Types of Water

For the past 50 years, the USGS has been conducting research in the San Francisco Bay and Delta, California and beyond. This research would not have been possible without the Research Vessel (R/V) Polaris . Many scientists who have been fortunate to work on the Polaris have come and gone, but the Polaris sailed from the South San Francisco Bay continuously from 1968 until her retirement in 2015.

Patent for a pore-water profiler and method for sampling pore water. The pore-water profiler includes a sample intake probe that receives the fluid to be sampled. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

Patent for a sequential, time-integrated collector having an electronic controller that actuates either of two electrically-actuated valves, each connected to a water reservoir. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

A method for treating nitrate-contaminated water comprising treating said water with hydrogen-oxidizing denitrifying bacteria in the presence of hydrogen. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

A matrix for water decontamination has an amended sorbant cellulose substrate with an iron (ferric) oxyhydroxide component and a component to sorb dissolved organic compounds retained by the cellulose substrate. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

A self-contained, transportable system for conducting any of hydrologic tests or water sampling techniques without the need for retooling or readjusting the system. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

A groundwater decontamination system includes a decontamination unit adapted to be lowered down through a non-pumping well into an aquifer containing contaminated water. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

A permeable barrier for decontaminating groundwater having two distinct components for increasing contaminant removal. Preferably, the barrier material is a mixture or distinct layers of bone-char phosphate material and iron oxide pellets. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

A method and apparatus for removing selenate from waste water through the use of selenate respiring microorganisms under substantially anoxic conditions is described. The method includes a first zone for removing nitrate by assimilation into biomass. (Full details available at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website for patents 5,271,831 and 5,009,786.)

In the operation of the present invention, a compacted porous medium is provided with a supply of the desired liquid and is subjected to centrifugal force until the measurement of the flow rate of liquid through the medium is substantially constant. (Full details provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.)

As one of several Focus Area Studies within the USGS National Water Census (NWC), the USGS has completed a 3-year study of water availability and use in the Colorado River Basin.

Some water is just unpleasant to drink—it’s cloudy, or it smells or tastes bad. Some drinking water discolors teeth or skin, stains laundry or plumbing fixtures, or corrodes or clogs pipes. These effects are caused when some naturally occurring constituents occur at concentrations high enough to be a nuisance, and are particularly common where groundwater is used as a drinking water supply.