Filtration of Ammonia and Nitrates in the Six Springs Wetland of Piedmont Park Nathan Frank, Yvonne Pella, and

William Wagstaff Abstract Research has indicated the ability of natural and manmade wetlands to filter contaminants, urban runoff, and chemicals from water in both and urban and rural settings. The potential to improve water quality and decrease wastewater treatment costs is immense and has the ability to be applied to various situations and locations. Furthermore, wetlands play a critical role in the nitrogen cycle by contributing to usable forms of nitrogen such as ammonia and nitrates. Under normal circumstances, the nitrogen cycle remains in harmonious balance; however excess nitrogen can accumulate leading to the downward spiral of algae growth termed an algal bloom, which results in the death of aquatic life. The Six Springs Wetland in Piedmont Park of downtown Atlanta receives a large amount of runoff from both local urban environments and dog parks. Therefore, it is important that the nitrogen levels found in the wetland remain at levels that support healthy algae growth, as an algal bloom can kill the health of the wetland, and the plants and animals that depend on it. We hypothesize that levels of ammonia and nitrates are statistically higher (p < 0.05) in the Six Springs Wetland as compared to the Northwoods stream downstream from the wetland. We tested this hypothesis by taking seven water samples from the Six Springs Wetland, the Northwoods stream, and Lake Clara Meer over the course of a week. Results show that the both values of ammonia and nitrate were statistically higher (p < 0.005) in the wetland as compared to both the Northwoods stream and Lake Clara Meer. This result confirms the hypothesis that harmful chemicals are reduced as runoff travels through the Six Springs Wetland. We therefore conclude that the Six Springs wetland is thriving under current conditions.

Introduction The Six Springs Wetland in PIedmont Park is the largest natural green space in downtown Atlanta. With its recent restoration, many new questions have arisen regarding the health and functionality of this area, and how this area influences the local Atlanta ecosystem. For example, research has indicated that wetlands have great potential for filtering out water contaminants from urban areas (Kivaisi et al. 2001). With a number of road systems and construction sites throughout the city, many harmful chemicals build up in the water runoff that ends up in the Six Springs Wetland. If the wetland is capable of cleansing or filtering this water before it is treated in the wastewater treatment facilities, the city may be able to do a less intense chemical treatment of the water (Irvine et al. 2009). In addition to lowering the cost and time the city must spend on water treatment, the wetland has the ability to improve the health of the flora and fauna that use any of the post-wetland water. Besides improving the water quality, the wetland has a much more important role in the nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen, in its many forms, circulate throughout an ecosystem (Gruber et al., 2008). Multicellular organisms need nitrogen in order to synthesize proteins and nucleic acids, which are fundamental building blocks of cells and DNA. Nitrogenfixing bacteria need nitrogen as an electron donor or acceptor, while concurrently converting atmospheric nitrogen to more usable forms. These bacteria, which live in the Six Springs Wetlands, take the atmospheric nitrogen and convert it to ammonia and nitrates, which are usable by other organisms. Although necessary for most life on earth, nitrate and ammonia at high levels can lead to the abundant growth of algae called an algal bloom (Paerl, 1997). These algal blooms result in mass over consumption of nutrients that in turn leads to the death of most of the algae. This dead algae sinks to the bottom of the water, where it is consumed by bacteria that subsequently proliferate and deplete the oxygen in the water. This anoxic environment leads to the death of aquatic life, and all organisms that depend on this aquatic life. In essence, too much nitrogen can reduce the health of the Six Springs wetland, which will in turn lead to the loss of local plants, and other animal life that improve the quality of the citys largest green space. Under normal circumstances, the nitrogen cycle remains in harmonious balance; however excess nitrogen can accumulate leading to the downward spiral of algae growth described above. Two of the most common urban runoff contaminants that lead to excess nitrogen are nitrates and ammonia (Gallagher et al. 2011). Within the wetland, these two chemicals help maintain a healthy balance between algae proliferation and death. When levels of nitrates exceed the 10 mg/L standard set forth by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), algal growth increases to unsustainable levels (Fried et al., 2003). On the other hand, the growth of algae is stunted by the synergistic effect of high levels of ammonia and pH (Abeliovich, 1976): greater than 3 mg/L (Koyuncu et al., 2001) and 8, respectively. With the constant influx of nitrogen from local dog parks and fertilization, we sought to quantify the ammonia and nitrate levels in the Six Springs Wetland in order to explore the relationship between the proper functioning of the wetland environment and this nitrogen runoff. We especially

wanted to ascertain whether the wetland is at risk for an algal bloom. This understanding entails two hypotheses. First, we hypothesize that the wetland acts a filter for nitrogens that enter from the two main sources of runoff into the wetland: Lake Clara Meer and the dog park. By filter, we mean that the levels of nitrate and ammonia found in the Northwoods Stream, which is downstream from the wetland, are statistically lower (p-value < 0.05) than the levels found in Lake Clara and the wetland. Filtering can take the form of nutrient use by wetland plants or deposition in sediments; however, we are only concerned with inputs versus outputs for the support of our hypothesis. We also hypothesize that the nitrate levels within the wetlands are below the criteria specified by EPA, and that ammonia levels are lower than those specified by water studies. In order to support this hypothesis, the mean values of nitrogen and ammonia must not exceed 10 mg/L and 3 mg/L, respectively. Given no evidence of previous algal blooms in the wetland, we expect these values to meet this criteria. Methods To investigate these hypotheses, we monitored the ammonia, and nitrate levels from water sources at three locations in the Piedmont Park area over the course of a week. We thus took seven samples from each location: Northwoods stream, Six Springs wetland, and Lake Clara Meer (Figure 1). The first location is the center of the wetland. Here, we expect that the greatest concentration of algae and bacteria would be present to denitrify the surrounding water sources. Furthermore, the water remains relatively stagnant while receiving inputs in the form of lake runoff and rain. The second location in which measurements were taken was from was the lake in the center of Piedmont Park. This location also contains algae and bacteria in stagnant water; however, the concentration of each organism is much smaller compared to that found in the wetland. This location acts as both a control for measuring the quality of runoff into the wetland, and a basis by which to judge the level of nitrification occurring in the wetland. Finally, we chose to take water samples from an area downstream from the wetland in the Northwoods stream. Because water leaves the wetlands and travels downstream to this area, this location acts as the output area for the runoff and rain that pass through the wetland area. Seven samples were taken from each location on days that were preceded by two days without rain. For each sample, water was taken by dipping a 50 mL plastic test tube into the test area 5 cm below the water surface, and capping the tube with a screw-on cap. Water samples were refrigerated for a maximum of one week before testing. Once the water samples were taken back to the lab, the Hach nitrate and ammonia test kits were used to find the levels of each respective compound. The powdered contents of the test packet were emptied into a test cube with 5 mL of water sample. After the contents were dissolved, the color of the solution was matched to the color scale on the test cube, which correlates with the level of nitrate or ammonia in the water.

Fig. 1. Map of the Six Springs Wetland that details the locations of water sample retrieval. When pipetting the water from each sample into the color cube, any sediment that remained in the water was filtered. The color cube was rinsed with distilled water after each sample to prevent cross-contamination. The pH of each sample was then taken using a standard handheld pH meter. Once the data was collected, we performed paired, 1-tailed t-tests on the following combinations for ammonia, nitrates, and pH: lake and stream, wetlands and stream, and wetlands and lake. A pvalue less than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. 1-tailed t-tests were used instead of 2tailed t-tests due to the nature of the data; the levels of ammonia, nitrates, and pH for a group can only be less than or greater than the other group. The values for the first group cannot be both greater and less than the second group. Results Overall, we found that ammonia and nitrate levels in the wetland are statistically greater than the values found in both the stream and the lake. We also found that the mean values of nitrates and ammonia in all locations were lower than the standards set forth by the EPA and the literature.

Fig. 2. Nitrate levels in the wetlands are statistically higher than those levels found in the stream and the lake. No statistically significant difference was found between the stream and the lake. The nitrate level of the wetland is statistically higher than that of both the stream and the lake (p < 0.005). No statistically significant difference exists between the levels found in the stream and lake.

Fig. 3. Ammonia levels in the wetlands are statistically higher than those levels found in the stream and the lake. Ammonia levels in the lake are statistically higher than the stream. Like nitrate levels, the level of ammonia in the wetland is statistically higher than the lake and the stream (p < 0.005). The level of ammonia in the lake is statistically higher than the levels found in the stream (p < 0.01).

Fig. 4. pH levels in the wetlands are statistically higher than those levels found in the lake. No significant difference exists between levels found in the stream. The levels in stream are statistically higher than those found in the lake. pH levels show a different trend than ammonia and nitrates. The pH levels in the wetland are statistically higher than those levels found in the lake (p < 0.01). No statistically significant difference exists between the levels found in the wetland and those found in the stream. The pH levels found in the stream are statistically higher than the levels found in the lake (p < 0.005).

Fig. 5. Mean values of nitrates and ammonia found in the wetlands are statistically higher than both the lake and the stream. Furthermore, the average amount of nitrates and ammonia found in the wetland did not exceed the criteria set forth by the EPA. Given the statistically higher values of ammonia and nitrates in the wetland, both levels found in the lake and stream also did not exceed the EPA standards.

Discussion Given statistically higher nitrate and ammonia levels in the wetland as compared to the stream, we confirm the initial hypothesis that the wetland is filtering the water runoff. Furthermore, given the mean values of nitrate and ammonia are less than those harmful values specified by the EPA, we confirm the secondary hypothesis that details the supportable nitrogen levels. Given larger concentrations of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in wetland environments (Liu et al., 2011), we would expect that the levels of nitrogen in the wetland remain higher than the stream and lake ecosystems. The results confirm this fact given the levels of nitrates in the wetland are statistically higher than that of both the stream and the lake. Also, because the nitrate levels in the wetland and the stream are statistically different, we propose that most of the nitrates produced by the bacteria through the nitrogen cycle remain in the wetland either to be utilized by other organisms or deposited in the soil. This fact is further supported in other studies that also show the ability of a wetland to reduce the level of harmful chemicals that are output into common water sources (Kivaisi, 2011). Like nitrate levels, the level of ammonia in the wetland is statistically greater than the lake and the stream. Although not harmful, this level of ammonia tends to cause a foul smell, which is present within the Six Springs Wetland and justifies the accuracy of the Hach test kits. The similarly elevated level of ammonia in the lake hints at organisms also undergoing the nitrogen cycle. The level of ammonia found in the stream is statistically lower than that found in either the wetland or lake, which again confirms the initial hypothesis that harmful chemicals are remaining in the wetland. Calheiros et al. found a similar result when studying the filtering ability of a wetland applied to tannery wastewater (2007). The only major trend found in pH levels is between the lake and the wetland. This is indicative of the different chemical compositions and wildlife that exist in these different ecosystems. The lack of statistical difference between the wetland and the stream indicates that the wetland does not filter acids the same way it filters nitrogen. The most important area for improvement in this study would be to extend the range of chemicals tested, and also to use test kits with better resolution. Fried et al. found that, in addition to nitrates, phosphates also increase algae growth (2003). Testing of the level of phosphates may lead to additional support for the main hypothesis. In regard to the precision of the test kits, more sophisticated technologies can be used to increase the resolution beyond that found in the Hach kits. The current kits only allowed measurements in increments of 0.5 mg/L for ammonia, and 5 mg/L for nitrates. In conclusion, both hypotheses were confirmed. The difference in statistically higher levels of nitrate and ammonia in the wetland as compared to the stream are indicative of filtering occurring in the wetland. The mean levels of nitrate and ammonia remaining below recommended levels by the EPA and literature are indicative of a thriving wetland.

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