Influence of land use on the chemistry and microbial abundance in groundwater

Abstract

Groundwater is a major source of water for many Canadians. It has been shown that in many parts of Canada, wells exceed the guidelines for nitrate and bacteria and there is a lack of detailed information available on the state of wells in general. Water samples from 54 private potable wells in the South Nation River and Raisin River watershed areas were collected for water quality analysis in 2003. Water quality indicators tested for in the well water samples consisted of the following: nitrate, total coliforms (TC), Escherichia coli (EC), background colonies (BC), conductivity, oxygen (dissolved oxygen), redox potential (Eh), pH, total inorganic carbon (TIC), total organic carbon (TOC) and methyl mercury (MeHg). Dug wells have a greater risk of contamination than drilled wells. I predicted that there would be a difference in the bacteria and nitrate levels in these two type of wells. Well water samples were subdivided based on three categories of land use: residential, agricultural and agricultural intensive. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)