Rocky Mount is a 35-acre State Historic Site in Washington County, TN dating to the late 1700s when it served as the First Capitol of the Southwest Territory of the United States. In Fall 2021, Rocky Mount acquired an adjacent tract which includes several water sources: an artesian spring, a ditch with running water, and a cattle pond. A residential spring located on a neighboring property flows along an eastern property line. The purpose of this research was to assess the hydrologic resources of Rocky Mount’s new addition to 1) determine compliance with state water quality standards; and 2) identify subsurface hydrologic connections between water sources. In winter 2022, we sampled the four water sources for pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), temperature, fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria during five site visits. Mean values for each parameter at each site were compared to state water quality standards and sites were assessed for similarity using the Kruskal Wallis non-parametric Analysis of Variance. In this study, none of the four sites met the state standard for drinking water due to presence of E. coli (drinking water limits E. coli to <1 CFU/100mL). However, all sites were well below the E. coli threshold for recreational water (<126 CFU/100mL). Only one site, the residential spring, was found to meet standards for recreational use for all water quality parameters. All other sites exceeded recreational use limits for pH (high alkalinity). Two sites, the cattle pond and the ditch, also exceeded recreational limits for turbidity. Kruskal Wallis test results indicated significant differences in water chemistry between sites for all parameters. Pairwise comparisons revealed differences between the residential spring and all other sites, suggesting different groundwater sources. The water quality findings will be helpful in future land use planning at the Rocky Mount Historic Site.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-1884 |
| Date | 07 April 2022 |
| Creators | Eaton, Danielle, McSweeney, Robert, Luffman, Ingrid, PhD |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum & Jay S. Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium |
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