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Having examined the data
from the water quality tests, it is the research team's conclusion that
runoff from the agricultural land in the upper regions of the Stony Brook
river are an important factor in the change of water quality along the
river. Following a rainfall, after a two month period of dry weather,
it was noted that at sites SB5, and SB4 showed an increase in two constituents,
namely nitrates and fecal coliform. Both of these sites are adjacent to
wooded areas and land used for agricultural purposes.
An additional indication
of poor water quality was the dramatic decrease in the amount of dissolved
oxygen available for aquatic life all along the river. There are strong
indications that something is removing large amounts of dissolved
oxygen. The increase numbers in fecal coliform combined with the low dissolved
oxygen levels suggest an increase in the amount of bacteria growing in
the water. Such a suggestion was confirmed by the research team on their
second visit to SB4, where they observed a moderate algal bloom in its
infant stages.
Downstream from SB4 nitrate levels fell considerably, while fecal coliform counts remained high. Immediately downstream from the SB4 test site is small marshy area. It is the the research team's conclusion that the increase levels in nitrates at SB4 where due to fertilizer application on the agricultural land around that spot. The excess nitrates where then filtered out by the marshland, hence the drop in nitrate levels at the subsequent test sites. The increase in fecal coliform could be linked to the suburban area adjacent to SB4. While not conclusive the research team suspects that his suburban area may either have faulty septic systems or faulty sewer links.
Located between SB1 and SB.75,
is the Elizabeth Town water treatment plant. Fecal coliform data ( 198
to 0 ) indicates that the treatment plant is adequately removing fecal
coliform colonies from the water before it enters Carnegie Lake. In contrast
however, dissolved oxygen data still suggests that an ecological event
is occurring. It is important to note that on both testing dates the research
team observed an oily scum of bacteria growing on the surface of the water
at site SB.75.
Due to the lack of quantatative data concerning the soil testing sites, the research team has agreed that no conclusions can be made. Observations indicate that in comparison to the water at the same test sites the soils are slightly more acidic than the water.
Please keep in mind that limited time and resources a full scale research endeavor was not possible. Without more comprehensive data for both the soil and the water test sites, strong conclusions can not be made. What you have instead is a direction toward which your data is leading you. We would recomend that if testing soil and water, weekly tests should be done and comperhensive data collected before drawing any conclusions about the overall quality of water and the soils.