PREPARING FOR MARCELLUS DRILLING: 2. CRYSTAL LAKE WATER CHEMISTRY ASSESSMENT, CRYSTAL LAKE CAMPS, LYCOMING/SULLIVAN COUNTY, PA

The second part of the assessment of water quality in the Bear Creek watershed for Crystal Lake Camps, carried out on the weekend of 2-3 October 2010, included a surface water survey of Crystal Lake, the major lake in the drainage of Bear Creek between Mud Lake and Wild Rice Lake. Our study design included ten sampling sites: one at the inflow, one at the outflow, and the remainder spaced fairly evenly across the surface. In situ measurements included pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and conductivity. Immediately upon returning to shore, we measured turbidity on each sample, after which each sample was filtered through a glass fiber filter (effective pore size 0.7µm), followed by triplicate titrations to determine alkalinity and acidity. Triplicate samples of both filtered and unfiltered water from each site were acidified, chilled, and transported to the lab for later analysis of selected metals. An additional set of triplicate non-acidified, filtered samples from each site was collected, chilled, then frozen immediately upon returning from the field, and thawed just before analysis of selected anions. After the day’s labors, we performed regular (every half hour) analyses of pH, conductivity, DO and temperature at one site at the dock throughout the night.

Inflow samples were lower in calcium, alkalinity and pH, indicating modification of water chemistry in the lake. Alkalinity values for the lake samples were low (about 3 mg/L as CaCO3), but consistent with similar northern Pennsylvania lakes with little or no limestone in the surrounding area. Sulfate levels in the lower half of the lake (ca. 4 ppm) were twice that of the upper lake levels (ca. 2 ppm), but smaller than the sulfate concentration in the inflow (ca. 5 ppm). This trend was reversed for chloride. Bromide was found only in lower lake samples.

The overnight sampling revealed trends from 8 PM to 6 AM toward lower pH, lower DO, and higher conductivity. Water temperature declined a couple of degrees over the ten hour study, but it was nothing compared to the drop in air temperature, according to the Dawn Patrol.