River water quality Bristol to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, August 1949 to December 1963

During the 14-year period from August 1949 to July 1963, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Philadelphia, collected samples of river water once each month in the 43-mile reach of the Delaware River from Bristol to Marcus Hook, Pa., and daily at Trenton, 10 miles upstream from Bristol. This part of the Delaware is an estuary into which salt water is brought by tides; fresh water flows into the estuary at Trenton, NJ, and farther downstream from the Schuylkill River and other tributaries of the Delaware. In March, April, and May, when fresh-water flow is high, the average concentration of dissolved solids in the water at Bristol was 76 ppm (parts per million), and at Marcus Hook 112 PPM In August and September, streamflow is lower, and the average concentration of dissolved solids increased to 117 PPM at Bristol and 804 PPM at Marcus Hook. Major salinity invasions of the Delaware River occurred in 1949, 1953, 1954, 1957, and 1963. In each of these years the fresh-water flow into the tidal river at Trenton was low during the period from July to October. The greatest dissolved-solids concentrations in these monthly samples were 160 PPM at Bristol and 4,000 PPM at Marcus Hook. At times the dissolved-oxygen concentration of the river water has become dangerously low, especially in that reach of the river between Wharton Street and League Island. At the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, one-third of the samples of river water were less than 30 percent saturated with oxygen; however, no trend, either for better or for worse, was apparent during the 14-year period. It is useful now to summarize these monthly analyses for the period 1949-63 even though a much more detailed description of water quality in this reach of the estuary will soon become available through the use of recording instrumental conditions. This compendium of water-quality data is useful as an explicit statement of water quality during the 14-year study period and is valuable for directing attention to water-quality problems for selecting instrument sites, and for making comparative studies with the more detailed information which is already being obtained with the aid of recording instruments.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1964

Quality of Delaware River water at Trenton, New Jersey

Water in the Delaware River at Trenton, NJ, is a mixture of several types--water from the mountainous headwater region, water from the coal-mining regions, and water from the limestone valleys. The quantities of these types of water, in relation to the total quantity of water at Trenton, vary with changes in season and reservoir releases. The chemical quality of the water during the 17-year period 1945-61 was excellent, and the water was suitable for most uses after little or no treatment. The average concentration of dissolved solids was 86 ppm (parts per million), and 90 percent of the time it ranged from 57 to 126 ppm. Usually the pH of the water was close to 7.0 (considered to be a neutral point-neither acid nor alkaline). The hardness was less than 86 ppm 95 percent of the time. The general composition of the dissolved-solids content, in terms of equivalents, is 28 percent calcium, 14 percent magnesium, 8 percent sodium plus potassium, 43 percent bicarbonate plus sulfate, 5 percent chloride, and 2 percent nitrate. Concentrations of minerals in the river water are lowest during March, April and May (median concentration of dissolved solids 66 PPM) and are highest during August and September (median, 107 PPM). Each year an average of 880,000 tons of dissolved solids and 932,000 tons of suspended solids are carried past Trenton by the Delaware River. The greatest monthly loads of dissolved solids are in March and April, and the smallest are from July to October. Suspended-solids loads are greater when the streamflow is high but small the rest of the time. Concentration of suspended solids exceeds 100 PPM only 5 percent of the time. The headwaters in the Delaware River basin are the source of water of excellent quality. Much of this water is stored in reservoirs, and when released during August and September, it improves the quality of the water at Trenton. These releases to augment low flow have the effect of narrowing the range of concentrations of dissolved constituents. In 1952 and 1962, 6 and 19 percent, respectively, of the drainage area above Trenton was regulated by reservoirs. After proposed construction, 60 percent will be regulated by 1975. Thus, it may be that the high concentrations of dissolved constituents observed in the 1945-61 period will not occur again. It is possible that the water quality observed during the period 1945-61 (dissolved solids 57-126 PPM 90 percent of the time, pH close to 7.0, hardness less than 86 PPM 95 percent of the time) is representative of what can be expected in the future, for a variety of hydrologic conditions were experienced in the 17-year period.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1954

The investigation of chemical quality of water in tidal rivers

This report has been prepared for the guidance of personnel of the Water Resources Division who are engaged in water-quality investigations of tidal rivers. The study of tidal rivers is beset with many complexities not present in the investigation of non-tidal rivers. The periodic rise and fall of the tide may result in a corresponding periodic change in salinity at a sampling location on the tidal river. When the fresh water discharge is low, saline water may intrude up-river, and any factor changing the relative elevations of the ocean and the mean river level has an effect on the extent of salt-water intrusion. Variations in water composition between samples taken at several locations up or down river, at different depths, or at several locations across the stream are likely to be more pronounced than for similar sets of samples from a non-tidal stream. The nature of these variations and factors responsible for them are discussed, and the need for consideration of them in planning a sampling routine is stressed. The nature and mechanism of ocean-water intrusion in tidal rivers is discussed and sampling procedures for its detection are described. lllustrative examples - mostly from the work of the United States Geological Survey or State agencies - show various methods for correlating and presenting data from quality-of-water surveys of tidal rivers. Each tidal river presents an individual problem which can best be understood from a study of the factors involved. To that end the report is supplemented by an annotated bibliography of selected publications in the field.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1954

Chemical characteristics of Delaware River water, Trenton, New Jersey, to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania

This progress report gives the results of an investigation of the quality of water in the Delaware River from Trenton, N. J. to Marcus Hook, Pa., for the period August 1949 to December 1952. The Delaware River is the principal source of water for the many industries and municipal water supplies along this reach of the river and both industries and municipalities use it for the disposal of their wastes. Consequently, a study of the quality of the water and variations in the quality caused by changes in streamflow, tidal effects, pollution and other factors is important to the many users. In both New Jersey and Pennsylvania steps are being taken to abate pollution, thus it is of more than passing interest to measure the effects of waste treatment on the quality of the Delaware River water. At average or higher rates of streamflow the mineral content of the water increases slightly from Trenton to Marcus Hook. There is little variation in the concentration of dissolved minerals from bank to bank or from top to bottom of the river. At times of protracted low rates of flow the effect of ocean water mixing with the river water may be noted as far upstream as Philadelphia. At such times the salinity is often greater near the bottom of the river than near the top. The increase in chloride concentration upstream from Philadelphia is small compared to the rapid increase downstream from Philadelphia. Temperatures of offshore water vary with the season, but on a given day are substantially uniform throughout the reach of the river from Trenton to Marcus Hook. The water contains less dissolved oxygen as it flows downstream indicating that oxygen is being consumed by oxidizable matter. From Philadelphia downstream there are periods, especially in late summer, when the dissolved oxygen is barely sufficient to meet the oxygen demands of the pollution load.

New Jersey;Pennsylvania↗