A Comparison of Electromagnetic Survey Results and Groundwater Quality Samples at an Animal Waste Storage Pond

by Kathleen Y. Kilian, USDA - Soil Conservation Service, Seattle, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Coastal Zone '93

Abstract:

Animal waste storage ponds are widely used to store manure over winter until it can be surface applied to growing crops as a fertilizer. There is an increasing concern for groundwater contamination originating from the ponds. If a manure pond is leaking, the common contaminants leaching into groundwater are ammonia-N, phosphate-P, chloride, total dissolved solids and organics. The chloride and total dissolved solids increases the conductivity of the soil and groundwater in the zone of contamination. Electromagnetic surveys can be used to measure the average conductivity of the soil and groundwater. In cooperation with the Washington State Department of Ecology, several of the sites have had shallow monitoring wells installed around the waste storage ponds. Three electromagnetic (EM) surveys were performed at one of these monitored ponds and this paper compares the results of the EM surveys with monitoring well data. The well data and EM data show good correlation, indicating that the EM survey may be used as an effective tool to detect leakage from waste storage ponds in areas of shallow groundwater.

Subject Headings: Waste storage | Groundwater pollution | Ponds | Soil surveys | Soil pollution | Dissolved solids | Groundwater management

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