Date of Award:

5-2019

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department name when degree awarded

Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

R. Ryan Dupont

Committee

R. Ryan Dupont

Committee

Joan E. McLean

Committee

Bethany Neilson

Abstract

Acrylic chambers and metal frames were installed at the sediment-water interface of streams impacted by the effluent from wastewater reclamation facilities in order to determine nitrogen rates for nitrification, denitrification, assimilation, ANAMMOX, and DNRA. Each chamber was dosed with an isotopic form of nitrate (15NO3-), and both isotopic (15N) and non-isotopic (14N) samples were collected. The project locations included East Canyon Creek near the East Canyon Wastewater Reclamation Facility in Park City, Utah and Box Elder Creek near the Brigham City Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brigham City, Utah. Separate chamber measurements were conducted upstream and downstream of each wastewater reclamation facility in order to determine the impact of the wastewater effluent on the stream. At the conclusion of the study, significant rates for both traditional (nitrification, denitrification, assimilation) and non-traditional nitrogen transformations (DNRA, ANAMMOX) were found at various locations. Specific transformations were found exclusively upstream or exclusively downstream of the wastewater treatment plant. Transformations that were found both upstream and downstream of the treatment plants were not significantly different, indicating no impact from the WWTPs on nitrogen transformations. Additionally, the use of isotopic nitrogen for the study did not prove necessary for determining nitrification and denitrification rates.

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