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A graduate student works at the well field
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The project, which is a collaborative effort between researchers at Illinois State University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Natural History Survey in cooperation with the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District, will focus on phosphorous cycling in the stream sediments. Effluent from the treatment plant discharged into the stream could potentially alter the cycling of nutrients (phosphorous and nitrogen) and the ecology of the stream. Therefore, samples of sediments from both upstream and downstream of the effluent discharge point were sampled prior to the start up of the treatment plant to determine the amount of phosphorous bound to the sediments and will continue to be taken after the start up to measure changes in bound phosphorous. Samples will be taken on a seasonal basis and at several distances downstream from the effluent discharge point as well.
The new wastewater treatment plant is also the site of the Department of Geography-Geology’s teaching and research well field. Development of the well field began in 2001 after a long-term access agreement was signed with the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District. The well field serves as the site for teaching hydrogeologic field techniques to undergraduate and graduate students. It also serves as a research site for a number of undergraduate and graduate students and is an invaluable teaching tool for the department’s new Hydrogeology Masters program. The Master of Science in Hydrogeology program is designed to equip students with the tools needed for a successful career in hydrogeology, whether in the private sector, government or academia. “Our primary focus has been applied hydrogeological research in Illinois,” said Dr. David Malone, Associate Professor of Geology and Department Chair. “The Hydrogeology Masters program is the only one of its kind in the State.”