Our water was not impacted by East Palestine

The good news is that our rivers, streams, and groundwater are not connected with the runoff from the train derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio. In fact, they drain a totally different direction. The Great Miami River Watershed drains INTO the Ohio River – not the other way around. Water in the Ohio River is …

PFAS Part IV – PFAS in Major Rivers of the Great Miami River Watershed

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis Are PFAS compounds present in our rivers and if so at what levels or concentrations are they present?  Recent river water sampling by the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) shows some Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) compounds present in all of the major rivers. The results …

Too much salt: It’s not good for you or our water

By Mike Ekberg and Richard Stuck Most of us know that too much salt is unhealthy for the body, raising blood pressure for example. Well, apparently it can be unhealthy for our water, too. As the saltiness or salinity of groundwater increases above naturally occurring levels, so does its potential to harm aquatic life and …

Severe drought in the West — what about our region’s water levels?

According to the measurements taken by MCD over the last 35 years, the water supplies in the Great Miami River Watershed are in what’s called a “steady state.” That means the amount of water that flows into the watershed is roughly equal to the amount of water that flows out. In other words, the amount of water stored in the 4,000 square miles of land that drains into the Great Miami River is relatively constant over the last 35 years. Most of the water stored in the Great Miami River Watershed is in aquifers and lakes.

Earn your Water Diploma – Enroll at Great Miami U!

Win a gift card to your favorite local brewery or coffee shop At most universities you pay to learn. At Great Miami U, we’ll pay you (if we pick your name in a drawing of all our graduates). Earning your degree from Great Miami U is free and easy. And better yet, it only takes …

PFAS Part III — Strategies

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis In Part I, we looked at what per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, are and why you should care. In Part II, we looked at their presence in local drinking water. In this final post, we look at the strategies for dealing with PFAS. …

Part II — PFAS and our water

In Part I, we looked at what per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, are and why you should care. In Part II, we look at the impact to our drinking water. Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances or PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals widely used in consumer products such as cookware, pizza boxes, …

PFAS Part I — the forever chemicals

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resource monitoring and analysis You've probably heard about PFAS, but what are they and why are they such a hot topic today? Amazing chemicals PFAS or per- and polyflouroalkyl substances are a group of chemicals developed in the 1940s that can repel water, dirt, and grease; tolerate high temperatures; …

Where does the Miami Valley get its water?

MCD has created a new series of videos about the importance of water. Many people in the Miami Valley don’t know where our water comes from, how it’s replenished or the ways water is used beyond our daily life activities. They don’t know what an aquifer is or how it works. Or how many industries …

Protecting in all kinds of conditions

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis The US Postal Service is often lauded for delivering the mail in all kinds of weather—rain, snow, sleet, etc. But delivering, or in our case, protecting, in bad weather is kind of our thing. And for the past two weekends, our staff took it to …