Quality of water, Quillayute River basin, Washington

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5569992

Fretwell, M O

Ground water in the Quillayute River basin is generally of the calcium bicarbonate type, although water from some wells is affected by seawater intrusion and is predominantly of the sodium chloride type. The water is generally of excellent quality for most uses, with the exception of water in two wells which had iron concentrations that potentially could be tasted in beverages and could cause staining of laundry and porcelain fixtures. A comparison of the chemical compositions of ground and surface waters showed a strong similarity over a wide geographic area. Proportions of the major chemical constituents in the rivers of the basin were nearly constant despite concentration fluctuations in response to dilution from precipitation and snowmelt. River-water quality was generally excellent, as evaluated against Washington State water use and water-quality criteria. Fecal-coliform bacteria counts generally were much lower than the total-coliform bacteria counts, indicating that most of the coliform bacteria were of nonfecal origin and probably originated in soils. Fecal coliform concentrations in all the major tributaries met State water-quality criteria. Water temperatures occasionally exceeded criteria maximum during periods of warm weather and low streamflow; dissolved-oxygen concentrations were occasionally less than criteria minimum because of increased water temperature. Both conditions occurred naturally. Nutrient concentrations were generally low to very low and about the same as in streams from virgin forestland in the Olympic National Park. However, some slight increases in nutrient concentrations were observed, particularly in the vicinity of Mill Creek and the town of Forks; due to dilution and biological assimilation, these slightly elevated concentrations decreased as the water moved downstream. 35 refs., 24 figs., 16 tabs.

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Tacoma, WA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5569992
• Report Number(s): USGS/WRI-83-4162; ON: TI85901792
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GROUND WATER
WATER QUALITY
SURFACE WATERS
WASHINGTON
WATERSHEDS
ACID CARBONATES
BACTERIA
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COASTAL REGIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
NUTRIENTS
RIVERS
DATA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FEDERAL REGION X
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
MICROORGANISMS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
STREAMS
USA
WATER
520200* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)