Nutrient Loading from Onsite Wastewater Systems in the Falls Lake Watershed: Evaluating the Potential for Nutrient Load Reductions via Bioreactors

Preliminary nutrient concentration data collected from tributaries to Falls Lake during the 2019-2020 NC Policy Collaboratory Study and other Piedmont studies suggest that streams draining sub-watersheds that utilize onsite wastewater systems can have elevated nutrient concentrations relative to sub-watersheds that are served by municipal wastewater treatment plants (sewered sub-watersheds). This proposed study will develop an integrated approach (GIS, synoptic sampling, literature review, and pilot-scale bioreactor) to identify tributaries with elevated onsite wastewater nutrient loading and evaluate the potential of bioreactors for reducing the load of nutrients to Falls Lake, with a focus on Durham and Wake Counties.

Scholars @ ECU