Assessment of groundwater under direct influence of surface water

    Authors

    F. N. Nnadi;M. Fulkerson

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Environ. Sci. Health Part A-Toxic/Hazard. Subst. Environ. Eng.

    Keywords

    drinking water; Cryptosporidium parvum; safe drinking water act; groundwater contamination; karst; recharge; land use; microscopic; particulate analysis; CRYPTOSPORIDIUM; Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences

    Abstract

    Waterborne pathogens are known to reside in surface water systems throughout the U.S. Cryptosporidium outbreaks over recent years are the result of drinking water supplied from such sources. Contamination of aquifers has also led to several reported cases from drinking water wells. With high resistance to typical groundwater treatment procedures, aquifer infiltration by Cryptosporidium poses a serious threat. As groundwater wells are the main source of drinking water supply in the State of Florida, understanding factors that affect the presence of Cryptosporidium would prevent future outbreaks. This study examines karst geology, land use, and hydrogeology in the State of Florida as they influence the risk of groundwater contamination. Microscopic Particulate Analysis (MPA) sampling was performed on 719 wells distributed across Florida. The results of the sampling described each well as having high, moderate, or low risk to surface water influence. The results of this study indicated that the hydrogeology of an area tends to influence the MPA Risk Index (RI) of a well. Certain geologic formations were present for the majority of the high risk wells. Residential land use contained nearly half of the wells sampled. The results also suggested that areas more prone to sinkhole development are likely to contain wells with a positive RI.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part a-Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering

    Volume

    37

    Issue/Number

    7

    Publication Date

    1-1-2002

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    1209

    Last Page

    1222

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000177310200003

    ISSN

    1093-4529

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