Water Quality 



Upper Mississippi River 



Information on the physical and chemical limnology of the upper 

 Mississippi River was obtained from various literature sources. 

 Pre-construction water quality references included Bartow (1913), 

 Galtsoff (1924), Weinhold et al. (1925), Buswell (1927), Wiebe (1927), 

 Ellis (1931a and b), Culler (1934), and Ellis (1936). Post-construction 

 data sources included: Platner (1946), Barnickol and Starrett (1951), 

 Dorris (1958), Dorris et al. (1963), Dunham (1971), and Colbert et al. 

 (1975). A quantitative comparison of pre- and post-construction water 

 quality in the upper Mississippi River proved difficult in that most 

 of the above studies covered only brief periods of time or presented 

 data from widely scattered localities. 



From about 1900, numerous water quality studies of Illinois streams 

 have been conducted by the Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois 

 Water Survey, and the U.S. Public Health Service. The Illinois River 

 has received most of the attention by these agencies. Discussion of 

 the effects of municipal, industrial, and agricultural pollutants on 

 the water quality of the Illinois River can be found elsewhere in this 

 report. 



Early studies of Illinois streams were prompted by deteriorating 

 water quality due primarily to increasing municipal pollution. In a 

 survey of stream pollution in Illinois in 1924, the Illinois Water Survey 

 identified communities discharging domestic wastes into streams of the 

 state (Weinhold et al., 1925). At that time, investigators found that 

 208 Illinois towns located on streams had sewers and 72 had treatment 

 facilities; however, 136 of these communities were discharging some un- 

 purified sewage into water-courses (Weinhold et al. , 1925: 35). Of the 

 communities with treatment works, Weinhold et al. (1925: 56) stated that 

 a large percentage were "poorly kept up and doing little if any good." 

 In a similar survey in 1927, Buswell (1927: 9) reported that 227 stream- 

 side towns had sewers and 108 had treatment works, an increase of 36 towns 



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