Drinking water treatment response following a Colorado wildfire
Abstract
Wildfires can greatly alter the vegetation, soils, and hydrologic processes of watersheds serving as drinking water supplies, which may negatively influence source water quality and treatment. To address wildfire impacts on treatment, a drinking water intake below a burned watershed and an upstream, unburned reference site were monitored following the High Park wildfire (2012) in the Cache la Poudre watershed of northern Colorado, USA. Turbidity, nutrients, dissolved organic matter (DOM) character, coagulation treatability, and disinfection byproduct formation were evaluated and compared to pre-fire data. Post-fire paired spatial differences between the treatment plant intake and reference site for turbidity, nitrogen, and phosphorus increased by an order of magnitude compared to pre-fire differences. Fluorescence index (FI) values were significantly higher at the intake compared to the reference site (Δ = 0.04), and higher than pre-fire years, suggesting the wildfire altered the DOM character of the river. Total trihalomethane (TTHM) and haloacetonitrile (HAN4) formation at the intake were 10.1 μg L -1 and 0.91 μg L -1 higher than the reference site. Post-fire water was amenable to conventional treatment at a 10 mg L -1 higher average alum dose than reference samples. The intake was also monitored following rainstorms. Post-rainstorm samples showed the maximum observed FI values (1.52), HAN4 (3.4 μg mg C -1 ) and chloropicrin formation yields (3.6 μg mg C -1 ), whereas TTHM…
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Sediments can overwhelm water treatment systems, requiring closure of water intakes in some cases.
“Sediments can overwhelm these systems, requiring closure of water intakes in some cases (e.g., following the 2012 High Park wildfire in Colorado, Hohner et al., 2016), and sediments and ash often contain contaminants, including organic pollutants and metals (e.g., Burton et al., 2016).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Hohner et al., 2016
Higher temperatures (≥450°C) volatilized most carbon and nitrogen, suggesting high-intensity fires may result in lower organic carbon and nitrogen export to downstream waterbodies.
“By contrast, higher temperatures (≥450°C) volatilized most carbon and nitrogen, suggesting high-intensity fires may result in lower organic carbon and nitrogen export to downstream waterbodies (Hohner et al., 2016, 2019).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Hohner et al., 2016
Concentrations of carbon and nitrogen compounds often increase following fire, and these compounds can react with disinfectants to form DBPs during drinking water treatment.
“As noted previously, concentrations of carbon and nitrogen compounds often increase following fire, and these compounds can react with disinfectants (e.g., chlorine, chloramine) to form DBPs during drinking water treatment (Bladon et al., 2014; Hohner et al., 2016, 2019).”
From Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management (2022) · cites this paper as Hohner et al., 2016
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“…can aid in understanding DOM properties (McKnight et al., 2001;Weishaar et al., 2003), treatability (Archer and Singer, 2006a; Edzwald, 1993; Liang and Singer, 2003; White et al., 1997), and DBP reactivity (Archer and Singer, 2006b; Beggs et al., 2009; Edzwald et al., 1985; Reckhow et al., 1990).”
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“In Colorado, an increase in surface flow was associated with stream calcium and potassium increases, but not sodium and silica, since they are derived more from subsurface flow paths in that system (Murphy et al., 2018).”
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- Authors
- Hohner, A. K., Cawley, K., Oropeza, J., Summers, R. S., & Rosario-Ortiz, F. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Colorado State University (US)
- Venue
- Water Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-11
- Volume
- 105
- Pages
- 187-198
- ISSN
- 0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2517502422
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 5.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Water Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Coagulation and Flocculation Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Keywords
- wildfire effects, drinking water treatment, dissolved organic matter, fluorescence index, disinfection by-products, trihalomethanes, haloacetonitriles, alum coagulation, turbidity, nutrients, erosion, raw water quality
- MeSH terms
- Colorado, Water Supply, Water Purification, Trihalomethanes, Water Quality, Drinking Water
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