Storm Event Water Quality in an Industrial Cutaway Peatland, Ireland

Description

This dataset was collected to test the hypothesis that effluents from degraded peatland catchments are highly dynamic and pose a year-round risk to surface waters. To investigate this, we measured flow, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, nutrients, SUVA254 (carbon aromaticity), and ions at the outlet of an industrial cutaway raised bog catchment in Ireland during 14 storm events of varying intensities. The storm events were classified based on peak flow, with six events having peak flows <15 L/s and eight events exceeding 30 L/s. These events occurred across all four seasons (six in spring, three in summer, three in autumn, and two in winter) and resulted in datasets with varying sample sizes per event (ranging from 6 to 23 samples per event). Our findings support the hypothesis, revealing high temporal variability in water quality between storm events. Regression models and correlation analyses indicate that climatic factors such as rainfall (as a proxy for flow) and temperature were key drivers of this variability. These data provide valuable insights for understanding the hydrochemical dynamics of degraded peatland catchments and their impacts on downstream waters.

Steps to reproduce

Data was collected during 14 storm events between March 2021 and March 2023 at the outlet of an industrial cutaway raised bog catchment in Ireland. An ISCO 6712 sampler (Teledyne Technologies Inc.) was installed to capture storm water following heavy rainfall. The sampler contained 24 1L polypropylene bottles and was triggered when water levels exceeded a predefined threshold. Sampling frequency was higher during flow rise and peak (every 30 min for the first 12 samples) and lower during flow recession (every 2 h for the remaining samples) if water levels remained elevated. Flow was recorded every 5 min using an ISCO 2150 area velocity flow meter and an ISCO 730 bubbler flow module, the latter measuring water level to estimate flow via a rating curve. Water samples were analysed for pH, electrical conductivity, nutrients, SUVA254 (carbon aromaticity), and ions. Additionally, water temperature was recorded every 30 min during storm events using an EXO2 Multiparameter Sonde (YSI Inc.).

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