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Cornell University

Facilities and
Campus Services

Lake Source Cooling SPDES DMRs

The LSC State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit (permit No. 0244741) requires Cornell to submit two Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) to the NYS DEC with monthly sampling results for a variety of parameters in Cayuga Lake and in the Heat Exchange Facility's returned lake water. Table 1 summarizes the parameters, sampling locations and calculations involved in each DMR. Table 2 contains DMR data reported to date for the lake water and Table 3 contains DMR data reported to date for the Heat Exchange Facility's return flow. The current SPDES permit can be found here. 

Table 1. Summary of parameters, sampling locations and calculations reported on monthly DMRs.
   Parameters Reported
Sampling Location
(see figure below)
      Calculations
Lake Water  
  1. Total Phosphorus (TP)
  2. Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP) 
  3. Temperature (T)
  1. Stations 1, 3, 4, 5
  2. Stations 1, 3, 4, 5
  3. Pile Cluster
  1. Average, maximum
  2. Average, maximum
  3. Minimum 7-day average, maximum 
Return Water  
  1. Total Phosphorus (TP)
  2. Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP) 
  3. Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
  4. Flow
  5. Temperature (T)
  6. pH
   Heat Exchange Facility  
  1. Average, maximum
  2. Average, maximum
  3. Average, maximum
  4. Average, maximum
  5. Average, maximum
  6. Minimum, maximum

LSC Sampling Locations:

Map of Cayuga Lake with points identified as locations for sampling