Groundwater Conditions of the Principal Aquifers of Lee, Whiteside, Bureau, and Henry Counties, Illinois

A large supply of groundwater occurs in a buried aquifer lying in the bedrock valley of the ancestral Mississippi River. This deposit, known as the Sankoty sand, supplies many irrigation wells and underlies more than 750 square miles (sq mi). A shallower and less extensive aquifer, the Tampico, occurs near the surface and underlies more than 480 sq mi. This study defines the regional groundwater flow patterns for these two aquifers in northwestern Illinois and reports the results of measuring groundwater levels in observation wells. The Tampico aquifer is separated from the underlying Sankoty aquifer by an intervening layer of clay or clays. Groundwater within the upper unit exists under unconfined conditions (that is, at atmospheric pressure). The saturated sands comprising the Tampico aquifer are typically 30 to 40 feet thick and are tapped by shallow wells or sandpoints. The Sankoty sand is 100 to 150 feet thick and is commonly used in irrigation wells in Illinois. Groundwater within this unit is pressurized and occurs under confined conditions. The pressure head in the aquifer declines from an elevation of about 670 feet near the town of Ohio to less than 570 feet near Albany along the Mississippi River. A steeper gradient occurs as groundwater flows toward a second outlet near Hennepin. As a result, groundwater elevations decline to levels below 450 feet where the aquifer discharges to the Illinois River. Pumpage during the summer months, largely from irrigation wells causes groundwater levels in the Sankoty aquifer to decline 11 to 13 feet. The area of greatest drawdown extends from Tampico to Walnut, Illinois. Groundwater levels in the Tampico aquifer do not decline as much. A decline of 3 to 3.5 feet is common in the aquifer’s water table. Irrigation wells annually withdraw an estimated 21,000 acre-feet of groundwater. Although the Sankoty aquifer is favored for irrigation, the actual distribution percentage for each aquifer is unknown. No significant, regional water-quality problems were detected in samples collected from either aquifer. The groundwater in both aquifers is of a calcium-bicarbonate type. The water is very hard, with an average value of 306 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in the Sankoty aquifer and 329 mg/L in the overlying Tampico aquifer. The quality of samples from the Sankoty aquifer was excellent, although they contained more iron and are more alkaline than samples from the Tampico aquifer. No discernible patterns were observed in the distribution of total dissolved solids (TDS) values for either aquifer. The average TDS value for water samples was 435 mg/L (Tampico aquifer) and 363 mg/L (Sankoty aquifer). Groundwater in the Tampico aquifer was usually of excellent quality, but it sometimes contained nitrates.Ope

A Comparison of Potentiometric Surfaces for the Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifers of Northeastern Illinois, 1995 and 2000

In response to expanding urban development, the use of Lake Michigan and other sources for public water supplies, and a growing interest in regional water resources development, this report provides a detailed discussion of groundwater withdrawals and water levels in northeastern Illinois. The water-level portion of this report covers a 15-county area from Lake Michigan to north-central Illinois and from the Wisconsin border south to Kankakee County. Particular emphasis, however, has been given to deep well pumpage in the eight counties of the Chicago region because of the significant shift in the late twentieth century from groundwater supplies of the deep bedrock aquifers to Lake Michigan and other sources. This report details the fall 2000 water-level measurement of wells reaching to the St. Peter and Ironton-Galesville sandstones (deep bedrock aquifers), provides a map illustrating the slope of groundwater levels, and compares the fall 2000 levels to the fall 1995 observations. The rapid decrease in groundwater pumpage from the deep bedrock aquifers during the 1980s initially resulted in a rapid recovery of groundwater levels. However, the rate of water-level change has slowed since the mid-1990s. The greatest recovery during the past five years occurred in Cook County. Groundwater levels in several wells were observed to have risen more than 50 feet since 1995. Where the deep bedrock aquifers of Cambrian-Ordovician age continue to be used, declines in groundwater levels were observed. Most notable declines were in southeastern Kane and northern Kendall Counties, southwestern Lake County, and southeastern McHenry County. Outside the Chicago region, water-level declines were observed in deep wells at Loves Park in Winnebago County and in the vicinity of DeKalb and Sycamore in DeKalb County.Ope

The New Chicago Model: A Reassessment of the Impacts of Lake Michigan Allocations on the Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifer System in Northeastern Illinois

This study reports the effects of substituting water from Lake Michigan for groundwater withdrawals. It describes the results of a digital computer model used to predict future ground-water levels based on anticipated pumping schedules. The study area is 148 miles wide and 148 miles long, spanning northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. The model focuses primarily on the "Chicago region" which consists of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and a portion of Will and Grundy Counties, all in northeastern Illinois.Ope

Peoria-Pekin Regional Ground-Water Quality Assessment

This study reports the results of sampling a major aquifer in central Illinois and seeks to define a baseline measure of ground-water quality. The area was targeted because of the use of hazardous substances in proximity to ground-water users. The initial assumption that potential problems might exist proved to be overly pessimistic. The overall quality of ground water from the Sankoty aquifer was found to be excellent, although very hard. The study does recognize, however, that naturally occurring organic carbon occurs more frequently than was previously thought. Methane is dissolved in ground water and frequently occurs, in the eastern portion of the study area, as a volatile organic compound (VOC).Ope

An Assessment of Class V Underground Injection in Illinois

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

High‐density magnetospheric He+ at the dayside magnetopause and its effect on magnetic reconnection

Observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are used to quantify the maximum effect of magnetospheric H+ and He+ on dayside magnetopause reconnection. A data base of current-sheet crossings from the first 2 years of the MMS mission is used to identify magnetopause crossings with the highest He+ concentrations. While all of these magnetopause crossings exhibit evidence of plasmaspheric plume material, only half of the crossings are directly associated with plasmaspheric plumes. The He+ density varies dramatically within the magnetosphere adjacent to the magnetopause, with density variations of an order of magnitude on timescales as short as 10 s, the time resolution of the composition instrument on MMS. Plasma wave observations are used to determine the total electron density, and composition measurements are used to determine the mass density in the magnetosheath and magnetosphere. These mass densities are then used with the magnetic field observations to determine the theoretical reduction in the reconnection rate at the magnetopause. The presence of high-density plasmaspheric plume material at the magnetopause causes transient reductions in the reconnection rate of up to ∼40%.publishedVersio

Alternative Fuel for Portland Cement Processing

The production of cement involves a combination of numerous raw materials, strictly monitored system processes, and temperatures on the order of 1500 °C. Immense quantities of fuel are required for the production of cement. Traditionally, energy from fossil fuels was solely relied upon for the production of cement. The overarching project objective is to evaluate the use of alternative fuels to lessen the dependence on non-renewable resources to produce portland cement. The key objective of using alternative fuels is to continue to produce high-quality cement while decreasing the use of non-renewable fuels and minimizing the impact on the environment. Burn characteristics and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated with a laboratory burn simulator under conditions that mimic those in the preheater where the fuels are brought into a cement plant. A drop-tube furnace and visualization method were developed that show potential for evaluating time- and space-resolved temperature distributions for fuel solid particles and liquid droplets undergoing combustion in various combustion atmospheres. Downdraft gasification has been explored as a means to extract chemical energy from poultry litter while limiting the throughput of potentially deleterious components with regards to use in firing a cement kiln. Results have shown that the clinkering is temperature independent, at least within the controllable temperature range. Limestone also had only a slight effect on the fusion when used to coat the pellets. However, limestone addition did display some promise in regards to chlorine capture, as ash analyses showed chlorine concentrations of more than four times greater in the limestone infused ash as compared to raw poultry litter. A reliable and convenient sampling procedure was developed to estimate the combustion quality of broiler litter that is the best compromise between convenience and reliability by means of statistical analysis. Multi-day trial burns were conducted at a full-scale cement plant with alternative fuels to examine their compatibility with the cement production process. Construction and demolition waste, woodchips, and soybean seeds were used as alternative fuels at a full-scale cement production facility. These fuels were co-fired with coal and waste plastics. The alternative fuels used in this trial accounted for 5 to 16 % of the total energy consumed during these burns. The overall performance of the portland cement produced during the various trial burns performed for practical purposes very similar to the cement produced during the control burn. The cement plant was successful in implementing alternative fuels to produce a consistent, high-quality product that increased cement performance while reducing the environmental footprint of the plant. The utilization of construction and demolition waste, woodchips and soybean seeds proved to be viable replacements for traditional fuels. The future use of these fuels depends on local availability, associated costs, and compatibility with a facilityâs production process