Upstream to downstream, Hartwell, Richard B. Russell, and J. Strom Thurmond are warm, monomictic reservoirs of the Savannah River. In summer, they undergo thermal and chemical stratification with hypoxic/anoxic hypolimnia. To improve the water quality of releases from Russell Dam during stratification, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates a hypolimnetic oxygenation system in the forebay of Russell Reservoir. This system may facilitate oxidation and flocculation of iron and manganese. Phosphorus can adsorb to the flocculates, and their sedimentation effectively removes them from the water column. Therefore, Russell Reservoir may be a sink for iron, manganese, and phosphorus in the Savannah River System.

Sediment samples were taken from the forebays of Hartwell, Russell, and Thurmond Reservoirs and at an upstream location within Russell Reservoir. Russell Reservoir had significantly more iron at the oxygenation system in the sediment than at upstream locations within Russell Reservoir or in Hartwell Reservoir. Hartwell Reservoir had significantly more iron than Thurmond Reservoir. Phosphorous showed a similar distribution. Manganese was greater in the Russell Reservoir forebay at the oxygenation system than at an upstream location in Russell Reservoir or within Hartwell Reservoir. However, the Thurmond Reservoir forebay had significantly more manganese than Hartwell or Russell Reservoirs.