Improving Water Quality in Ox Creek
Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA
Runoff during storms moves sediment and various water pollutants Benton Harbor’s Ox Creek. To help reduce this material, known as Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Professor Branko Kerkez and his team are using wireless sensors to monitor water quality and flow conditions and to control drains.
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Principal Investigators
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Co-Principal Investigators
Metrics
Funding Source
Urban Collaboratory
About the Project
Part of the redevelopment efforts of Benton Harbor have focused on Ox Creek, with the envisioned goals of cleaner water, a boat launch, and trails through what are now polluted areas.
To improve water quality, alternative drain techniques to reduce Total Suspended Solids (TSS) have been recommended. This project focuses on the innovative deployment of a sensor network to measure the water and sediment balance of Ox Creek. The project will directly contribute to the goal of the restoration of Ox Creek, through the development of alternative management strategies for agricultural field runoff.
Project deliverables will include:
- An analysis of existing data to understand the hydrology and water quality dynamics of the upper reaches of Ox Creek.
- Soil sampling and the measurement of permeability in the agricultural areas bordering Ox Creek.
- A network of sensors that measure stream stage, turbidity, and suspended solids, temperature and conductivity.
- Two real-time tile drain control structures and their evaluation.
- A real-time control dashboard for tile drain control and water quality parameter data gathered by the sensors.
- An evaluation of the contributions of real-time tile drain control to the improvement of water quality in Ox Creek.
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Learn MorePrincipal Investigators
Branko Kerkez PhD, MS
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Branko Kerkez an assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the University of Michigan. His research interests include water, data, and sensors. He heads the Real-time Water Systems Lab, where his group is presently conducting fundamental research on “smart” water systems. Dr. Kerkez is the founder of Open-Storm.org, an open source consortium dedicated to freely sharing technologies and lessons for the sensing and control of water systems. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, all from UC Berkeley.
Recent Projects
+ Improving Water Quality in Ox Creek
+ Demonstration Project for Real-Time Stormwater Control in Southeast Michigan
Avery Demond PhD, MS
Co-Principal Investigator
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Avery H. Demond is a professor in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the University of Michigan. She holds a B.A. in Biology from Williams College (Williamstown, MA) (1977), a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1980 and 1982), and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University (1988). She was instrumental in developing the BSE in Environmental Engineering degree program at UM and currently serves as its chair.
Dr. Demond’s research is in the area of hazardous waste and the rehabilitation of contaminated industrial properties; she has published on a variety of topics including the effect of contamination on soil transport properties, the leaching of contaminants from aging infrastructure into the water supply, and the impact of historic soil contamination on human health. She served as a coordinator of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Subsurface Science Program’s Multiphase Fluid Flow Subprogram for five years. Furthermore, she has served on a number of National Research Council boards and committees, including the Board on Engineering Education and the Committee for the Review of the DOE Environmental Restoration Priority System. She has received numerous awards for her service. She is a professional engineer, licensed in the State of Michigan.