A layman's look at . . .

t/i 

ALABAMA

By G. W. SWINDEL, Jr. 

M. R. WILLIAMS 

J. W. GEURIN 

Revised by H. L. Baldwin

Report based mainly on work accomplished cooperatively with the Geological Survey of Alabama, 

the Alabama Highway Department, and other 

State, Municipal, and Federal agencies

Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1765
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

THOMAS B. NOLAN, Director

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFF[CE:I963

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington 25, D.C.
CONTENTS

	Page

Introduction ............... 1

The supply of water ............ 2

The water cycle ............ 3

How ground water occurs ........ 8

Ground water in Alabama's three major land

divisions ............... 12

Quality of ground water ......... 22

Streamflows as water resources ...... 24

Quality of surface water ......... 38

The use of water .............. 44

Water for the faim ........... 45

Water for cities and towns ........ 48

Water for industry ........... 58

Falling water produces power ...... 63

Rivers are also highways ......... 68

Water for fun and recreation ....... 73

Toward clean streams .......... 74

Floods are a problem .......... 78

Tomorrow's water ............. 82

Supply and demand ........... 83

New sources of water .......... 83

Water laws .............. 85

Toward better water management .... 86

For more information ............ 87

in
FIGURES

Page

1. Water a renewable resource ....... 3

2. Average annual rainfall in Alabama .... 5

3. Annual rainfall at Tuscaloosa ....... 6

4. Monthly evaporation from a pan at Lake

Martin ............... 6

5. Variation in the stage of Indian Creek near

Troy ................ 7

6. Typical rocks and their water-bearing properties ................ 10

7. Conditions necessary for an artesian system . 11

8. Three major physiographic divisions of Alabama ................ 13

9. Water levels in a well at Eclectic, Ala ... 15

10. Wells in the Piedmont .......... 16

11. Subdivisions of the Plateau province .... 17

12. Ground water in solution channels in limestone ................ 18

13. The flow of Tuscumbia Spring, 1957 ... 19

14. Map of Alabama showing a general classification of the aquifers of the Coastal Plain and 

their areas of outcrop ......... 21

15. Composition of the dissolved solids in ground

water ................ 25

16. How the position of the water table affects the

flow of a stream ........... 26

17. How dry-weather flow of streams varies with

basin geology ............ 27

18. The frequency of low flow of five streams . . 28

19. Variation in the low flow of Locust Fork from

place to place along a reach of the stream . 29

20. Normal low flow of Alabama streams ... 30

21. Runoff of Mulberry Fork near Garden City 

compared to the storm rainfall which 

caused it .............. 31

22. How topography affects the flow of a stream . 33

IV
23. How rains associated with a tropical hurricane caused Sofkahatchee Creek near Wetumpka to flood ........... 34

24. Peak flood flows of two Alabama river basins

for various recurrence intervals ..... 35

25. Annual runoff of the Tallapoosa River at

Wadley ............... 36

26. How annual runoff, in cubic feet per second

per square mile, varies over the State . . 37

27. The average annual discharge of Alabama's

larger rivers ............. 39

28. Composition of the dissolved solids in water

from some Alabama streams ...... 41

29. Daily temperature of water in the Chattahoochee Riv^r at Columbia, Ala., and 

monthly average temperature of air at 

Dothan, Ala., 1940-41 . ........ 42

30. Areas of artesiart flow in Alabama ..... 47

31. Reservoir on Tallaseehatchee Creek .... 50

32. Temperature of water in Inland Reservoir . 52

33. The closely spaced municipal wells in Montgomery's West and North well fields ... 53

34. Three pumping wells .......... 55

35. Salt water encroaching into a fresh-water

zone ................ 56

36. Huntsville Big Spring flowing from solution

channel ............... 57

37. Industrial reuse of water ......... 60

38. Profile of the C6osa River ........ 65

39. Wilson Dam and powerhouse ....... 67

40. Sites of proposed and existing dams .... 69

41. A tug and barg^ train being raised to the level 

of the upper pool at Demopolis Lock and 

Dam on Tombigbee River ....... 71

42. Inland and coastal navigable water routes . 73

?Do forests reduce floods?

?Where does my well water come from?

?What is the temperature of the water that will be

found in a well on my farm? 

?Will salt or fresh water be found if I drill a well? 

?Is the water table falling in my State?

These and similar problems are discussed in this 

book. The section on "The supply of water" concerns 

the occurrence of water in Alabama, and some aspects of 

climate and land which affect the supply of water. The 

section "The use of water" is about the use of water in 

Alabama, and problems associated with water supply and 

flood control. The "Tomorrow's water" section discusses 

opportunities for further development.

The three authors are a geologist, an engineer, and a 

chemist of the U.S. Geological Survey. Together, they 

have devoted half a century to the technical and scientific 

study of water resources. Their work in Alabama has 

been supported cooperatively by the U.S. Geological 

Survey, the Geological Survey of Alabama, and several 

Federal, State, and local agencies.

1

The Water Cycle

Our water comes from the ocean, as shown on figure 1, and 

returns to the ocean in a never-ending cycle. Water evaporates 

from the ocean and becomes vapor in the air. Carried overland 

by winds, it condenses and falls as rain or snow, part of which 

is absorbed by soil, part evaporated, and part used by trees 

and plants. The remainder returns to the ocean through streams 

that drain the land. During its journey, water modifies the 

face of the earth by erosion and other processes. The cycle 

moves at a varying pace (sometimes there is drought, occasionally 

flood), but move it does and thus replenishes the supply for land 

and people.

IMPERMEABLE ROCK

FIGURE 1. Water, a renewable resource Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico 

is carried by winds over the land and falls as rain. Part is absorbed by the 

ground, part is used by vegetation, part again evaporates, and part runs back 

to the Gulf in streams.
The total amount of water in and on the earth changes but 

little, if at all. Some is in the oceans, rivers, and lakes; some is 

in openings in soil and rock; some is frozen in polar icecaps and 

in glaciers; some is in the tissues of plants and animals; and some 

is held as vapor in the atmosphere. Most of the vapor that condenses into rain is evaporated from the sea. If the polar icecaps 

melted, the sea would rise and cover sections of Alabama, as it did 

many times long ago in the geologic past.

Most rain that falls on Alabama is moisture that evaporated 

earlier from the Gulf of Mexico. The nearness of the Gulf is 

thus a major reason for plentiful rainfall in Alabama. Rains 

come at intervals as the air moves back and forth and as contact 

between warm air with colder air causes the moist air to release 

part of its water as rain. Climatic forces change with the seasons, 

but the directions and velocity of the winds do not vary greatly 

from season to season; thus, there are no major seasonal differences in the amount of rainfall in Alabama (fig. 2). There 

is, however, a seasonal difference in the type of rainstorms: the 

more intense rains usually occur during warmer months.

General or average conditions obscure variations. Variations 

of weather must be considered because they can be very great 

and extremes are important in relation to water supply. Longtime trends in climate may exist, but there is little evidence of 

any significant trend in Alabama within recent decades or even 

centuries. We are, however, interested in those changes that 

occur from year to year and during periods of a few years.

Rainfall at Tuscaloosa in most years differs greatly from the 

long-time average (fig. 3). During some periods, series of wet 

years or of dry years tend to occur together. At other times wet 

years and dry years occur entirely independently of each other. 

Evidently lack of repeated order or pattern in annual rainfall is a 

characteristic of weather.

An even greater range in variability is evident if single months 

are studied instead of years. At Montgomery, for example, rainfall was less than 0.01 inch in October 1904, but more than 20 

inches in November 1948. In some years when total annual 

rainfall is near normal, seasonal amounts may be abnormally 

high or low.
AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL, IN INCHES

0/r MEXICO

FIGURE 2. Average annual rainfall in Alabama.
INC 

80

70 

60 

50

40

30

1

HES

~ n.li A i A . in

^n /i !l fl/l A/I/IV IliM »' Uv\ / \Apii v V >(f P' ll'' 1"' 1 

i/1 ii v

'

A /v\ . M ' \ , /

'V M/

»

J81 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 '9

FIGURE 3. Annual rainfall at Tuscaloosa.

If we consider individual storms, extreme variations are evident: First, the amount of rain can vary from a mere trace to 

a great deal; about 30 inches fell at Elba in the great storm of 

1929. Second, the area covered by a storm may be very small 

or it may be many thousands of square miles.

About 15,000 cubic miles of water evaporates each year from 

the lakes and land surfaces of the continents. Water evaporates

-ilO

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

FIGURE 4. Monthly evaporation from a pan at Lake Martin and air 

temperature at Auburn.
from lakes and rivers, from wet soil and other wet surfaces, from 

the leaves of plants and trees, and from bodies of snow and ice. 

The amount that evaporates from a given area depends in part 

on the areal extent of the supply available for evaporation and in 

part on the area's climate.

Direct measurement of evaporation from all sources is difficult or impossible, but some idea of potential evaporation can be 

obtained by measuring the amount of water evaporated from 

a pan. Figure 4 shows relation of evaporation to air temperature.

STAGE, IN FEET 

1.0

FIGURE 5. Variation in the stage of Indian CreeK near Troy. The amount of 

water used by vegetation produces daily decrease in the creek level.

Rapid seasonal changes occur in spring and fall, but more water

«

evaporates in the spring than in the fall because days are longer, 

more heat is available, and wind velocities are higher. The rate 

of evaporation is controlled principally by the amount of heat received from the sun and the rate of movement of air. If our 

index had allowed for length of day (to apply a heat factor) and 

for wind movement, the points plotted on the figure would 

form regular lines. Additional factors play an important role 

in evaporation from lakes or reservoirs.

Evaporation from wet surfaces and from trees and plants cannot be measured directly. We are sure that the amount of evaporation from each is very great at times and at other times much 

less, and varies as the supply is plentiful or scarce. Use of water 

by vegetation is illustrated in figure 5.

The stage of Indian Creek near Troy varies with amount of 

water used by riparian (bank-side) vegetation. Withdrawal 

is small at night and greater during the day, but time lag causes
the stream to flow more just before noon and less in the earlyevenings.

During warmer months of the year, trees draw large quantities 

of water through their root systems. The water moves through 

the trunk and branches to the leaves, where it is transpired. 

How much returns to the atmosphere in this way? We do not 

know accurately, but as much as 1,000 pounds of water may be 

transpired by a tree for each pound of wood produced. Trees 

cover two-thirds of Alabama and other water-using vegetation 

occupies other land, so the amount of water involved is very 

large indeed.

Although the exact amount of water evaporated from each 

source is not known, together the different sources return to the 

atmosphere over Alabama an amount of water equal to threefifths of all that is received as rain. In a normal or average 

year, the amount evaporated covers the State to a depth of 32 

inches. In a drier year the amount is less; in a wet year, more. 

The amount also varies with location and land use.

The sky gives us water and takes some of it back again. That 

which remains about two-fifths of the amount received as rain 

is with us for a time as water in the ground or water in the 

streams and lakes. This is the part that man can aspire to 

control or put to use.

How ground water occurs

The supply of water in the ground varies with the seasons of 

the year, it varies from year to year as rainfall varies, and it 

varies from place to place as the soil and the rocks that make 

up the land vary. In respect to ground water, the variations 

that occur from place to place are more important than those 

that occur with time, and to understand them requires study of 

the land, its origin, and its makeup. The science concerned with 

the history and makeup of the earth is called geology.

Geologists read the history of the earth by observing the nature 

of rocks and their location. Many rocks provide evidence of 

extensive seas of an earlier time. Parts of the area that is now 

Alabama were under water during long periods of time, and other 

areas have been subjected to alternating periods of inundation 

and emergence. Long exposure to the forces of weather cause 

rocks to partially rot or decompose to a substantial depth. Other
rocks, such as limestone and dolomite, can be altered internally as 

well as at the surface. Channels and caverns are left as chemical 

waters attack, dissolve, and erode along fractures in the rock 

mass. In some rocks, cracks and fissures are formed by changes 

in temperature or by mechanical action associated with movement of the crust.

The working of external forces can be observed. Alternate 

freezing and thawing breaks up rocks at the surface. The roots 

of trees help the process. Water alone dissolves some material, 

and chemicals in water attack, alter, and modify other earth materials. Rain beats upon the land and helps wear it away. Water 

runs over the land and carves channels to carry water and sediments to the sea and deposit them there. Eventually they form 

sedimentary rocks. Then the mountains and highlands are 

eroded in their turn and reduced to plains and lowlands.

All together, these forces and events have worked to create the 

surface and subsurface of our present world. Knowledge of the 

subsurface is the key to understanding the water in the ground.

Water from rains and from surface streams sinks into the 

ground. Some is retained in the soil near the surface and we call 

that part soil moisture. Some continues to seep downward until 

it can go no farther. At that point it joins other water in the 

ground which has filled up or saturated all the open spaces in the 

earth material. Water in the saturated zone is called "ground 

water." The upper surface of the saturated zone is the water 

table.

The amount of open spaces in the earth material can be small 

or large, depending on the type of material. In fine-grained material like clay, the open spaces or pores are small. Figure 6 shows 

the makeup of rocks common to Alabama and how they vary in 

porosity, or water-holding, ability. Limestone solution channels, 

which can gradually become caves many feet in diameter, are 

capable of holding large quantities of water. Many other sedimentary rocks can also store large quantities of water. In hard 

or consolidated rocks, openings usually occur as cracks caused by 

the breaking or fracturing of the rocks, but occasionally such 

rocks also contain solution channels. Thus the occurrence of 

ground water varies with the characteristics of the type of material and the structure of the rock. Porous rocks that store and 

(or) transmit water are called "aquifers."
FIGURE 6. Typical rocks and their porosity or water-bearing capacity. A, 

rock of very high porosity: sand or gravel of uniform porous grains and uniform 

intergranular space; B, rock of high porosity: sand or gravel of uniform grain 

size and intergranular space, but the grains themselves being imporous/ C, rock 

of low porosity: sand or gravel having grains of different sizes and lacking 

uniform intergranular space; D, rock of very low porosity: sand or gravel of 

different grain sizes in a cemented mixture,- E, rock made porous by solution 

channels (as in limestone or marble); F, rock made porous by fractures (as in 

granite or other dense impermeable rock).
Water seeks its own level, as the old saying goes. As the water 

in a stream flows toward a lower level, so does water in the 

ground. Water circulates freely in some rocks, and this type of 

rock is called "permeable." The opposite type of rock is impermeable. Unconsolidated materials like sand and gravel usually 

permit water to move in any direction. The movement of water 

in fractures or in solution channels of consolidated materials is 

more restricted and must follow the course of the fracture or the 

channel.

Sedimentary rocks may have both permeable and impermeable 

layers. Water in a permeable layer between impermeable ones 

can only move laterally along the course of the permeable layer. 

Under such conditions, the water is "corifmed" by the impermeable layers and is under "pressure" of the water in that part of 

the layer at a higher elevation (fig. 7). If a hole or well were 

drilled through the upper confining layer, the water would rise 

in that hole to the level made possible by the pressure. An artesian well is one in which the water is under pressure. At places 

where the land surface is low enough and the pressure is great 

enough, the water flows freely at the level of the ground. All 

artesian wells, however, do not flow.

FIGURE 7. Conditions necessary for an artesian system. Rain, falling on the 

intake area, moves downward into the water-bearing bed and is confined 

under pressure. Water levels in wells rise toward the surface and, where the 

land-surface is low enough as in wells A and B, the wells flow. Well C is a 

nonflowing artesian well. Well D is a shallow water-table well. Seeps occur 

where the shallow water table intersects the land surface along streambeds or

in ravines.

681589 O - 63 - 2 11
The water table rises as it is replenished (or-recharged) by 

rain or falls as water slowly drains to a lower level. The lowest 

natural outlet level for most ground water is a nearby stream 

channel. Water in some sedimentary rocks follows a permeable 

formation to great depths below the earth's surface. Because 

some of these formations extend under the Gulf of Mexico, some 

ground water returns to the Gulf by this route, but the amount 

is relatively small.

The shape of the water table is partly controlled by the topography of the land and tends to conform, in a general way, to the 

shape of the land surface. Depressions in the land are sometimes 

below the water table; ponds may be formed in which water 

stands at the level of the water table. However, if fine sediments seal the bottom and sides of the pond, the movement of 

water between pond and ground is prevented. Therefore, the 

water level of the pond does not necessarily reflect the level of 

the water table.

The amount of water held in limestone channels tends to vary 

greatly throughout the year. At the end of the wet winter season, 

it is at a maximum. In the spring and summer months, the demand of trees and crops for water increases and less water is available to sink into the ground; the water level in the ground slowly 

declines and usually reaches its lowest point by late fall or early 

winter.

Ground water in Alabama's three major 

land divisions

The rocks in Alabama range in age from a few million to more 

than 500 million years. Alabama has three major physiographic 

divisions, based on type and age of rocks: the Piedmont, the 

Plateau, and the Coastal Plain (fig. 8). The similarity of the 

rock types within each area implies a similarity of occurrence of 

ground water within each area. Because that implication is 

true, broadly speaking, it provides a convenient basis on which 

to discuss and define the occurrence of ground water in the 

State.

However, a word of caution is in order. Within each area 

the major similarities in the age and makeup of the rocks are 

pronounced, but there are also local variations. When they occur,

12
k x LAUDERDALE

COLBERT

LIMESTONE MADISON JACKSON

LAWRENCE

FRANKLIN MORGAN DE KALB

MARSHALL

MARION WINSTON CULLMAN CHEROKEE!

ETOWAH

BLOUNT

[LAMAR WALKER

FAYETTE ST CLAIR - CALHOUN

JEFFERSON CLEBURNE1

TALLADEGA 

PICKENS TUSCALOOSA SHELBY r CLAY RANDOLPH

BIBB I

' T- ~ COOSA CHAMBERSl

GREENE _ ' i £HILTON TALLAPOOSA

HALE

PERRY

ELMORE

SUMTER AUTAUGA

DALLAS

MARENGO

CLARKE

MONTGOMERY

LEE

MACON RUSSELL

BULLOCK

WILCOX

BUTLER

MONROE ' CRENSHAW

WASHINGTON ~ CONECUH COFFEE

 . f- - COVINGTON

HENRY

ESCAMBIA GENEVA

GULF OF MEXICO

FIGURE 8^-fhree major physiographic divisions of Alabama, based on fype

and age of rocks.

'lift ! :!*-!.<« 
the local variations can modify the occurrence of ground water, 

and at places they all can be important.

The rocks in the Piedmont are the oldest in Alabama. The 

more recent ones were formed over 200 million years ago, and 

many are older than 500 million years. Some are sediments of 

an ancient time and have been uplifted, distorted, and folded 

into a very complex arrangement. Others are igneous intrusions caused by molten masses migrating along ancient openings 

in the crust. Through long exposure to the elements, the rocks 

have weathered to great depths. In some areas, the weathered 

material remains in place and forms a relatively flat elevated 

surface. In other areas it has been deeply eroded by the streams 

which drain the land. Here we find granite, schist, gneiss, quartzite, slate, phyllite, and marble. These are hard rocks, they contain some cracks, crevices, and solution channels, but, in general, the openings extend downward only 200 to 300 feet. The 

largest openings are found in marble.

The water table is sometimes in the weathered material and 

sometimes in the bedrock. Generally, in upland areas it is in 

the bedrock and in lowland areas in the mantle overlying the 

bedrock. Water in the mantle can be obtained from a dug well, 

but drilled wells are needed to tap the supply in the bedrock.

About 70 percent of the domestic wells in the area are dug. 

In general, dug wells have low yields and many go dry during 

droughts (fig. 9). The yield is limited by the very low rate at 

which water can flow through the fine, tightly packed material 

in the weathered zone. Wells fail in dry times when the water 

table declines below the bottom of the well.

Drilled wells yield larger supplies, but the average drilled-well 

yield in the Piedmont is only about 30 gallons per minute. The 

yield of a well is usually expressed in gallons per minute. One 

gallon per minute is equal to 1,440 gallons per day, and 694 

gallons per minute equals 1 million gallons per day. A successful drilled well must penetrate a sufficient number of openings 

in the bedrock to provide the desired yield of water. Some wells 

penetrating solution channels in marble yield as much as 900 

gallons per minute, but the occurrence of marble is chiefly 

limited to Talledega County.

Springs in the Piedmont are numerous but generally have small 

yields. They occur where the water table intersects the land sur14
WATER LEVEL, IN FEET 

6

BELOW LAND SURFACE

RAINFALL, IN INCHES

1955 J95_d \9$7

FIGURE 9. Water levels in a well at Eclectic, Ala., showing Fluctuation in

response to rainfall.

face and are most numerous at the heads of steep valleys where 

bedrock commonly crops out. Large springs in the Piedmont 

flow chiefly from solution cavities in marble.

The choice of a well site in the Piedmont area is often a 

matter of convenience, little attention being given to factors 

controlling the occurrence of ground water. In addition to 

convenience of location, the choice of a well site should be determined by quantity and quality of water needed, type of rock, 

location of fractures and openings in the rock, thickness of soil 

zone, geologic structure, topography and surface drainage, and 

the danger of pollution.

The configuration of the land (called "topography") is the 

most important factor in locating a successful well in the Piedmont area. Wells in valleys have the highest average yield,- 

about 40 gallons per minute. The yield from wells on slopes 

averages 26 gallons per minute. The wells having the lowest 

average yield, 13 gallons per minute, are on hilltops (fig. 10).

15
FIGURE 10. Wells in the Piedmont. Well A, drilled in a small valley, intersects many fractures and has a shallow water level. Well B, drilled on a hill, 

intersects few fractures and has a deep water level.

Water obtained from wells and springs in the Piedmont is 

relatively free from mineral matter. Sometimes the iron content may be high enough to stain clothing and utensils, but 

generally the water is low in total dissolved solids and is not 

highly corrosive.

The Plateau can be subdivided roughly as follows: limestone 

valley, coal measures, valley and ridge (fig. 11). The rocks in 

the Plateau were deposited in a sea that covered all the State 

but the Piedmont from about 125 to about 500 million years ago. 

The material was laid down horizontally, and some of the layers 

(or "beds," as the geologist calls them) are thick and massive. 

The beds in the area bordering the Piedmont were later subjected 

to pressure from disturbances in the earth's crust. The long 

northeast-trending parallel folds that form the valleys and 

ridges at the eastern edge of the Plateau are evidence of these 

disturbances.

The rocks of the Plateau include limestone, sandstone, shale, 

and coal. The first three are sedimentary deposits; the last is 

organic material. Coal occurs in seams from a few inches to a 

few feet thick and is to be found to some extent in all the area 

except a portion of the Tennessee Valley. Interlayered with the

16
Limestone Valley 

Coal Measures 

Valley and Ridge

GULF OF MEXi

FIGURE 11. Subdivisions of the Plateau province.
coal are sandstone and shale. Limestone beds are found at the 

surface in the Tennessee Valley and in the areas where disturbances have occurred.

Ground-water conditions in the area of the Coal Measures are 

much like those of the Piedmont. Here water is found in cracks 

and crevices and in the mantle overlying the rock. Here both 

dug wells and drilled wells are used; their yield varies from a few 

gallons to 300 gallons per minute. As in the Piedmont, topography is an important factor in locating a successful well. It is 

sometimes necessary to drill one or more test wells to find openings 

in the bedrock capable of supplying the desired quantity of water. 

Wells intersecting faults or large fracture zones can furnish substantial quantities of water.

In the limestone area of the Tennessee Valley, ground water is 

developed from wells intersecting solution channels and cavities 

in the limestone and from large springs issuing from the limestone. 

Solution channels are formed in the limestone by the chemical and 

abrasive action of water which enlarges fractures and joints in 

the bedrock (fig. 12). These tubelike openings range in size

FIGURE 1 2. Three hypothetical wells, tapping ground water in solution channels 

in limestone: Well A, successful and yields water throughout the seasons,- 

Well B, only partly successful because it would be dry during prolonged 

droughts,- Well C, unsuccessful because it penetrates no solution channels.

18
from a few inches in diameter to large caves. A network of solution channels extending over a large area forms a huge underground reservoir for the storage of water. Sometimes solution 

channels intersect the soil zone at the top of the bedrock and sink 

holes are formed by the inflow of surface water. In such areas 

the water can move rapidly from the surface to the underground 

channels. Polluted surface water may reach the channels and 

move considerable distances underground in a short period of 

time. However, recharge is chiefly from precipitation which 

filters through the soil zone and into the solution channels in 

cavernous areas. Springs occur at places where solution channels intersect the land surface near the base of hills and in the 

valleys. The flow from springs varies with the seasons of the 

year as shown in figure 13. Limestone reservoirs below the level 

of spring outlets stay full, or nearly so, at all times.

Success of wells in cavernous limestone is best assured by 

putting down test wells to locate solution channels and to determine their size. If many wells are needed in an area, a

DISCHARGE, IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND 

150

125

100

Jan | Feb , Mar Apr i May | June i July Aug I Sept Oct | Nov Dec

FIGURE 13. Flow of Tuscumbia Spring, 1957. Note that Flow varies From

season to season.

19
general study of the area should be made to insure that pumping 

at one well will not adversely affect the yield of another. Wells 

penetrating solution channels in limestone sometimes yield large 

quantities of water; one at Huntsville, for example, can supply 

7,000 gallons per minute. Many are capable of producing 

several hundred gallons per minute.

Water in the rocks of the Plateau is generally of good quality, 

though water developed in sandstone and shale sometimes contains objectionable amounts of iron. Water developed from 

limestone is moderately hard and requires additional soap when 

used for washing, but seldom requires special treatment to lessen 

the hardness.

The rocks of the Coastal Plain are the most recent in Alabama. 

About 125 million years ago, the sea began to recede. The 

present Alabama-Florida shoreline was established about 1 million years ago. All rocks in the Coastal Plain are of sedimentary 

origin; some are now mostly sand and gravel, others are clay, 

chalk, marl, and soft limestone. Originally the beds were nearly 

horizontal, but they now dip southward toward the Gulf of 

Mexico at a rate of about 40 feet per mile. Each layer is thus 

exposed to the surface at its northern terminus and is overlain 

downdip by beds of later sedimentary rock.

Water can enter rock formations where they are exposed, or 

"crop out," at the surface. Water can also enter through 

overlying formations which are permeable. Many formations 

are mostly unconsolidated sand and gravel and are capable of 

storing and transmitting large quantities of water. At greater 

depths the formations can collect and retain oil and gas. For 

example, a sand bed containing water at Tuscaloosa and Eutaw 

contains oil and gas at Gilbertown and Pollard.

Although individual wells at places in the Piedmont and on 

the Plateau yield more water than individual wells in the Coastal 

Plain, the Coastal Plain generally is more abundantly supplied 

with water. The consistent occurrence of good water-bearing 

sand and gravel beds through large areas of the Coastal Plain make 

the development of large-capacity wells relatively easy (fig. 14).

The problem of finding water is principally one of locating the 

permeable formation capable of supplying the water needed. 

The water-holding and transmitting characteristics of the formations are generally known to geologists. Each formation can be 

identified by its place in the successive layers of formations, and

20
OF MEXICO

EXPLANATION 

Outcrop of generally excellent aquifers

Outcrop of generally good aquifers 

Outcrop of generally poor aquifers

FIGURE 14. Map of Alabama showing a general classification of the aquifers 

of the Coastal Plain and their areas of outcrop.

21
by the fossil remains of ancient sea life that are peculiar to each 

bed.

Clay, claystone, and chalk are not permeable and yield very 

little water to wells and springs. Limestone sometimes yields 

large quantities of water to wells penetrating solution cavities 

in the formation. Shallow wells, usually less than 100 feet in 

depth, can be developed in good sand and gravel beds. Along 

the coast and elsewhere, surface sands are developed simply by 

driving well points and sand screens to depths as much as 30 

feet.

Drilled wells, ranging in diameter from 4 to 18 inches and in 

depth from a few feet to as much as 1,500 feet, are the most 

efficient and practical means of developing ground water from 

the better water-bearing sands and gravels in the Coastal Plain. 

These wells range in yield from the small domestic or farm well 

pumping 5 to 10 gallons per minute to the large municipal or 

industrial well producing as much as 1,000 gallons per minute. 

The Coastal Plain has been an area of extensive development of 

artesian flowing wells. In lowland areas along major streams, 

wells will flow when they penetrate confined sand beds whose 

recharge areas are at elevations higher than the well site. The 

discharge from these wells ranges from a few gallons per minute 

to as much as 2,500 gallons per minute. Some farmers and 

ranchers have developed several flowing wells on the same farm 

for stock use because construction of additional wells was more 

economical than providing pipelines.

In the Coastal Plain, ground water is generally of good quality. 

In some areas, only highly mineralized water is available, but in 

most areas it is possible to obtain water low in mineral content 

by drilling to a selected formation.

Quality of ground water

Water is a mineral. Gold, iron, and salt are also minerals. Each of these solid minerals responds on contact with 

water in a different way. For example, gold rings are not affected 

by contact with water. Iron rusts as it comes in contact with 

water and ultimately the rust will consume the iron. If a teaspoon of salt is put into a pitcher of water, it immediately disappears. Each substance has reacted in a different way, but the 

water appears unchanged. However, by performing certain tests

22
we learn that the water has also reacted. The water was unchanged by contact with the gold, but it absorbed some of the 

iron and all the salt.

The mineral content of water changes in its journey through 

the cycle from the sea to the sky to the land and back to the 

sea. The more common dissolved minerals in water are the 

chlorides, bicarbonates, and sulfates of calcium, magnesium, and 

sodium. Very minor amounts of what are commonly called 

trace elements in water, such as copper, manganese, lead, and 

zinc, are also present, for almost any known mineral is slightly 

soluble in water. Some of the materials are organic, that is, they 

have originated from plant or animal life.

The amount of minerals that will be dissolved depends on the 

type of minerals and their resistance to chemical and physical 

attack, the length of time the minerals are in contact with water, 

and the chemical composition and temperature of the water itself. 

Once the minerals are in water, their concentrations can be 

changed by the influence of rainfall, the topography which controls the rapidity with which the rain runs off into the streams and 

the ocean, and the amount of materials added or removed by the 

continued action of the water on soluble materials or by man's 

activities. Thus, the mineral content of water reflects the environment of the water.

The formations in the earth from which we obtain our water, 

because of the manner in which they were laid down, usually 

consist of rocks and minerals of similar chemical composition. It 

would be expected then that water from a particular place in a 

particular formation would have the same characteristics for long 

periods of time, and in general, it does. However, the characteristics of the water at distant points in the same formation may 

be different. This difference may result from the presence of 

rocks of slightly different composition in the formation, or the 

water may have passed through several formations during its 

journey.

It has already been noted that after the rain falls on the surface 

of the earth, it percolates downward through the soils and rocks 

until it reaches the water table. If we examine the rainwater 

for its mineral content during this journey, we will note that it is 

almost pure but that small quantities of gases it contains increase 

its ability to dissolve materials from the earth's crust. In addition, contact with plants and bacteria within the top few inches of

23
the soil increases the carbon dioxide content considerably as 

much as 10 to 1,000 times the amount found in the atmosphere. 

The presence of this gas causes one mineral, calcium carbonate, 

to be 100 times more soluble in water. If, then, the water percolates through limestone, it picks up a considerable amount of 

calcium and carbonate. There is a limit, however, to the amount 

of dissolved calcium and carbonate the water can carry, and this 

limit is dependent not only on the solubility of the limestone but 

also on the presence of other minerals in the water.

If the rain falls on an area of resistant rocks such as granite or 

on insoluble quartz sands, very little material will be dissolved by 

the water. However, as it comes in contact with more soluble 

materials, these will be picked up and carried along. Thus, 

water passing from one formation to another will vary in mineral 

content and concentration and will affect the chemical composition of the formations through which it passes.

Figure 15 shows graphically the composition and amounts of 

the more common minerals dissolved in ground water in various 

sections of the State. 'The mineral concentrations are considered 

to be generally representative of the composition of the water of 

the formation at these points, although they may vary within the 

general area.

In addition to the mineral content, the temperature of ground 

water is also often considered in determining its worth for use. 

For many industrial uses, temperature is considered as important 

a property as the mineral composition. The temperature of 

ground water is relatively stable in comparison to that of surface 

streams or impoundments in the same area. The temperature 

of shallow ground water which is between 30 and 60 feet below 

the land surface is generally 2° to 4°F above the mean annual 

air temperature of the area. Water nearer the surface will vary 

about 10° to 20°. Below 60 feet the temperature of the water 

increases with depth at the rate of about 1 °F for each additional 

100 feet.

Streamflows as water resources

The Alabama River flows ceaselessly to the sea, and so do many 

other streams in spite of long periods of little or no rain. From 

where, then, did the water come? It came from the ground. 

During periods between rains, the flow of streams is maintained

24
103

140

- .^LIMESTONE 

Muscle Shoals ! "Huntsville JACKSON

 Birmingham 

t JEFFERI.ON _ 

CShannon* j-_~_ ~~\ 

-

PICKENS TUSCALOOSA

IALE PFRRY CHILTON

J . Marion

Parts per million 100 dissolved solids

Sodium

Magnesium

Calcium

Chloride and nitrate 

Sulfate

Bicarbonate

%%

100 

Depth in feet of well

Note: Each side of bar represents 

50 percent of dissolved solids in sample

218

FIGURE 15. Composition of the dissolved solids in ground water in Alabama.
by water already in the stream channels or by water seeping from 

the ground or flowing from springs. If dry weather persists, 

ultimately all streamflow will be from water stored in the ground. 

When the water table is below the level of a stream, water moves 

from the stream to the ground, but when it is above, ground water 

feeds the stream. Because of this relation, shallow headwater 

streams will at times cease to flow while nearby deeply intrenched 

streams continue to flow (fig. 16).

FIGURE 16. How the position of the water table affects the flow of a stream. 

Stream A is above the water table and loses water to the ground; it may not 

flow during droughts. Stream B is below the water table and receives water 

from the ground; it will flow until the water table declines below the bed of the 

stream.

We have seen how water in the ground varies from place to 

place, being plentiful in some places and scarce in others. The 

minimum or low flow of streams varies in a similar manner: 

the flow is well sustained in some places during droughts and 

poorly sustained in others. The dry-weather flow of two streams 

which drain contrasting geologic areas is shown in figure 17. 

The flow of each stream diminishes but each at a different rate. 

The rate depends on the ability of the ground to hold and 

release water to the stream. The Autauga Creek basin (being 

underlain by unconsolidated sand and gravel) can hold much 

water, but the basin of Little River (being in sandstone and shale) 

can hold little.

26
In figure 17 we have introduced a factor which requires a 

few words of explanation. The flow or discharge of the stream 

is shown as discharge in cubic feet per second (cfs). It is equivalent to approximately 450 gallons per minute or two-thirds of a 

million gallons per day. Note also that the discharge scale is 

of the logarithm type, in which the pattern of horizontal lines is 

repeated in cycles. The scale used here has three cycles. The 

values of the second cycle are 10 times those of the first, and those 

of the third cycle are 10 times those of the second. If this simple relationship is remembered, it is easy to determine the value 

of other lines on the scale which are not marked, and to interpret 

information plotted on this type of scale.

A study of the records of the flow of a stream as it varies from 

day to day over a period of years shows that the low flow of 

each year usually differs from that of other years. If these low 

flows are listed in order of magnitude, the smallest and the largest 

are immediately obvious, but the relation of these extreme values 

to the others is not so clearly seen. If we now go a step farther and 

compute by certain mathematical procedures the frequency

FIGURE 17. How dry-weather flow of streams varies with basin geology. Autauga Creek basin is in sand and gravel. Little River flows over sandstone 

and shale.

DISCHARGE, IN CUBIC 

FEET PER SECOND 

500

100

50

10

Autauga Creek

Sand and grovel basin

i lime River

Sandstone and dhole boim

10 15 

TIME. IN DAYS

20 25 30
of occurrence of the various flows and plot that information on a 

suitable graph, we can better understand the meaning of all the 

values in the list. Figure 18 was derived in that manner. Low 

flow is the average discharge during the week of lowest discharge 

in each year, 1900-54, values for some years being estimated. 

Figure 18 shows how the flows are related to each other and 

how they plot on a time scale. Half of the values in the list 

would plot along the portion of the curve to the left of the line 

for the 2-year recurrence interval, and half to the right of that

7-DAY LOW FLOW, IN CUBIC FEET 

PER SECOND

1000

500 -

100 -

1.01 1.1 1.3 1.5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 

RECURRENCE INTERVAL, IN YEARS

20 30 40 50

Drainage area 

Station (sq mi)

1. Pea River near Samson .... ....................... 1,187

2. Tallapoosa River at Wadley- . .............. 1,660

3. Cahaba River at Centreville ........................ 1,029

4. Locust Fork at Trafford. ......................... 625

5. Flint River near Chase. 342

FIGURE 18. The frequency of low flow of five Alabama streams. The frequency 

of low flow of streams may be predicted from past records. For example: The 

2-year recurrence flow is considered normal low flow. The Locust Fork at 

Trafford could be expected to reach a low flow of about 11 0 cfs each year, 

but to reach a low flow of 7 cfs only once in 50 years.

28
line. The 2-year line is thus the line at which the median 

weekly low flow will be found. We can term this "normal low 

flow." All flows to the right of the 2-year line can be classed as 

flows during periods of drought. Values of flow at 10-, 20-, 

30-, and 50-year recurrence intervals are progressively smaller 

and will occur with decreasing frequency. For example, we 

would expect the 50-year discharge to occur only twice in a century, on the average. At other times in that century the flow 

would normally be larger.

Figure 18 shows the normal low flow of Locust Fork at Trafford to be 29 cubic feet per second. Records of flow of the 

Locust Fork have also been obtained at other sites along the 

stream. From those records we can determine the normal low 

flow, and by comparing the several values can learn how the 

flow varies along the stream (fig. 19).

At places the Locust Fork discharge is suddenly increased by 

water from sizable tributary streams. At other places the flow 

is gradually increased by water from springs or seeps or from 

smaller tributaries.

The normal low flow for many streams and sites in the State 

has been determined. Adjustment of such flows to represent

NORMAL LOW WATER DISCHARGE,

IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND

50

110 100 90 80 70 60 

RIVER MILES ABOVE MOUTH

50 30

FIGURE 19. How the low flow of Locust Fork varies from place to 

along a reach of the stream.

place

29
! 0.14 A 

0.009/0.23 o. 2 2^.

0.43 f'0.36 /Q.30

NORMAL IOVV FLOW, IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND

FIGURE 20. Normal low flows of Alabama streams. Figures are adjusted 

to represent runoff from 1 square mile so that each can be compared with the 

others. Normal low flow is that calculated to recur every 2 years.
runoff from only 1 square mile permits comparisons that show the 

variation of flows from stream to stream and from area to area. 

Figure 20 gives that information for many small streams, but not 

for the larger rivers. Values of normal low flow in cubic feet 

per second per square mile for tributary streams are shown on the 

map at sites where information was obtained; they represent the 

low-water yield of the basin above that point. Because yield is 

stated in discharge per square mile of stream basin, each figure 

can be directly compared to all others on the map. Flows vary 

greatly from stream to stream in some areas and are more uniform in others.

Figure 20 shows values ranging from no flow to 0.98 cubic 

foot per second per square mile. Some of the values can be related to and explained by the geology of the basin which the 

stream drains; others cannot be adequately related to properties 

of the land. Precise values can be obtained only from records of 

flow.

STORM RUNOFF, IN INCHES 

10

0 2 4 6 8 10 !2 

STORM RAINFALL, IN INCHES

FIGURE 21. Runoff of Mulberry Fork near Garden City compared to the 

storm rainfall which caused it.

31
Flows of the larger streams those that drain basins of about 

1,000 or more square miles are subject to annual variations 

but are less subject to variations caused by local land properties, 

for they commonly drain more than one type of land.

Heavy rains occur several times annually in Alabama. Some 

cover small areas, some large ones; some last for minutes and 

others for days. If the ground is wet at the start of the rain, 

most of the water will run off oVer the ground and into the 

streams. If the ground is dry, a larger part will seep into the 

ground and a smaller part will run off (fig. 21).

Infiltration will vary also with the type of soil or rock in a 

basin. Some soils are deep, sandy, and porous and can absorb 

large quantities of water. Other soils are shallow and can hold 

but little water, or, like clay, are very impermeable and can absorb 

water only at a slow rate. In nearly all soils the capacity for 

infiltration is greatest at the start of a rain and becomes less as 

the rain continues.

On a bare clay soil, the splashing and churning of the raindrops 

tend to seal or cut off the pores at the surface of the ground and 

thereby reduce the capacity for infiltration. In forests, the trees 

partially shield the ground from the impact of the rain, and 

litter on the ground conditions the soil to absorb the maximum 

amount of rainfall. Thus forests tend to promote infiltration and 

indirectly to reduce direct runoff and the size of floods in the 

streams.

When a stream overflows its banks, water spreads over the 

bottomland. As the stream continues to rise, a broad lake is 

formed as if there were a dam downstream. Because flow over 

bottom lands and flow into a lake are very much alike in appearance and in effect on the discharge of a stream, engineers speak of 

such flow as "water going into storage" if the lake level is rising, 

and "water coming from storage" if the lake level is falling. 

Water going into storage reduces the flow downstream from the 

place of storage.

It has been shown that the relation of rainfall to runoff varies 

widely and is affected by topography (fig. 22), the rate and the 

amount of rainfall, the porosity of the soil, and the condition of 

the ground (whether wet or dry, barren, or forested). If we had

32
DISCHARGE, IN THOUSANDS 

OF CUBIC FEET PER SECOND 

40

'35

cay30

25

20

15

10

5

March 27 28 29 30 31 April 1 2

FIGURE 22. How topography affects the flow of a stream. Mulberry Fork 

near Garden City flows in an area of rugged topography. The Sipsey Fork 

at Moores Bridge flows in an area of flat topography.

to determine flood flows by considering all these things, the task 

would be impossible or nearly so. Fortunately we can measure 

flood flows directly, and get the information we seek from the 

streams themselves.

In 1929 the people of Elba and Brewton and elsewhere in 

south Alabama saw their cities and their lands engulfed by floodswollen rivers. Streams that normally are a few feet to a few 

hundred feet wide rose out of their banks and kept rising until 

at some places they became miles wide. And as they rose, they 

washed out roads and bridges and dams, ruined crops and 

drowned cattle, and covered the streets of some towns to the 

second floor of buildings. The damage was counted in millions 

of dollars.

The height of the water in the channel and the size of the area 

inundated are important, but do not provide a good basis for 

judging floods for they are related to conditions that vary greatly 

from place to place. The engineer appraises floods by the amount 

of flow during the flood period and by the stage and rate of flow 

at the peak of the flood. The Geological Survey collects data 

on the volume of flow. This information is required for proper 

design and operation of dams and reservoirs for flood control. 

Information on peak stage and rate of flow is used in designing

33
spillways, bridge openings, and levees, in improving the carrying 

capacities of channels, in locating buildings above flood water, 

for flood-warning services, and for other purposes.

Volumes of flow are conveniently obtained from graphs similar 

to those showing flow on Sofkahatchee Creek (fig. 23). Peak 

discharges are appraised by plotting the magnitude of flow on a 

scale of frequency. Methods similar to those explained in the 

discussion of low flows are used. Values for two river basins are 

shown in figure 24; they differ because storm-runoff characteristics 

differ in the two basins.

As mentioned earlier, many factors affect the rate of runoff 

from the land and thus the rate of flow of water in a stream. 

Further study has shown that the effect of some factors is closely

DISCHARGE, IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND 

2000 ,

FIGURE 23. Flood on Sofkahatchee Creek near Wetumpka, September 26-27, 

1953. Rains associated with a tropical hurricane caused the flood. Flows 

are much larger at the downstream station because of the increase in drainage 

area.

34
HOOD PEAK DISCHARGE, IN 

CUWC FEET PER SECOND 

100,000

80,000 ~ 

60,000

40.0W ~

2000

JOO 200 400 600 $001000 

DRAINAGE AREA, IN SQUARE MILES

FIGURE 24. Peak flood flows of two river basins in Alabama for various 

recurrence intervals. Size of drainage basin is one of many factors that affect 

the rate of runoff of a stream.

related to the area of the watershed. This relation simplifies 

the problem of finding an easily defined index to use in appraising 

peak flood flows in different streams. Our index is size of drainage area. Values of runoff for two stream basins are compared 

to size of drainage area in figure 25. The values for the two 

basins differ greatly and that difference reflects the impact of the 

variables not explained in the area index. The flood-producing 

characteristics of other basins in Alabama are generally in the 

range of values shown on the figure.

On the Great Seal of Alabama, a small map outlines the boundaries of the State. The only information shown within these 

boundaries is the location of the larger rivers in the State. We 

like to think that the seal's designer recognized the value of the 

streams to the people of the State. The land, the water, the forests, and the minerals are valuable to the people and are termed 

"natural resources." Sometimes there are droughts or floods,

35
and at such times the supply of water is a problem. If, however, 

all the flows could be merged into an average value, it would 

eliminate the extremes that cause most of our water problems. 

For example, suppose that we lived on the bank of a stream in 

which the water never rose to a flood level nor receded to the 

low flows of a drought. That stream would indeed be a blessing 

to those who lived beside it. The average supply of water in the 

streams and in the ground is a blessing to the people of the State 

and is considered by many to be our most important natural 

resource.

RUNOFF, IN INCHES 

40

30

20

10

 0

20 30 40 50 60 

RAINFALL, IN INCHES

70 80

FIGURE 25. Annual runoff of the Tallapoosa River at Wadley compared to 

the amount of rain falling on the basin. The straight line shows the relation of 

average annual rainfall to average annual runoff.

When all the flows in a stream for a year are merged into a 

single value, the result would be the average flow for that year. 

If this data were collected for a number of years, the long-time 

average annual flow for the stream could be found. Let us take 

a closer look at these yearly and long-time values.

In figure 25 the line that represents the average relation of rainfall to runoff has been extended upward and downward. The 

extension indicates that no runoff would occur from an annual 

rainfall of 23 inches and that runoff would be 40 inches if annual

36
FIGURE 26. How annual runoff, in cubic feet per second per square mile,

varies over the State.

rainfall were 80 inches. By deduction, figure 25 also shows that 

water loss (the difference between rainfall and runoff) would 

range from 23 to 40 inches and would increase with more rainfall.

37
If the average annual flows over a period of years were determined for many streams, they could be compared as they varied 

from stream to stream or from basin to basin. Such a comparison 

(fig. 26), would show differences that are in part associated with 

the rainfall pattern shown in figure 3. The differences would also 

reflect certain properties or characteristics of the land.

Runoff near the Gulf is the greatest in the State (fig. 26), 

because it is related to the heavier rainfall of that area. The reasons for variations in other areas are less clearly understood. Probably, however, runoff is least in a belt through the center of the 

State because, in the western part of that belt, the soils are permeable and an above-average amount of water seeps deep into 

the ground. The water is then discharged through ground-water 

aquifers instead of running off into the surface streams. In the 

eastern part of the belt, the low level of runoff results from a 

high level of loss by evaporation. Large evaporation in this case 

is associated with a land that readily yields its moisture to the 

atmosphere and in doing so leaves extensive voids or cracks which 

catch and store subsequent rainwater which is in turn evaporated.

Information presented in figure 26 makes possible a rough 

estimate of the average flow of a stream. The estimate can be 

made as follows: First, determine the area (in square miles) of 

the drainage basin. Next, locate the stream on the map. Determine from the map the runoff for the location and then multiply that value by the area of the drainage basin. The resulting 

figure is the stream's average discharge in cubic feet per second.

Because larger streams drain many runoff areas and because 

some originate out of the State, it is difficult or impossible to 

compute their runoff from figure 26. Figure 27 shows how 

flows of the larger rivers increase as they cross Alabama on their 

way to the sea.

Quality of surface water

The mineral content of Alabama's surface water is derived 

from many sources. A small amount is carried in by rainfall. 

The major amounts come from the soils and rocks with which 

the water has been in contact. Some minerals come from sewage 

and waste disposals of municipalities and industries, some come

38
Average discharge, in cubic feet per second 

«- 5,000

 10,000

 25,000

 *- 50,000

Scale of width 

FIGURE 27. Average annual discharge of Alabama's larger rivers,
as direct runoff from lands that have been fertilized heavily, 

and in certain places part of the mineral content is carried into 

the stream by ground waters flowing from the underground 

formations.

As we have already learned, ground water feeds the streams 

during periods of little or no rainfall; the mineral content of 

the streams during these periods will therefore resemble closely 

that of the ground water coming into the stream. This water 

may be feeding back into the stream from what is known as 

"in bank" storage; that is, water that has entered the ground 

laterally from the stream during floods. Part of the water may 

come from the deeper formation under artesian pressure and issue 

from the streambed as springs. We will make comparisons later 

between the quantity of mineral matter carried in the streams 

during minimum flows and at flood flows. At the moment, 

however, we indicate only that the concentrations of the minerals 

carried in the streams are usually higher during low flows than 

during high flows.

As the amount of water increases in the stream because of 

rainfall and runoff, changes in the mineral content occur. The 

initial runoff may have fairly high concentrations of chemicals 

resulting from the contact with weathered material at the surface, but the major effect of water running off directly over land 

as a result of rainfall is a dilution of the stream concentration. 

This water has not had time to dissolve much material and is, 

therefore, low in concentration. Longer contact of part of the 

rainfall with rocks permits more solution of soluble materials and 

concentrations rise. As more rain falls, the river floods, and 

the mineral concentration is diluted throughout the high stages. 

This, then, is the general pattern: diluted waters during high 

stages, more concentrated waters during low stages. Day to day 

changes occur as well as changes from season to season. The 

average composition of the dissolved solids of several streams is 

shown in figure 28.

We have been discussing the unseen dissolved materials in surface waters and how they vary. Let us look now at the visible 

materials transported by streams. Sand, gravel, silt, and clay 

are carried in suspension in water as long as velocity and turbulence of the stream are sufficient to keep the particles in motion.

40
Conecuh R. nearBrantley

ChaHahoochee R. near Columbia A

Parts per million 28 dissolved solids

Note: Each side of bar represents 

50 percent of dissolved solids in sample

FIGURE 28. Composition of the dissolved solids in water from some Alabama

streams.
These materials are called sediment and may be either suspended 

or may be traveling along the bed of the stream. The effect of 

sediment makes the water muddy and unsightly, renders it unsuitable for some purposes prior to clarification, and shortens the 

useful life of reservoirs by deposition.

Sediment comes from the land surface and from the beds and 

banks of streams. It is present in larger quantities during the 

rainy season, when the velocity of the runoff is high, than during 

periods of low flow. Although a stream may be perfectly clear, 

there is some movement of the heavier materials along the bottom, 

even during low flow, and for many of the streams which have 

their drainage areas in forest or grasslands, the material rolling 

along the bottom may be the major load transported.

How much of this material is being moved is difficult to determine merely by looking at the stream. Although very fine 

particles (the clays) make a stream appear extremely muddy, 

they may be only a very small part of the total amount of material being moved. These small particles are retained in suspension even at lower velocities, and sluggish streams receiving 

them remain muddy for long periods of time.

The temperature of surface water, unlike that of ground water, 

varies from season to season, day to day, and sometimes from 

hour to hour. For some streams, the temperature of the water 

may vary as much as 15°F in any one day. In general, the 

temperature of streams fluctuates with the air temperature, although not to the same extent (fig. 29). Movement of the 

water, the proximity to the ground, the amount of water in the 

stream, and the direct influence of ground water have a stabilizing 

effect on surface-water temperatures.

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept

FIGURE 29. Daily temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, of water in the Chattahoochee River at Columbia, Ala., and monthly average temperature of air 

at nearby Dothan, Ala., 1940-41.

42
Natural influences climate, topography, and geology contribute to the variability of the mineral content of surface waters. 

Man's activities can have an even more pronounced effect upon 

the mineral content and, through use or misuse of the water, he 

can introduce material greatly in excess of that occurring naturally. He may also introduce materials that make the water 

unsuitable for many uses, or his activities may increase the temperature of the water. Alabama has recognized the importance 

of preserving the quality of the water resources, and the State 

Water Improvement Commission has taken steps to minimize 

present stream pollution and to prevent future pollution of the 

State's water supplies.

43

681589 O - 63 - 4
irT

Li
If you stood on a street corner and asked those who passed, 

"How is water important to you?" nearly all would mention 

water for drinking and water for bathing. Beyond these, the 

answers would be many and varied. They could include water 

for chickens and cows and horses, water for washing dishes and 

clothes and automobilies, water for lawns and gardens and 

crops, water for making ice and for use in some air-conditioning 

systems, water to turn the wheels of grist mills and the turbines of 

hydroelectric plants, water in boilers to make steam, water to 

cool the steam of steampower plants, water in industry a great 

many uses, water for the pleasures of fishing and boating, and 

water for putting out fires.

Each person uses water each day for drinking and bathing. 

The housewife uses additional water for cooking and washing 

dishes and clothes. Others use water for washing the family car 

or watering the roses or the lawn. For these things the average 

town family uses about 40 gallons each day for each of its members. These uses are clearly seen, but other uses of water for 

the general benefit may be forgotten. Each time an electric 

light is used, water is also being used indirectly, water which 

had earlier been used to wash coal or cool steam or turn a turbine. 

Nearly everything that is manufactured or processed has at some 

stage required a supply of water. Thus, the real supply for 

each person is not the 40 gallons individually used in the home, 

but many times that amount.

Water for the farm

Rural residents of Alabama use about 50 million gallons each 

day for domestic use and for watering livestock. During dry 

.periods, additional water is used to irrigate crops and pastures.

It is estimated that rural families use about 20 gallons per person each day as compared to 40 for members of city families. 

Ninety percent of the farms in Alabama use electric power, but 

only 40 percent of farm families have running water in their 

homes. Other families continue to draw their water by hand 

from a well or spring, and this practice tends to reduce the use of

45
water and largely accounts for the smaller per capita use of water 

by rural people. The total rural domestic use is estimated to 

be 30 million gallons daily, and the total stock use is about 20 

million gallons daily. For example, a sheep drinks about 1 gallon a day, a hog 2 gallons, a horse or mule 8 gallons, and a cow 

about 10 gallons.

Nearly all the domestic supply for rural families is obtained 

from wells or springs. In the Piedmont area, most supplies 

come from dug wells. These wells range in depth from about 

10 to 80 feet and can usually supply only a few gallons of water 

a minute. Elsewhere in the State, drilled or jetted wells are more 

commonly used and the yields of the wells are much larger. Such 

wells range in depth from about 25 feet to several hundred feet 

and in size from about 2 to 6 inches. Many wells tap artesian 

aquifers and, if located in lowland areas such as river valleys, 

commonly overflow from the pressure of water confined at higher 

elevations (fig. 30). Other wells are pumped. Many pumped 

wells yield several hundred gallons per minute, and a few produce 

more than a thousand gallons per minute.

Alabama farmers have constructed about 21,600 farm ponds 

which range in size from one-fourth acre to 400 acres. Ponds 

are used for irrigation, for watering cattle, and for fishing. Most 

ponds are near places where the flow of water is intermittent. 

During periods of clear weather, the water level of the pond is 

lowered by evaporation. Some ponds are on ground which is 

relatively permeable, and a large amount of water is lost by seepage. Farm ponds not infrequently fail during droughts.

Abnormally dry summers during recent years have caused a few 

farmers to procure and use irrigation systems to provide additional water for their crops. Water added by these systems has 

greatly increased the yield of the irrigated crops and pastures. 

About 460 systems are used to irrigate 27,000 acres of crop and 

pasture land. Nearly all use lightweight portable aluminum pipe 

and distribute the water over the land by sprinklers. Most systems are moved from place to place on a farm and obtain their 

supply of water from more than one source. The 460 irrigaiton 

systems in Alabama are supplied at one time or another by water 

from 138 wells, 251 streams, 251 ponds or lakes, and 11 springs. 

When operating, the average irrigation system uses about 500 

gallons of water a minute.

46
FIGURE 30. Areas of artesian flow in Alabama. Artesian wells will flow if 

developed in the lowlands of the flood plains of the Coastal Plain streams and 

in some valleys in north Alabama.

47
Water for cities and towns

According to the State Health Department, 287 public watersupply systems serve 330 communities in Alabama. Fifty communities get their water from springs or shallow wells, 166 

communities from deep wells, and 71 communities from streams or 

reservoirs. In some places the supply of water is obtained from 

more than one source. Sylacauga, Eufaula, and Talladega are 

the only cities in the State that have both a surface- and a groundwater supply. Most of the smaller communities get their supply 

from wells or springs. The following table shows the source of 

supply for municipal systems which serve more than 5,000 people 

and the estimated number of people supplied by each. Communities served by the system of an adjoining community are not 

listed in the table.

Accurate records of the number of people supplied by all municipal systems are not available. It is estimated, however, that 1.7 

million people in Alabama obtain about 190 million gallons daily 

from such systems.

The initial selection of a source of supply depends upon many 

factors. Where water in the ground is plentiful and of satisfactory quality, that source may be preferred. There are excellent 

reasons for this preference. As water seeps into the ground, impurities are removed by the filtering action of the ground. Thus 

ground water is usually clear and relatively free of contamination 

by bacteria. There are other advantages in obtaining water from 

a well or spring. The supply in the ground, generally, remains 

constant, and once the level of that supply has been determined 

the user knows with some assurance the capability of his source of 

supply. Another advantage is the uniform quality and small 

variation of temperature over long periods of time.

Surface water usually contains impurities washed from the surface of the basin drained by the stream. Water from surface 

sources and from some wells must be filtered and treated before 

it can be used for municipal and some industrial supplies (fig. 31).

Some water is hard because it contains excessive amounts of 

calcium and magnesium which have been dissolved from limestone or dolomite. Such water can be softened by adding chemicals; lime and soda ash are commonly used for this purpose. By 

other commonly used methods, material such as iron, manganese, 

and silica can also be removed. Unpleasant tastes and odors are 

removed by oxidation, aeration, and by the addition of chlorine.

48
Municipal water supplies servins 5,000 people or more

Municipality

Albertville. ......................

Alexander City ...................

Anniston ........................

Athens ..........................

Atmore .........................

Auburn .........................

Clanton .........................

Cullman ........................

Dothan .........................

Fort Payne ......................

Gadsden ........................

Hartselle ........................

Opp............................

Phenix City. .....................

Prichard ........................

Sheffield. .......................

Talladega ........ ..,...,,,...,.

Troy. ...........................

Estimated 

number of 

people 

served

6,000 

13, 000 

11,000 

60, 000 

8,000 

5,800 

15,000 

450, 000 

5,300 

6,000 

5,800 

9,900 

26, 000 

5,000 

28, 000 

9,000 

8,000 

5,000 

28, 000 

7,600 

65, 000 

10, 000 

5,800 

5,500 

40, 000 

10, 000 

5,500 

150, 000 

150,000 

6,000 

7,400 

25, 000 

5,000 

40, 000 

5,800 

6,000 

23, 000 

13, 000 

5,000 

14, 000 

13, 000 

8,000 

12, 000 

65, 000 

8,500 

7,000 

5,000

Source of water

Spring

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X

Well

X

X

X 

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

X

Stream

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X 

X

X

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

49
FIGURE 31. Reservoir on Tallaseehafchee Creek. Sylacauga obtains part of 

its water from this reservoir. The water is filtered and treated at a plant near 

the dam. Deep wells furnish the remainder of the supply. (Photograph 

furnished by J. W. Goodwin Engineering Co., Birmingham, Ala.)

Some chemicals are not easily removed; sodium, chloride, and 

fluoride are examples, and their removal usually is not economically feasible. Knowledge of the minerals in water is an early 

point of concern for any who would develop a new source of 

water supply. Most of the surface and ground water of Alabama 

is free of objectionable amounts of minerals.

Water from most wells can be used without treatment but, 

because of concern for bacterial contamination, chlorine is commonly added. Efforts are also made to remove those constituents which tend to settle on pipes and clog up distribution systems. Depleted oxygen can be restored by aeration.

Water systems for four of the large cities in Alabama Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, and Huntsville are of interest 

because of the number of people they serve and because of the 

variability of source of supply.

Birmingham is on the divide separating the Coosa and Warrior basins, and no large streams flow by the city. The small 

streams nearby cannot furnish enough water for the city unless 

their surplus flow is caught and stored for later use. Two reservoirs were built for this purpose Inland Reservoir and Lake 

Purdy. Each is capable of storing a volume of water equal to 

many months of natural flow. From each the city draws water 

at a near-uniform rate. The supply in the reservoirs is replenished during rainy periods.

50
Birmingham's water system was organized as a private company in 1885. The company originally developed Fivemile 

Creek, but that source soon became inadequate, and since 1891 

water has been diverted from the Cahaba River. A dam on 

Little Cahaba River, impounding Lake Purdy, was constructed 

in 1910, and raised in 1928 and again in 1938 to provide additional storage. The present capacity of Lake Purdy is 5.7 billion 

gallons. The filter plant for this system is on Shades Mountain 

and has a capacity of 55 million gallons per day. In 1951 the 

waterworks facilities were purchased by the city of Birmingham. 

The system now serves Birmingham and the nearby communities 

of Bessemer, Homewood, Mountain Brook, Fairfield, Tarrant 

City, Graysville, Woodward, and some smaller places.

In 1938, the Birmingham Industrial System built Inland Reservoir on Blackburn Fork, a tributary of Locust Fork, to supply 

industrial water to Birmingham. The maximum dependable 

supply for a dry year from Inland Reservoir is estimated to be 

50 million gallons per day. Present diversion from the reservoir 

is about that amount.

Since 1940, Birmingham Waterworks has obtained additional 

water from the Industrial System. Water from that source is 

treated at the Birmingham Station Filter Plant, which has a 

capacity of 12 million gallons per day.

The demand for water, however, continues to grow. The existing sources of supply are nearing the upper limit of their capabilities. Plans have been formed to obtain additional water from 

Sipsey Fork at a site 30 miles northwest of the city. Upstream 

from that site, a large storage dam and powerplant are being 

built by the Alabama Power Co. This reservoir, when completed, will have sufficient capacity to provide a dependable 

regulated flow of about 600 million gallons daily.

Water from Inland Reservoir is of slightly better quality than 

water from Lake Purdy. being low in mineral content and extremely soft. Water from Lake Purdy is low in mineral content 

and only moderately hard. The principal chemical constituents 

of the Lake Purdy supply are calcium and bicarbonate.

The seasonal changes in temperature of water in Inland Reservoir are of interest. During winter months a near-uniform 

temperature exists throughout the reservoir, but with the coming 

of warmer weather, the upper layers of water are warmed and

51
DEPTH, IN FEET BELOW 

LAKE SURFACE

25

50

75

100

125

150

Jan

Feb 18

Apr 16 

Mar 16 /

May 15

 / / June 1 2

40 50 60 70

WATER TEMPERATURE, IN DEGREES FAHRENHEIT

80

FIGURE 32. Temperature of water in the Inland Reservoir. Temperature 

varies with depth and with the season of the year. A cool supply is obtained 

in all seasons by diverting water from near the bottom of the reservoir.

the temperature profile varies (fig. 32). Through spring and 

summer, the variation in temperature becomes more pronounced 

until the colder weather of late fall arrives and once again restores 

the condition of uniformity.

The mineral content of the water also is changed or modified 

by its passage through the pool or retention in the pool. Through 

mixing, the mineral content is made more uniform, and the sudden 

changes sometimes found in unregulated streams become less 

pronounced in the flow of streams below dams. Some less desirable changes can also take place. In large lakes, mixing is not 

complete and highly mineralized water, which is slightly heavier 

than pure water, tends to remain near the bottom during the 

warmer months of the year.

The city of Montgomery was incorporated by the first State 

Legislature in 1819. The early settlers and citizens used shallow 

wells and springs as a water supply until 1885. The first public 

water-supply system for the city was organized in 1884 by a private 

corporation. Water was obtained from six wells drilled in the

52
waterworks lot in what is now the city's North well field along 

North Court Street in the northern part of Montgomery. All 

these wells are reported to have had natural flows when they were 

drilled in 1885, and one of them, drilled to a depth of 837 feet, is 

reported to have flowed at a rate of 200 gallons per minute. 

Many private wells in the Montgomery area also had natural 

flows. As more and more wells were drilled, without regard for 

proper spacing and the amount pumped from each, water levels 

in the wells declined, and by 1899 most of the wells in Montgomery 

had ceased to flow (fig. 33).

In 1895 the city acquired the private water system. In 1899, 

12 new wells were drilled and equipped with airlift pumps. 

The combined capacity of these wells, all located in the North 

well field, is reported to have been 5 million gallons per day. As 

demands for water increased, additional wells were drilled in the 

North well field and, in 1941, 12 test wells were drilled southwest and west of the city to determine the thickness and areal 

extent of the water-bearing sand and gravel beds.

I *

* * MONTGOMERY

FIGURE 33. Montgomery's West and North well fields. The close spacing 

of the municipal wells has contributed to a declining water level in the area.

53
By 1949 the municipal water system included 31 wells having 

a total daily capacity of 17 million gallons. In 1958 the water 

system included 32 wells in the North well field (17 operative) 

and 31 wells in the West well field having a combined daily 

capacity of about 31 million gallons.

The Montgomery area is underlain by crystalline rocks at a 

depth of about 1,100 feet below land surface. These rocks are 

overlain by Coastal Plain sediments, which consist of alternating 

beds of sand and clay. Along the Alabama River, the Coastal 

Plain strata are overlain by a deposit of river alluvium consisting 

of 20 to 80 feet of sand, clay, and gravel.

Relatively large quantities of ground water occur under artesian conditions in the Coastal Plain sediments. Test drilling has 

defined four water-bearing zones in these formations.

The alluvium (soil, sand, or gravel deposited by running 

water) along the Alabama River is the source of many domestic 

supplies and is tapped by a few of the municipal wells of largest 

capacity in the North well field. The water in the alluvium is 

generally unconfined and is replenished by local precipitation.

Records of water levels in observation wells indicate that water 

levels in wells that draw from the deeper Coastal Plain sands are 

declining at the rate of about 9 feet per year, whereas those in 

wells that draw from the upper sands are declining only about 

1 foot per year. Withdrawals of large quantities of water from 

these sands have created relatively large cones of depression in 

the water table.

Ground water from water-bearing sand and gravel in the 

Montgomery area is generally of good quality, being soft and low 

in chloride, but in some places contains excessive amounts of 

iron. The temperature of the water averages about 68°F.

Some ground-water problems in the Montgomery area have 

resulted from improper spacing of wells and others from excessive 

pumping. The recharge area for the artesian systems is only a 

short distance to the north of the city. Concentrated development has caused excessive lowering of the water level in some 

areas (fig. 34).

In early years, water for Mobile was hauled from creeks north 

of the city. In 1840 a privately owned waterworks was constructed on Three Mile Creek, from which Mobile was supplied 

water until 1898. In 1886 a second private system was con54
structed on Clear Creek and was operated separately from the 

first. The city of Mobile acquired the first system in 1898 and 

the second in 1907. Since 1907 the city has operated the waterworks. In 1952 a reservoir on Big Creek was constructed which 

now supplies most of the water used by the city and supplies 

some water to industries.

N

\

Static water level

/*" """"^

^ \

"*' » Pumping water level

^ *~ ""* * «

X

FIGURE 34. Three pumping wells. Well A is properly spaced in relation 

to wells B and C. The cones of depression around wells B and C overlap and 

cause a decrease in yield and an increase in pumping cost in each well.

The dependable yield of Big Creek Reservoir was appraised 

on the basis of a 15-year record of streamflow. The most adverse 

drought-flow conditions between 1939 and 1954 occurred during 

the summer and fall of 1954. Computations show that during 

this time a release of 100 million gallons per day would have 

depleted the reservoir by about 84 percent of its usable capacity 

before the drought eased. A release of 110 million gallons per 

day would have required the entire usable capacity of the reservoir. Big Creek Reservoir was designed to insure a safe yield 

of 100 million gallons per day, of which 30 million gallons per 

day is reserved for domestic use, the remainder being available 

for industrial use.

Although the city has supplied the greater part of water for 

domestic and industrial needs, many shallow and a few deep wells 

are in use by individuals in the area. Ground water has been 

used commercially since before 1900 by breweries and for the 

manufacture of ice. Air-conditioning units utilizing water from

55
shallow wells were installed in many of the downtown business 

houses around 1937.

The shallow sands which are 25 to 90 feet deep in the downtown area of Mobile have been overdeveloped. Pumpage of 

ground water for air conditioning and to permit construction of 

Bankhead Tunnel lowered the water table several feet below sea 

level and has resulted in the encroachment of salt water from 

the Mobile River. This lowering of the water table causes salt 

water to enter the shallow water-bearing sands in the entire downtown well field (fig. 35). Whether fresh water can be restored 

to these shallow sands is questionable.

Deeper sands, from 700 to 800 feet below the surface, presently 

supply considerable quantities of water. Inasmuch as this use 

has caused but little decline of artesian pressure, the sands appear 

to offer further opportunities for development. The water has 

a chloride content that ranges from 1,400 to 2,500 parts per million, but its use in industrial cooling systems has proved to be 

satisfactory.

Huntsville's public water-supply system, the South's first and 

the Nation's second, was established in 1823; it utilized Big 

Spring, now an emergency source of the present supply. Water 

from Big Spring flows from a solution channel in limestone and 

supplied almost all the needs of the city until 1950 (fig. 36).

Theoretical position '" . .-.' 

of water table during ' 

pumping

FIGURE 35. Salt water encroaches into a fresh-water zone as a result of improper well spacing or excessive pumping or both.

56
FIGURE 36. Huntsville Big Spring, which Hows from solution channel formed 

along fracture in limestone.

Paced by rapid industrial expansion and population increase, 

the demands for water by the city grew from about 2.5 million 

gallons per day in 1943 to about 6 million gallons per day in 1954, 

and is now 10 million gallons per day. Throughout the winter, 

spring, and early summer, the flow of Big Spring is more than 

adequate to meet this demand. In late summer and fall, when 

demands on the water system are greatest, the discharge of Big 

Spring has been as low as 1.5 million gallons per day, which is 

approximately the estimated minimum flow.

To meet the growing demands for water, the city in 1950 purchased Brahan Spring and all its facilities from the Huntsville 

Manufacturing Co., which had earlier developed the spring to 

supply its cotton mill and mill village. Brahan Spring can supply 

about 1 million gallons per day to the city.

In a short while even more water was needed and is now being 

obtained from four wells. As long as a sufficient quantity of 

water can be developed from wells, the city plans to maintain 

Big Spring as a standby source to be used in emergencies.

57
The Huntsville area is underlain by massive beds of limestone 

that dip gently to the southeast. Ground water occurs in extensive joint, bedding-plane, and fracture systems in the limestone. 

These openings where developed by wells or springs yield large 

amounts of ground water.

Ground water in the Huntsville area is soft to hard, moderately 

low in dissolved solids, and low in sulfate and chloride content.

Water for industry

It is estimated that rural areas in Alabama require about 

50 million gallons daily, and Alabama cities and towns require 

about 190 million gallons daily. Large as those figures are, they 

appear small when compared to figures for water used by industry. A single industrial enterprise, the Tennessee Coal, Iron 

and Railroad Co., uses nearly twice as much water each day as 

is used by all the city, town, and rural people of the State combined. The exact amount of water used by all industries in the 

State is not known but that amount is very large indeed.

There are two general categories of water use: consumptive 

and nonconsumptive. Water that is used for waterpower, navigation, or recreation is not removed from the stream or lake. 

Such use is nonconsumptive. Water that is used for industrial 

or domestic purposes, however, is actually subtracted from the 

supply and is returned in a degraded condition. This is consumptive use of water.

An industrial user may need a large supply of water. Sometimes, however, he is more concerned with the quality of the 

supply. The suitability of a supply is directly related to how the 

user makes use of it. The following table shows the water requirements of typical industries.

Industrial uses and water requirements

Process or product Water requirement, in gallons

Meat packing.......................... 3,600 per ton of meat

Vegetable canning...................... 500 per case

Dyeing cotton yarns ..................... 26 per pound

Paper and paper products................ 20,000-80,000 per ton

Dynamite.............................. 7 per pound

Sulfuric acid........................... 16,000 per ton

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer.............. 150,000 per ton

Washing coal........................... 100 per ton

Making brick........................... 20-250 per 1,000 brick

Gypsum board.......................... 3,000 per 1,000 square feet

Pig iron............................... 1,400 per ton

Iron pipe.............................. 500 per ton

58
The table contains only a few uses by Alabama industries, but 

shows that the requirements of industry are great and varied. 

The requirements change from time to time as new methods of 

manufacturing are devised and as economic conditions change. 

For instance, in the 7 years from 1952 through 1958, Alabama 

has moved from far down the list to fourth place among the states 

in commercial production of broiler chickens. In 1958 Alabama produced 130 million birds. Six gallons of water are 

required for the processing of each bird for market. Thus in 

Alabama a new water-using industry has developed in the last 

few years.

The industrial demands on our water resources are always 

growing. No one has a record of all current uses, and the older 

records are now out of date. Available records indicate that total 

industrial demand is about 5,000 million gallons per day.

Water delivered to homes for domestic consumption sometimes 

contains material which would make that water unsuitable for 

certain industrial purposes. The quality required, of course, is 

directly related to the water's intended use. If the water is to be 

used for processing of foods, it obviously must not contain harmful bacteria. For other uses, certain mineral constituents are 

desirable in that they enhance the quality of the finished product. 

For example, too little hardness in water used for baking will 

result in soggy bread.

Limitations of the amount of impurities in water for industrial use differ for each purpose. The dissolved salts in sea water 

do not restrict its use for cooling purposes. At the other extreme, 

there are very exacting requirements for water used in the manufacture of certain electronic tubes; not only is the water completely 

demineralized for this use, but the air and the entire plant must 

be completely free of dust, smoke, and other impurities.

The uses of water in industry are for drinking and sanitary purposes, for boiler feed water, for cooling, and for process water incorporated into the product. By far the greatest volume used in 

industry is for cooling purposes.

When electricity is produced by burning coal, oil, or gas, water 

in a boiler is turned to steam and that steam is used to turn a turbine which drives the generator producing the electricity. After 

passing through the turbine, the steam is cooled before being returned to the boiler to start again on its journey. The steam is

59

681589 O - 63 - 5
cooled by water circulating through pipes in a condensing chamber. For every pound of coal burned, about 500 pounds of cooling water is required. About 3,500 million gallons of cooling 

water is required each day at the steampower plants in Alabama. 

Water is used for this one purpose at the rate of more than 1,000 

gallons each day for each of the State's inhabitants.

Figure 37 shows one step in use of cooling water by another 

industry. Quite obviously, the temperature of water used for 

cooling would be an important quality.

Any water that is not corrosive or does not produce slime is 

suitable for cooling purposes. It is also desirable that the water 

have low turbidity and hardness, and contain little iron and 

manganese. The water may be treated to remove suspended materials or reduce corrosive action. However, the tremendous 

quantities of water required for cooling dictate the selection of the 

source of supply requiring the least treatment.

FIGURE 37. Industrial reuse of water. Water is cooled by spraying and then 

reused at blast furnace to obtain economy in operation. This system has a 

capacity of 30,000 gallons per minute. (Photograph furnished by U.S. Pipe 

and Foundry Co., Birmingham, Ala.)

60
The source of boiler water must be selected more carefully 

because of undesirable minerals, particularly that for boilers operating at high pressures. The undesirable effects of improper 

boiler water are scale, corrosion, and embrittlement of the boiler 

plate. Scale forms in boilers by deposition of calcium, magnesium, 

and silica from the highly concentrated dissolved solids. This 

hard insulating deposit reduces the efficiency of the boiler and 

requires more fuel. Excessive deposit can lead to failure of the 

boiler parts where heat produced by the fires is not transmitted 

readily to the water.

Corrosion is caused by dissolved gases oxygen or carbon dioxide or by the presence of certain chemicals, principally the 

chlorides or nitrates of calcium and magnesium or free acids. The 

gases in the boiler feed water or in the condensed steam being 

returned can be removed in a deaerating heater. In the deaerating heater^ the temperature of the boiler feed water is raised and, 

because dissolved gases are less soluble in water at high temperatures, they are released from solution. The chemicals that would 

cause corrosion are usually removed by prior treatment of the 

water. Even so, over a period of time the concentrations of these 

materials will build up, and internal treatment of the water becomes necessary to insure that conditions leading to corrosion 

are absent.

Embrittlement, or cracking of the boiler plate, is caused by 

failure to maintain the proper alkalinity or by the presence of 

considerable amounts of certain chemicals, such as sodium bicarbonate or sodium carbonate. Proper control of the alkalinity in 

the boiler and the use of materials such as sodium nitrate or 

quebracho tannin and phosphates prevent embrittlement.

If industrial users were questioned about the characteristics 

they could not tolerate in their process water, each one would 

give a different answer. Some would be concerned with the 

appearance of the final product; some would be concerned with 

the difficulties in the intermediate steps of manufacturing because 

of the presence of certain materials. Each user would place certain limitations on the amount of dissolved or suspended materials 

in the water. Some industries require water safe for human 

consumption, and they would then treat this water to satisfy 

their particular requirements. Some of the properties of water 

that are particularly critical are: turbidity, color, hardness,

61
iron and manganese content, alkalinity, odor, taste, and. dissolved gases. For any particular process, one or possibly several 

of these properties would be undesirable. Food and drink processing plants, for instance, find iron and manganese, color, odor, 

taste, and sometimes hardness adversely affect the quality of the 

finished product.

For the pulp and paper industries, the process water should be 

practically free of suspended matter, color, iron, and manganese. 

The presence of these materials causes either a reduction in the 

brightness of the finished product or a discoloration of the product. 

Hardness in the water is objectionable because it contaminates 

the pulp and the final product. The amount of these materials 

that may be present is more restrictive for the manufacture of 

fine paper than for the manufacture of kraft paper. Where a 

final treatment, such as bleaching, is given to the product, the 

requirements for purity are less stringent.

At aluminum reduction plants, the principal use for highquality water is the boiler water makeup. The major use of 

water is in the gas scrubbers, and for this purpose there are no 

limiting restrictions on presence of materials in the water. In the 

gas scrubbers, fumes from the reduction pots are washed with a 

water spray to absorb fluorine gas and fine particles of aluminum 

oxide and carbon. Fluorine gas has a toxic effect on vegetation 

and, for this reason, must be removed before the fumes are released to the atmosphere.

The particular requirements for purity of process water in 

various chemical industries depend upon the particular product 

and the process used in its manufacture. No attempt will be 

made, therefore, to set up specifications for purity of the water for 

chemical industries.

Within recent years, the use of atomic reactors to produce 

electricity has brought about requirements for very pure water for 

use in these plants. The problems encountered if extremely 

pure water is not used are twofold:

1. Corrosion within the system could lead to weakening and 

failure of system components, and

2. Excessive radioactivity could be built up by irradiation of

impurities in the water.

Corrosion, particularly troublesome at the high temperature 

and pressure used, would be caused by the presence of dissolved

62
oxygen and certain dissolved materials, such as chloride; these 

materials should be completely absent. The purity required for 

the water used in these reactors perhaps can be visualized from 

this comparison: If a piece of table salt the size of a matchhead 

is dissolved in a pool of water 40 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 

10 feet deep, the concentration obtained would be an average of 

the dissolved salts permissible in the water to be used in the 

reactor. The average concentration of the Mobile River near 

Mount Vernon, Ala., is almost 1,600 times that of the water to 

be used in the reactors.

It is recognized, then, that for industrial users the mineral 

quality of the water is extremely important and that for some 

purposes the presence of even minute amounts of impurities in the 

water restricts its use.

As was earlier stated, the amount of water diverted each day 

for industrial purposes has been estimated to be about 5 billion 

gallons a day. Some of this supply is diverted from the waterway 

only momentarily, as at a steamplant, for instance. Water 

diverted from the ground is seldom, if ever, returned to the original source but is carried off by streams. At some industrial plants 

the same supply is used for more than one purpose, and at other 

plants water is used many times before it is discarded.

Small industrial water supplies are usually obtained from a 

municipal system. Industries which use large quantities of water 

usually have their own private system.

Falling water produces power

A cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds. If that weight of 

water fell 8.81 feet, it would produce 550 foot-pounds of energy, 

which if done in a second would equal 1 horsepower. The fact 

that falling water can be put to useful work has long been known. 

The concept of what constitutes a desirable and efficient water 

power has changed from time to time.

In 1900 there were 897 waterpower plants in use in Alabama. 

Only three of these had a capacity in excess of 1,000 horsepower, 

most of them being rated between 5 and 50 horsepower. The 

majority were for grinding wheat and corn and were called flour 

mills or grist mills. Others were used to saw and plane lumber, 

to card wool, to gin cotton, to weave cloth, or to make twine and

63
rope; many served several purposes. The history of one waterpower plant is interesting enough to quote (The Waterpowers 

of Alabama, by B. M. Hall: Alabama Geol. Survey Bull. 7, 

1902):

"The waterpower at Prattville was first developed about 1830 

when it was used by a man named May to operate a small sawmill. About 1833 this waterpower and the adjacent lands were 

purchased by Mr. Daniel Pratt, who then erected a cotton gin 

factory which was driven by the waterpower. The dam at that 

time was about 8 feet high. A number of years after the purchase of this property by Mr. Pratt, he increased the dam so that 

it now has a height of 16 feet, and is built of brick. At present 

it is used jointly by the Prattville Cotton Mills and Banking Company and the Continental Gin Company, the former using about 

255 horsepower and the latter about 100 horsepower."

To add a sequel to the story, the waterpower developed at 

Prattville was mechanical power in that it was put to use by 

means of shafts, pulleys, and belts. As the need for power at 

Prattville increased beyond the capacity of the local development, 

electric power was obtained from an outside source and some 

machines were then driven by individual electric motors.

As the 19th century ended, ideas on waterpower began to 

undergo a change. The day of mechanical power in which the 

user of a waterpower had to locate his mill on the bank of the 

stream drew to a close. The day of power through the generation 

of electricity had already dawned.

How many of the 897 waterpowers of 1900 are still in use is 

not known, but most are now abandoned or destroyed. Many 

have been washed away by floods. The pools of others have long 

since been filled with sediment. Changes in agriculture and in 

laws governing milling made the operation of some unnecessary 

and of others uneconomical. A few remain as do covered 

bridges to serve our time and future generations in a very 

picturesque way.

Late in the last century, a hydroelectric plant was built on the 

Tallapoosa River at Tallassee to supply electricity to the city of 

Montgomery. In the early years of this century, other plants 

were built to supply Talladega, Sylacauga, Goodwater, Speigner, 

Centreville, Troy, and Elba. These were located on streams 

near the towns they served, the individual plants having capacities 

of a few hundred to a few thousand horsepower. The plant

64
supplying Elba was washed out in the 1929 flood, but was rebuilt. 

The one at Tallassee was replaced by a larger development. The 

others are no longer used.

New ideas and needs have led to changes in the pattern of 

elective power development. The capacity of early waterpower 

plants was set near the level of the minimum flow of the stream. 

Larger flows were not used they were wasted over the dam or

ALTITUDE, IN FEET 

ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 

600

50 100 150 200 250 300 

MILES ABOVE MOUTH. COOSA RIVER

FIGURE 38. Profile of the Coosa River showing location of existing dams and 

places where other dams are to be built.

spillway and did no work. It was easy to see that the plant capacity could be greatly increased if the rate of flow could be controlled by storing water in wet periods for release in dry periods 

now a common practice. Early experience in the operation of 

individual plants showed that such operation was inefficient in 

comparison with the possibilities of an integrated system to serve 

many communities. Studies showed that large plants were more 

efficient than small ones, and that a combination of steampower 

and waterpower was better than either type alone. To gain these

65
several advantages required the joining of efforts and the expending of large sums for capital improvements, which in turn led 

to the formation of the integrated power company to serve a 

large area.

The Alabama Power Co. completed its first major unit, a 

plant on the Coosa River, in 1914. Two other hydroelectric 

plants were built on the lower Coosa River in succeeding years 

along with plants on the Tallapoosa. Martin Dam and Reservoir 

on the Tallapoosa River effectively control the runoff from an 

area of about 3,000 square miles. Waterpower there and at other 

plants down the Tallapoosa River is thus closely related to the 

average flow of the river. The dams on the Coosa River have 

only limited ability to control the flow and are spoken of as 

run-of-river plants. A dam on a headwater stream near Cartersville, Ga., does store wet-weather flow and the Coosa plants 

benefit from that storage. The Cartersville Dam was built by 

the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

The Alabama Power Co. has recently embarked on an ambitious program of building other dams and power-generating 

facilities. Figure 38 shows the plan of development of the Coosa 

River. The Lewis Smith Dam is also being built on the Sipsey 

Fork, a tributary of the Black Warrior River, and other plans 

call for installation of generating facilities at two Federal navigation dams on the Black Warrior River.

Water stored above the Lewis Smith Dam will produce power 

but will also provide other benefits. Water released at the dam 

will provide both larger flows and cooler water for the steampower 

generating facilities of the company downstream at Gorgas, and 

will thus increase the efficiency of those facilities. Those releases 

will also provide additional flow for the operation of navigation 

locks downstream on the Black Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers. 

The city of Birmingham is constructing a pipeline to a site on 

the Black Warrior River below the Lewis Smith Dam to tap an 

assured supply of cool water of good quality.

At Florence, Ala., the Tennessee River carries the runoff from 

nearly 31,000 square miles, and the flow is at all times substantial. 

In a shoal section upstream from Florence, the river drops 140 

feet. This combination of large flows and steep stream gradient 

is everywhere recognized as offering near-ideal possibilities for 

development of waterpower. Plans for a development near Florence were envisioned long ago. During World War I, the need

66
FIGURE 39. Wilson Dam and powerhouse. This dam makes possible hydroelectric power, Flood control, and navigation on the Tennessee River. (Photograph furnished by Tennessee Valley Authority.)

for nitrogen for explosives was great and a method for obtaining 

nitrogen from the air by using electric current had been perfected. To supply the power for this use, the construction of a 

dam and powerplant near the lower end of the shoal was begun. 

Today that plant is called Wilson Dam in honor of President 

Woodrow Wilson. The present capacity of Wilson Dam is 

610,000 horsepower.

In dry weather, all flow at the Wilson Dam is used to generate power or to operate the navigation lock. Flood flows are 

discharged over the dam, the rate of flow being controlled by 

gates on the crest of the dam (fig. 39).

The Tennessee Valley Authority was created in 1933. Since 

then, it has constructed many dams on tributaries of the Tennessee River to store water, to control flood flows, and to generate power, and has built other dams on the Tennessee itself to 

make further use of the water for navigation and power. Pickwick, Wheeler, and Guntersville Dams were completed in the 

first decade of TVA construction. These dams, together with 

Wilson, create a series of pools for the 200-mile reach of the 

river in Alabama. At these dams, power is generated from a

67
flow which rarely falls below 20,000 cubic feet per second through 

an aggregate combined fall of about 240 feet. For capacity operations, flows of about two and a half times the minimum are 

required.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers has completed two plants on the 

Chattahoochee River, one near the mouth and one in the headwaters. They are presently building another at a site east of 

Abbeville. All these plants furnish power and provide other 

benefits.

Small waterpower plants have been built on the Pea and 

Conecuh Rivers in south Alabama for the benefit of nearby towns 

and farms.

The major rivers carry the runoff from large areas. Because 

their flows are large, they offer the greatest opportunity for developing large waterpowers, and an active program is underway 

(fig. 40). Flows can be improved by the construction of reservoirs on tributary streams, and in time projects of this type will 

be undertaken.

Rivers are also highways

Long before the white man came to this continent, the Indians 

used the rivers to move themselves and their belongings from 

place to place. When the white man came and explored the 

continent, he too used the streams as highways. As the land was 

settled and goods were produced for market, some of these goods 

were carried to the marketplace on rafts or flatboats propelled 

by manpower or floated down the creek and rivers. This use 

of streams was developing at the time when dams were being built 

for small mills, and the use for one purpose soon came into conflict 

with the use for the other.

As early as 1821, 2 years after Alabama became a State, the 

legislature recognized the conflict over use of streams and passed 

the first law dealing with the problem. In that year an act 

was passed in which a reach of Mulberry Fork "from its junction with Sepsie Fork to Baltimore" was declared to be a public 

highway. Between that time and 1861, a total of 50 such acts 

was passed by the legislature. It is of interest to note that no 

act referred to a larger river, an indication that no conflict of use 

had yet developed in regard to those larger streams.

68
Existing or under construction 

Proposed

FIGURE 40. Sites of proposed and existing dams for development of the major 

rivers. Many other dams have been built on tributary streams.

69
The early rafts and flatboats had one great drawback: mostly 

they could only travel with the current. Those who rode them 

downstream had to make the return journey on foot or on horseback. Robert Fulton changed this situation when he built the 

Clermont and steamed up the Hudson River in 1807. By 1812 

a steamboat had appeared on the Mississippi, and by 1821 the 

steamboat Osage had been put in service between Florence, Ala., 

and New Orleans. Thus, very early in the history of Alabama 

as a State, cotton and other goods were being sent to the gulf port 

of New Orleans by way of the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi 

Rivers.

Those who navigated boats on rivers faced many obstacles. 

Shallow water, sand bars, and snags were bad, but the really 

formidable obstacle was the shoal reach of a stream. Muscle 

Shoals at Florence was an effective barrier, and how to get 

around it was a problem as early as 1810. In 1828, Congress 

granted the State of Alabama 400,000 acres to be sold, the proceeds to be used to construct a canal around Colbert and Muscle 

Shoals. A canal around part of the shoal was built and put in 

use in 1836. But, poorly engineered, it was a failure.

Many things seemed to block the way toward improving the 

streams for navigation. These included: the Indians, the bordering Spanish province of Florida, sectional jealousy, money 

panics, the years of the Confederacy and of Reconstruction, the 

coming of the railroads, records of projects which failed, and 

aversions to governmental construction of internal improvements.

To improve navigation on the Coosa River, a plan was made 

to build 31 locks between Greensport and Wetumpka. Three 

sites were improved in 1890, and two others plus a site near 

Rome, Ga., were improved in the period between 1914 and 1917. 

This work was undertaken during and after the period when 

railroads were being built in the area; need for navigable waterways was considered less pressing and further work on the plan 

was stopped. The locks are not now used.

Funds for planning improvements on the Black Warrior and 

Tombigbee Rivers first became available in 1884. By 1915, the 

last of the 17 dams and locks from tidewater to near Birmingham 

had been built by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. By the time the 

last structure was started, improvements were already underway lock 17 was built to a much greater height than the original

70
FIGURE 41. A tug and barge train being raised to the level of the upper pool 

at Demopolis Lock and Dam on Tombigbee River. Another tow stands by, 

awaiting its turn to be locked through to the lower pool. (Photograph furnished 

by Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.)

plan called for. This change eliminated the need for additional 

dams upstream. Other higher dams have since been built to 

take the place of from two to four of the earlier low dams, and 

work at other sites is underway or planned. When all improvements are completed, the five newer dams, known as Jackson, 

Demopolis, Warrior, Oliver, and Holt, will have replaced the 

lower 16 old dams. Each will be equipped with a lock chamber 

measuring 110 by 600 feet. Larger and fewer locks will greatly 

reduce the travel time of boats using the waterway. About 3 

million tons of cargo are annually carried by vessels on this waterway (fig. 41).

The Chattahoochee River is presently being improved for 

navigation and power. The Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam near 

the Florida line has been completed, and work is rapidly progressing on the Walter F. George Lock and Dam east of Abbeville. These dams, together with one planned for Columbia, and 

dredging of the lower river will provide a navigable waterway 

from tidewater to Phenix City.

71
Improvement of navigation on the Tennessee River was one 

of the objectives of the TVA act. The river is now navigable 

from its mouth at the Ohio River to Knoxville, Tenn., including, 

of course, the 200-mile stretch in Alabama. At Wilson Dam 

the Tennessee Valley Authority is presently building a lock which 

will lift boats 100 feet, the highest lock lift in the world. At 

and below Wilson Dam, the locks are 110 by 600 feet, but upriver 

they are generally 60 by 360 feet. When conditions warrant, 

the upriver locks will be enlarged. About 8 million tons of goods 

move through this waterway each year.

When all the power dams planned for the Coosa River are 

built, the river will be a series of pools from Wetumpka, Ala., to 

Rome, Ga. If locks were placed in those dams, boats could then 

navigate that stretch of the river. A long-range plan for the 

Coosa and Alabama Rivers calls for building three dams and 

locks; when and if this is done, navigation from Wetumpka to 

the Gulf will be possible (fig. 42).

As early as 1807, routes to connect the Tennessee River to the 

Gulf by way of an arm of the Mobile River were being proposed. 

A route from a prong of the Hiwassee in the Tennessee basin to a 

headwater stream of the Coosa was surveyed in 1827, this route 

being a common portage for the Indians and for the early settlers. 

Other routes were surveyed and studied in later years. The 

present consensus seems to favor the Tombigbee route shown on 

the map (fig. 43). It is argued that if this waterway is developed, 

boats that ply the waters of the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee 

Rivers would use it to advantage. For some, the. journey to 

the Gulf would be made shorter by 400 miles. It is further argued 

that the port of Mobile would flourish, and that all of Alabama 

would benefit.

The State Docks and other facilities at Mobile handle about 

15 million tons of goods each year. The principal products and 

tonnage figures for 1958 were: petroleum, 3.5 million tons; iron 

ore for shipment to Birmingham, 3.3 million tons; bauxite for 

shipment to Alcoa, Tenn., 2.1 million tons. Many shiploads of 

bananas are unloaded each year from the "Great White Fleet" 

of the United Fruit Co. Inland waterways are important to 

Alabama and, if developed further, could be of much greater 

importance.

72
FIGURE 42. Inland and coastal navigable water routes. The proposed 

Tombigbee route would link the Warrior and Tennessee River systems.

for fun and recreation

It was mentioned that Alabama farmers have built about 

21,600 ponds. Many of these ponds are stocked with fish and 

are open, for a fee, to the public for fishing or are enjoyed by 

the members of a club. Seventeen lakes built in various sections 

of the State by the State Department of Conservation are stocked 

with fish and are open to the public.

73
Although the ponds and small lakes are locally important, the 

major vacation playgrounds are either at the Gulf coast or at 

the lakes behind the large dams. At those locations, people 

enjoy many types of water sports, including fishing, water skiing, 

boat racing, and sail boating. Along the backwaters above Lake 

Martin, Lake Jordan, and the dams of the TVA, many vacation 

cottages have been built, and other cottages are found in the 

Gulf areas of Mobile and Baldwin Counties. As other dams 

are built, the day approaches when all sections of the State will 

be within 50 miles of some large water body. When that day 

comes, Alabama could, with good reason, claim to be a vacation 

paradise.

Toward clean streams

Water is used on the farm, in the home, or in the factory, and 

then discarded. Water diverted to condense steam in a steampower plant is warmed in the process but is otherwise unchanged 

as it returns to the stream after having done that work. Most 

diverted water is changed by use, and, when returned to a stream 

after use, is in less desirable condition than before that use.

Until about 1950, some industries and cities attempted to improve the quality of the used water before returning it to the 

stream, but many others did not make that effort. Groups of 

responsible citizens became concerned with the growing pollution of streams. Through their effort a public agency known 

as the Water Improvement Commission of Alabama was created 

in 1947. The commission works toward improving the purity 

of the water in the streams by decreasing the amount of impurities conveyed to the streams.

In the years since its creation, personnel of the commission have 

worked with many communities and industries on programs for 

reducing pollution. In the last 10 years, about 30 plants have 

been built to treat sewage before it is returned to the stream.

Municipal and industrial wastes are treated to prevent bacterial 

contamination, the killing of fish and other aquatic life, deterioration of stream quality, and the nuisance of foul-smelling, unsightly streams. The materials that bring about these conditions 

in water are dissolved and suspended inorganic and organic 

substances, along with the bacterial contamination. Organic 

materials in sewage are the products of living organisms, whereas

74
some inorganic wastes result from manufacturing processes. The 

inorganic materials may be any chemical substance produced as 

a byproduct of manufacturing; they include such contaminants 

as acids, alkaline materials, iron, brine, or any number of other 

chemicals which may be toxic to fish and aquatic life, and even 

to man. Bacterial contamination, of course, comes mainly from 

the disposal of sewage that has received no treatment or only 

partial treatment.

Usually there is no visible measure of the amount of pollution 

or contamination in a stream insofar as the bacterial content is 

concerned. However, streams polluted by organic wastes can 

be recognized by their appearance and odor. These conditions 

are brought about by the action of bacteria in converting the dissolved or suspended decomposable substances to stable mineral 

compounds. The floating and suspended debris in the stream is 

broken down into smaller particles that settle out. The foul 

odors that are a byproduct of the life cycle of the bacteria no longer 

exist when the materials being decomposed have reached a stable 

state, for these materials are the food supply for the bacteria.

The same process of the decomposition of organic materials 

by bacteria occurs in streams that do not receive sewage or industrial wastes. All streams receive organic material in the form 

of vegetable matter and these are acted upon by bacteria in the 

same manner as in heavily polluted streams. During dry periods, 

when the water is not flowing and where large amounts of leaves 

and other vegetable matter are present, the water becomes stagnant 

and the gases released by the bacteria resemble, to a small degree, 

those released by streams that are heavily polluted.

The ability of the stream to purify itself is dependent on the 

amount of dissolved oxygen available in the water. As long as 

this oxygen is in excess of the requirements of the aquatic life and 

of the bacteria, we have a clean stream insofar as putrefaction is 

concerned. We may still have bacteria harmful to man occurring 

in the stream, but other forces tend to destroy these, as will be 

explained later.

If excessive loads of sewage or other wastes are placed into a 

stream, an immediate change takes place in the number and 

kinds of bacteria living in the water. An almost explosive multiplication of the bacteria occurs in response to the availability of 

food. The bacteria, as do all living organisms, require oxygen

75

681589 O - 63 - 6
for survival and, because they are present in enormous numbers, 

the naturally occurring oxygen supply in the stream is depleted. 

When these bacteria die off from lack of oxygen, another type, 

capable of obtaining their oxygen supply from the organic materials they feed on, multiplies rapidly and completes the decomposition of the organic materials to a stable state. In turn, when 

the food supply of the second group of bacteria is exhausted, they 

too die and the stream returns to a pure condition.

As previously mentioned, bacteria that are harmful to man 

occur in the streams, but they, too, seem to diminish in the same 

way that organic materials diminish owing to bacterial action. 

The reduction of bacteria in clean waters can be attributed to 

shortage of food supply and to competitive life in the stream. 

Those intestinal bacteria that are harmful to man appear to be 

adversely affected by the presence of other bacteria and do not 

appear to thrive for long periods of time in highly polluted streams. 

In clean streams and in those undergoing purification, the tendency is for all bacteria, including those harmful to man, to die 

off at a constant rate from starvation, destruction by competitors, 

high acidity, or from other causes; that is, a given percentage of 

the remaining bacteria die for each successive increment of time.

Though it is true that a polluted stream will in time purify 

itself, continuous pollution may overload the stream to a point 

where it could never recover. The stream would then have 

been destroyed for most uses other than as an open sewer. Because 

of the importance of water, streams must be retained in a condition suitable for many uses, and we have, therefore, focused 

increasing attention on the treatment of sewage and industrial 

wastes. Waste materials of many industrial plants receive some 

treatment before being placed in streams or in mains leading to 

municipal sewage treatment plants. For wastes of some other 

plants, the treatment given at the municipal plants is sufficient to 

prepare the water for return to streams.

Many cities give only primary treatment to their wastes. The 

purpose of primary treatment is removal of most of the solids. 

The sewage is detained in tanks for a short period of time to permit 

the materials that will settle to be removed and to skim off the 

materials that float on top of the water. This type of treatment 

is sufficient where the effluent from the treatment is released in 

large streams having a great capacity for self-purification. See76
ondary treatment further removes the solids through use of living organisms to break down the suspended substances. The 

secondary treatment usually must be followed by filtration if 

water of high clarity is desired.

During the primary and secondary treatment, 75 to 99 percent 

of the bacteria will be removed along with the solid materials. 

The effluent from the plant is usually chlorinated to ensure the 

complete destruction of bacteria.

The treatment process will remove almost all the solid materials in the wastes. We must recognize, however, that many 

dissolved materials are not effectively removed by this process, 

although some may be acted upon by the bacteria to a certain 

degree. Within recent years the use of synthetic detergents in 

the household has become troublesome to treatment-plant operators. Detergents are not destroyed by the treament in modern 

plants, and when discharged into the streams may be picked up in 

the water many miles downstream.

It has been said previously that storage of water in a reservoir 

has the beneficial effects of reducing the sediment and color. The 

reduction of color requires a long time and is due to the exposure 

to the sun's rays. There are disadvantages, too, in storage where 

conditions are ideal for the development of plant and animal 

life that impart tastes and odors to the water and, in some cases, 

can cause an increase in the color. The production of these tastes 

and odors, because of the abundant aquatic life, occurs usually 

in newly filled reservoirs, where there is an abundant supply of 

food for the organisms. Sometimes the organisms can be controlled by a chemical treatment of the reservoir waters.

The tendency in present-day reservoir construction and management is to live with these problems rather than go to the expense 

of removing all the vegetation and the layer of top soils from the 

area to be flooded. After a few years of operation, even if none 

of the vegetation has been removed, the food supply for these 

organisms will have been reduced to that amount replaced by 

each summer's growth. There still will be certain periods when 

tastes and odors will occur in the water, but they are usually 

susceptible to removal in water-treatment plants.

Another, sometimes troublesome, condition exists in deep reservoirs where the bottom layers of water and the mud itself are 

devoid of dissolved oxygen. Under these conditions, certain bac77
teria thrive and are instrumental in bringing iron and manganese 

into solution from the muds. Aeration and other treatment are 

necessary to remove these materials.

Where the waters from deep in the reservoir are released to the 

stream, the destruction of fish and other aquatic life occurs owing 

to the lack of oxygen in the released water. The speed with which 

oxygen from the atmosphere is redissolved in the water is influenced more by turbulence of the stream than by any other 

factor. If a series of riffles or shoals are present to increase turbulence, the aeration will be much more rapid.

Floods are a problem

The first settlement in Alabama was established in 1702 by 

the French at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River. 

The settlement consisted of a fort and houses for 400 people. 

In March 1711, a great flood destroyed many of the houses 

and at its crest was several feet deep in the fort which was on the 

highest ground in the area. Following this flood, the settlement 

was moved to the present site of Mobile.

When Alabama became a State in 1819, the Congress allotted 

to it certain lands, including 1,620 acres which could be sold to 

pay for construction of a Capitol building. A site for the capital 

city was selected at the confluence of the Alabama and Cahaba 

Rivers. It was named Cahaba and work on building the 

Capitol and other buildings and houses was immediately undertaken. The town was first occupied in 1820. The site was poorly 

chosen, for it was subject to flooding. On one occasion the 

members of the legislature entered the Capitol through second 

floor windows, having gotten there by boats. In the legislative 

session of 1825-26, the members voted to move the Capitol, and 

in a short time the town was abandoned. A present-day visitor 

to the site can find no evidence of these original buildings.

The flood of 1929 and the destruction caused by it were discussed earlier (p. 33). Many other floods could be described. 

After each big flood, there comes the cry of "Do something so 

that flood destruction will not occur in the future." The most 

sensible of the "Do something" alternatives is to avoid building 

on the flood plain.

Stream channels carry the flow most of the year. Most 

streams also have flood plains over which water flows at times. 

Some streams overflow several times each year and other streams

78
overflow rarely. But regardless of how often or how seldom the 

stream overflows, the flood plain should be regarded as part of the 

waterway. Obviously, the waterway is not a suitable place for 

building a house or store or barn or factory.

Unfortunately, our people have not always followed the paths 

of wisdom in selecting building sites, and others have erred as did 

those who first settled Mobile and Cahaba. The principal 

difference between the history of those settlements and some 

others is that some sites have been used for long periods before 

they have been flooded. To abandon them is not easy because of 

the great investments in the buildings and facilities of towns and 

factories. What can be done at such places?

Floods can be controlled in two ways. The flow can be made 

to fit the channel or the channel can be made to fit the flow. 

The alternatives can be simply stated. The work involved and 

the cost of such work are often difficult and frequently too expensive to undertake.

The channel is sometimes made to fit the flow by dredging 

and straightening it. The channel of Black Creek at Gadsden was 

straightened and increased to a width of 50 feet for a 2-mile section through the town. The capacity of a stream channel can 

also be increased by building levees. At Collinsville and at Prattville, improvements consist of a combination of channel straightening and enlarging and of levees built along the banks of the 

stream. Elba has been protected by levees built between the 

streams and the town. Much farmland bordering creeks in the 

Tennessee River basin has been protected by levees.

Making the flow fit the channel is often possible but is seldom 

economically feasible. Some benefits can be obtained by planting trees, by plowing on contours, and by some other land-treatment practice. Good land-treatment practices help anchor the 

soil in place and reduce erosion. These measures do help reduce 

runoff in the summer, but are less effective in winter and spring", 

which are the seasons when most of the greater floods occur in 

Alabama. The positive and certain method for controlling flood 

runoff is to impound the flow behind a dam. There are in Alabama no major projects of this kind devoted solely to this purpose.

The dams of the TVA system are operated for three purposes 

for control of floods, for navigation, and for production of power. 

At the start of the usual flood season of January to March, the

79
reservoirs are lowered to provide an area to store flood runoff. 

Water caught behind the dam reduces flooding of the streams 

below the dam. After the end of the season of widespread 

floods, the reservoirs are rilled, if there is sufficient rain, so that 

they can provide more water for power and for navigation.

Floods on the Alabama River are sometimes reduced because 

water is stored behind Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River. 

The reservoir is not operated for flood reduction and when that 

happens it is simply a fortuitous benefit. Dams on the Coosa, 

Warrior, and Tombigbee Rivers do not provide any appreciable 

flood-control benefits.

Some work is now being done to control the flooding of agricultural lands by constructing small reservoirs on headwater 

streams. Such reservoirs will reduce flooding of bottom lands below them, but will not necessarily prevent the larger streams from 

flooding.

We have said that the most sensible approach to the flood problem is to avoid building on the flood plain. Yet sometimes there 

is no choice but to encroach on the river's domain.

The bridge builder of earlier times did not have a major problem. For him, a knowledge of the highest flood stage of a stream 

would suffice. He built his bridge from bank to bank and a 

little above the stage of the highest flood and successfully did his 

job. The larger floods flowed both over and around the bridge. 

But in times of high water, travel on the road would be delayed 

until flood waters receded to the level of the banks. In time people became impatient of this delay and demanded that the roadways approaching the bridges also be put above high water so 

their journeys would not be interrupted.

The problem of today's bridge builder is more complicated. He 

has to know the height of flood waters, and in addition, he has to 

know the quantity of flood flow and how it is distributed in the 

channel and over the bank. He needs that extra information 

so that he can better locate his bridge or bridges and determine 

the correct lengths. The length of a bridge is closely related to 

the quantity of flow. For good design the bridges need to be 

placed and sized in keeping with the distribution of the flow. 

The modern bridge engineer designs his bridges to pass a once-in25- or 50-year flood and the traveling public is seldom 

inconvenienced.

80

m
The preceding discussion of water use was mostly concerned 

with present use. However, it is apparent that the need for 

water is increasing and at a rapid rate. Projection of the past 

rate of growth gives an approximation of the level of use to be 

expected in the future. Such a projection indicates a greatly expanding volume of use a few decades from now. How will those 

future needs be met? Some answers to that question will be attempted along with a brief discussion of water law.

Supply and demand

Alabama is an area of plentiful water supplies, but the supply 

varies. It has been noted that ground water is scarce in some 

areas and plentiful in others, and that streamflows are scarce at 

times and plentiful at other times. The average supply is indeed 

plentiful, but at some places or at some times that average is not 

available. Therein rests the problem. Increasingly the local 

natural supply in time or place will be outgrown and something 

must be done to improve the nearby supply or to find a more 

distant source. How can the nearby supply be improved?

New sources of water

Water in the atmosphere tends to form around a particle such 

as dust. It then grows in size as it comes in contact with other 

water vapor. As it grows, it gets heavier, and when of sufficient 

size and weight, will fall as rain. Knowledge of this beginning of 

a raindrop led to the belief that rain could be induced by providing 

particles for the raindrop to build on, if cloud formations were 

favorable. The process is commonly termed "cloud see.ding." 

Many have tried it, and much has been written of their efforts. 

Opinions as to the worth of the effort differ widely because the 

results obtained can be variously interpreted as to cause and effect. 

Evidence indicates that a measure of success is sometimes obtained, 

but the method will probably not be used to any appreciable extent 

in Alabama.

At a few places in the world, a fairly large supply of fresh water 

is obtained from sea water to supply a town or city. The salt in 

sea water can be removed in several ways. All are relatively expensive. The Federal Government is attempting to find an inexpensive method of removing salt from sea water or brackish 

water. Pilot projects that make use of the several alternate

83
methods are to be constructed at five sites in the United States. 

If any are successful to the extent of making possible the development of large quantities at low cost, the coastal areas could be 

freed of water-shortage problems. The sea certainly contains 

an inexhaustible quantity of water, but inexpensive conversion of 

large supplies at low cost is not to be expected in the immediate 

future.

Much water that has been warmed through use is cooled by 

spraying into the air as shown in figure 38. This water has been 

used and will be used again. Another practice is to use the water 

first for one purpose and later for another that does not require 

first-quality water. Because water can be reused in many industrial applications, a small supply can do the duty of a large 

supply. The practice of reusing water is already common in 

Alabama in some areas and in some industries, and will probably 

increase in the future.

Large amounts of water are contained in aquifers in the southern and western parts of the State. The supply is large and because the aquifers remain full at nearly all times, they can with 

some justice be termed "nature's reservoirs." The total volume 

of water in these aquifers is enormous, and the better ones provide a major source of supply for the future.

In other sections of Alabama underlain by limestone, extensive caverns and channels have been developed in the limestone. 

These openings, where interconnected, form huge reservoirs for 

the storage of ground water. Large springs occur where the reservoirs overflow. Some of the largest springs are at Athens, Huntsville, and Tuscumbia. Wells penetrating these reservoirs have 

been developed for municipal and large industrial water supplies.

The yield of wells and springs developed in limestone varies 

from season to season and depends closely on the amount and 

frequency of rainfall. Cities and industries using large amounts 

of ground water must key their developments to the periods of low 

flow and water levels. In periods of extreme drought, however, 

the underground reservoirs are the last to reflect the effects.

In some States, nature also provides many surface reservoirs 

in the form of natural ponds or lakes. Almost none exist in Alabama. Some large streams and all spring-fed streams contain 

an increment of storage in their minimum flows, which frequently 

make them favorable sources of supply. The flow of other streams

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during low-water periods is commonly a small fraction of the 

average flow. To make much use of the flow of such streams 

requires storing a part of the flow during wet periods for later use 

in dry periods.

How much flow can be stored depends upon the shape of the 

land. Where unusually favorable conditions exist, it is possible 

to store all flow and release it at something approaching a uniform rate. A development to this extent is seldom feasible, and 

a more realistic goal would be to provide storage capable of producing a sustained yield equal to about two-thirds the average 

flow of the stream.

Storing water requires building dams at places where the 

volume of storage is great in proportion to the height and length 

of dam. Streams in the hilly and mountainous sections of the 

State are most suitable for development of reservoirs.

Water laws

Alabama has few laws related to water rights, and those few 

are mostly related to conditions of a past time that are not now 

important. Not many conflicts have developed at local levels; 

those that do develop are settled in courts using common-law procedures as influenced by a doctrine known as "riparian right." 

According to this doctrine, only those who possess land bordering 

a stream have any right to use water in that stream, but that water 

use must be reasonable and not detrimental to the needs of others. 

The need for diverting water to nonriparian lands or purposes 

is not recognized or provided for.

In recent drought years, a substantial amount of the flow of 

some small streams has been diverted for irrigation. Water so 

used is consumed and is not returned to the stream channels, as 

water diverted for other purposes commonly is. The extent of 

flow depletion has brought forth some conflicts between users. 

These new conflicts created a sense of anxiety on the part of some, 

and set in motion a movement to appraise the situation in regard 

to water use and water laws. Representatives of various waterusing interests met and discussed the subject. They concluded 

that a State-sponsored study should be made and advised the legislature of that conclusion. About the same time, another group 

attempted to obtain legislation which would require capping of 

overflowing wells where the water was not being used. The

85
effort was not successful. The history of the attempts to obtain 

legislation indicates that the water situation is not yet judged to 

be sufficiently acute to require action. This judgment may be 

accurate as of now, but excessive delay would appear to be unwise, 

for uncertainty about water rights may tend to discourage developments which could profitably be undertaken.

Toward better water management

The construction of a dam at Sipsey Fork will produce several 

benefits waterpower, water for a municipality, water for navigation, and cool water for increasing the efficiency at a steampower plant. Most reservoirs constructed today include the 

multiple objectives of navigation, flood control, and electric 

power.

The potential value of water moving in a stream is recognized 

by many. For some the stream is an artery of commerce. Others see it as a source of electric power. Still others see it as a 

source of water for a town or mill or farm, or as a convenient 

outlet for disposing of wastes from a town or mill. A few look 

on the stream as an enemy which sometimes floods their lands 

and buildings and which they would like to see tamed. Thus 

men aspire to put water to use, but occasionally are at cross 

purposes with each other.

The satisfaction of all interests should be sought in all developments and should be obtained to the extent required to satisfy 

the public interest. The degree to which the public interest can 

be satisfied is obviously related to economic justification, but that 

should not be the sole criterion for judging worth. It is difficult 

or impossible to place a price on the values inherent in recreation 

or conservation, for instance.

Good water management implies some understanding of alternatives and also of the possible long-term effects of plans for 

water development. There is a certain finality in most water 

projects that is not easily altered to meet changing needs arising 

at a later date. To choose wisely for the present, and at the 

same time to plan for a changing future, requires a good deal of 

knowledge about water. This account of Alabama's water resources and water problems was written to provide some of that 

knowledge, and to help the State's citizens make informed choices 

on questions of water policy, now and in the future.

86
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT...

Basic water facts, principles, and problems:

A primer on water, by L. B. Leopold and W. B. Langbein: U.S. Geological Survey special report, 50 pages, 

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 

1960.

National water resources and problems, by R. E. Oltman and others: U.S. Senate (86th Congress, 2d 

Session) Select Committee on National Water Resources, Committee Print 3, 42 pages, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1960.

Water: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Yearbook of Agriculture for 1955, 751 pages, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, B.C., 1955.

Water and economic growth, a study of Alabama and 

the southeast: Alabama Business Research Council, 

School of Commerce and Business Administration, 

University of Alabama, 45 pages, University, Ala., 

1960.

Water facts for the Nation's future, by W. B. Langbein 

and W. G. Hoyt: The Ronald Press Co., New York, 

1959, 288 pages.

The technical and scientific background:

Chemical quality of water of Alabama streams, 1960, 

a reconnaissance, by Rodney N. Cherry: Alabama 

Geological Survey Information Series 27, 95 pages. 

University, Ala,, 1962.

87
Fluoride in the ground water of the Cretaceous area 

of Alabama, by C. W. Carlston: Alabama Geological Survey Bulletin 52, 67 pages, University, Ala., 

1942.

Fluoride in the ground water of the Tertiary area of 

Alabama, by P. E. LaMoreaux: Alabama Geological 

Survey Bulletin 59, 77 pages, University, Ala., 1948.

Geology and ground water of the Piedmont area of 

Alabama, a reconnaissance report, by Jack Baker: 

Alabama Geological Survey Special Report 23, 99 

pages, University, Ala., 1957.

Ground water in the Paleozoic rocks of northern Alabama, by W. D. Johnston, Jr.: Alabama Geological 

Survey Special Report 16, 414 pages, University, 

Ala., 1933.

Ground-water resources of the Cretaceous area of 

Alabama, by C. W. Carlston: Alabama Geological 

Survey Special Report 18, 375 pages, University, 

Ala., 1944.

Hydrology and surface-water resources of east-central 

Alabama, by L. B. Peirce and Eugene Brown: Alabama Geological Survey Special Report 22, 318 

pages, University, Ala., 1955.

Stratigraphic and structural guides to the development 

of water wells and well fields in a limestone terrane, 

by P. E. LaMoreaux and W. J. Powell: International Association of Scientific Hydrology, Commission of Subterranean Waters, Publication 52, 

pages 363-375, Helsinki, 1961.

Studies of pollution in streams of Alabama: Alabama 

Water Improvement Advisory Commission, 298 

pages, Montgomery, Ala., 1949.

Surface water resources and hydrology of west-central 

Alabama, by L. B. Peirce and J. W, Geurin: Alabama Geological Survey Special Report 24, 236 

pages, University, Ala., 1959.

Water resources and hydrology of southeastern Alabama, by R. W. Carter, M. R. Williams, and P. E. 

LeMoreaux: Alabama Geological Survey Special 

Report 20, 265 pages, University, Ala., 1949.
Water resources of the Mobile area, Alabama, by W. H. 

Robinson, W. J. Powell, and Eugene Brown, with a 

section on Salinity of the Mobile River, by the Corps 

of Engineers, U.S. Army, Mobile District: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 373, 45 pages, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1956.

Water supply of the Birmingham area, Alabama, by 

W. H. Robinson, J. B. Ivey, and G. A. Billingsley: 

U.S. Geological Survey Circular 254, 53 pages, U.S. 

Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1953.

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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1963 O 681589