Ground Water Contamination
What causes ground water contamination?
Ground water contamination occurs when hazardous chemical wastes, pesticides, or other agricultural chemicals (such as fertilizer) seep down through the soil into underground water supplies. Faulty private septic systems, improperly managed municipal sewer systems, and leaking industrial injection wells can also contribute to ground water contamination. In recent years, leaking underground storage tanks also have posed a threat to ground water. Half of all Americans and 95 percent of rural Americans use ground water for drinking water.
Is ground water contamination harmful?
The U.S. Center for Disease Control reports an average of approximately 7,500 cases of illness linked to drinking water in the United States each year. This estimate generally is thought to be considerably lower than the actual figures because drinking water contaminants are not always considered in the diagnoses of illnesses.
How can I tell if the water in a home is contaminated?
The only way to know whether or not the water in a home is contaminated is to test it. Since 1977, federal law has required water suppliers to periodically sample and test the water supplied to homes. If tests reveal that a national drinking water standard has been violated, the supplier must move to correct the situation and must also notify the appropriate state agency of the violation. Customers must be notified also, usually by a notice in a newspaper, an announcement on radio or television, or a letter from the health department that supervises the water supplier. If the home is supplied with water from its own private well, laboratory testing of a water sample is the only way to determine if the water supply is contaminated. Should you suspect that water is contaminated, or if you wish to have water tested, contact local, county, or state health or environmental departments for information about qualified testing laboratories.
What can be done to decontaminate a home water supply?
If the home is supplied by an outside water supply source, federal law requires the provider to correct any contamination problems. When homes are supplied by private wells, analysis and treatment of the contaminated water may solve the problem.
What will it cost to decontaminate a home water supply?
Normally, consumers bear no direct financial responsibility for eliminating contamination from water supplied by an outside source (if the water was contaminated when it was delivered); the supplier bears the primary responsibility for correcting contamination problems. In the case of contaminated water supplied from a private well (or water from an outside source that becomes contaminated after it is received from the supplier), the cost of decontamination will depend on the kinds and amounts of contaminants present.
In the majority of cases, decontamination of a private water source involves technology and knowledge beyond the scope of the average homeowner. State and local environmental and water quality officials may be able to provide additional information and assistance for decontamination of private water sources.
What is being done about ground water contamination?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the lead responsibility for assuring the quality and safety of the nation’s ground water supply. The EPA’s approach is focused in two areas: minimizing the contamination of ground water and surface waters needed for human consumption, and monitoring and treating drinking water before it is consumed.
In 1986, the U. S. Congress passed a set of amendments that expanded the protection provided by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. These amendments streamlined the EPA’s regulation of contaminants, banned all future use of lead pipe and lead solder in public drinking water systems, mandated greater protection of ground water sources, and authorized EPA to file civil suits or issue administrative orders against public water systems that are in violation of the Act.
Working with the states, EPA has set national standards for minimum levels of a number of contaminants and is mandated to set such standards for additional contaminants by 1991. In addition, EPA and the states are working to devise a national strategy for the monitoring and management of ground water supplies.
You also may contact your state-specific indoor environments resources by clicking the following link State and Regional Contact Information http://www.epa.gov/iaq/whereyoulive.html .
RESOURCES
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Groundwater Contamination
Groundwater is rain water or water from surface water bodies, like lakes or streams that soaks into the soil and bedrock and is stored underground in the tiny spaces between rocks and particles of soil. Groundwater pollution occurs when hazardous substances come into contact and dissolve in the water that has soaked into the soil.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected Plant Sites with Groundwater Contamination
Recent events at several nuclear power plants have highlighted a concern with tritium contamination of groundwater, as a result of unplanned releases, such as those due to equipment degradation. For example, at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, unintended releases of tritium through a crack in the spent fuel pool concrete support wall may have been the cause of the elevated levels of tritium in groundwater in the area immediately surrounding the plant’s spent fuel pool. In another instance, at the Braidwood nuclear power plant, unintended releases of tritium from a number of vacuum breaker valves at the plant caused elevated levels of tritium in groundwater in unrestricted, public areas.
U.S. Geological Survey: Groundwater Studies
The USGS provides maps, reports, and information to help others meet their needs to manage, develop, and protect America’s water, energy, mineral, and land resources. We help find natural resources needed to build tomorrow, and supply scientific understanding needed to help minimize or mitigate the effects of natural hazards and environmental damage caused by human activities. The results of our efforts touch the daily lives of almost every American.