Ground water is important to the economic and physical well-being of the people of Utah. About 95% of Utah\u27s fresh water is ground water. It provides more than 70% of the state\u27s drinking water and is a major source of water for agriculture and irrigation

Deer, Howard

Hill, Robert W.

Peralta, Richard C.

English

DigitalCommons@USU

CD1111 UTAH STATE UNIVERSITYCOOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICEEC 425.1(Series)UTAH WATERQUALITYUtah Ground WaterHoward M. Deer, Richard C. Peralta and Robert W. HillGround water is important to the economic and physicalwell-being of the people of Utah. About 95% of Utah'sfresh water is ground water. It provides more than 70%of the state's drinking water and is a major BOurce ofwater for agriculture and irrigation (see table below). Likelakes and streams, ground water can be pollutad byhuman activities. The many possible sources ofcontaminanta include mining activities, landfills, septicsystems, fertilizers, pesticides and municipal, agriculturaland industrial wastes. Hazardous substances can movethrough the soil into ground water potentially causinghealth problems for humans and animals. Although, therehave been a few localized incidents of ground watercontamination in Utah, generally, Utah's ground water isbelieved to be of acceptable quality; especially if it isobtained from an approved water system or from aproperly installed and maintained private well. To datemost ofUtah's ground water contamination problems havenot been directly associatad with agriculture oragricultural chemicals.Ground Water ContaminationUtah Water User. Confereru:•• 1987some gradually seeps downward, filling spaces and cracksin the underlying layers of soil, gravel and rock. Thswater in these deep, saturated layers is the ground water.The water seeping down through the soil can carry with itcontaminants Buch as water-soluble nutrients, minerals,and other substances in or on the soil. This process isknown as leaching.Many contaminants are minerals that may naturally occurin water and generally do not cause heal th problems, sincethey usually occur in very small amounts. More oft.en theyimpart undesirable properties such as unpleasant taste,odor or hardne88 to the water.10%66%14%90%80%Dependenton Ground~44%35%11%5%5%Percent ofGround WaterUseUtah Ground WaterIrrigationPublic SupplyIndustrialRural DomesticRural LivestockGround water and surface water are interrelated. In fact,they are parts of the same natural water system, thehydrologic cycle.Water that falls as rain or snow runs into streams orlakes, evaporates, or soaks into the soil. Scme of thewater that enters the soil is taken up by plant roots andScme contaminante are living organisms. Soil bacteriacause the most Common odor, taste, and discolorationproblems. Occasionally bacteria, which indicate insanitaryconditions, are present and are indicators of the possiblepresence of disease-causing microorganisms.Utah State University, Utah Counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperatingOther contaminants include a wide range of syntheticorganic compounds, such as trichloroethylene, phenols,benzene and toluene. Haavy metels such as lead andcadmium, and salt or brine u..d on roads maycontaminate water. In general, these contaminantspolluts ground watsr as a result of improper storage ordisposal practices. Leaking underground storage tanksand leaking landfills are two common examples. The..contaminants may render water unsuitable for drinking.Contaminants which raach the ground watsr generallymove very slowly. In one sense this is a problem, sincecontinued leakage in one spot will lead to graduallyincreasing levels of contaminants. On the other hand,this slow movement means that most contaminants will beconfined to a small area. In addition, the limitsd spreadincreases the possibility that the water can be treated andthe aquifer restored, at least partially. However,restoration is generally a large and costly undertaking.Whether contaminants that leach into the ground waterpose a hazard to humans or animal. depend. on thetoxicity and concentration of the compound.. In time,contaminants break down by reaction with mineral. andother natural chemical. in the soil or water, by physicalfactors .uch as sunlight or heat, or by bacteria, fungi andother microorganisms. The compound. eventuallyre.ulting from the break down proce.. are u.uallynontoxic.For a contaminant to leach into ground water and presenta hazard it mu.t move down through the .oil and it mu.tresist break down into nontoxic compounds. This isgenerally not a common occurrence. The soils, thecharacteristics of the contaminants, and the amounts ofwater applied through precipitstion and/or irrigation worktogether to determine the movement and break down ofcontaminants in the soil.SoilsSoil characteristics determine how a contaminant breaksdown and whether it leache. into ground water. There i.a greater potential for ground water contamination inareas where contaminants move quickly through the soil.Sandy soil. have large pore .pace. between particle., thatprovide little .urface area for sorption, or phy.icalattachment ofcontaminants. Large amounts ofrainfall orirrigation water can move dissolved contaminants rapidlythrough the soil into ground water. Clay soil., on theother hand, are made up ofextremely small particle. thatprovide a vast .urface area for adsorption. The smallpore. between particles ~low the movement of water anddi880lved contaminants.While held securely to soil particle., contaminant. aremore likely to be broken down. Most chemical andbiological break down take. place in the loose, cultivatedsurface layers where the soil is warm, moist, high inorganic matter, and wen-aerated.Soil organic matter i. also important in preventingcontaminant movement and promoting break down.Organic matter provides additional .urface area forsorption and provide. an excenent environment forchemical and biological break down to occur. In drier soil.and at lower tsmperature. break down i. slower becau..both chemical and microbial reactions are .Iower underthese conditions.Contaminant CharacteristicsThe characteristics of the contaminants also affect bothhow they move through the soil and break down.Contaminants have different abilities to adhere to soilparticle.. Some contaminants stick very tightly to soilgrains; others .tick only loosely; .till other. stick a littleharder but can be di.lodged with water.Equally important, contaminant. and their interim breakdown products differ in their ability to di880lve in water.Contaminants that are very soluble in water and poorlyadsorbed can move through the soil to the ground watsrmuch more easily than contaminant. that are not verysoluble and strongly adsorbed by soil particle•.Amounts of WaterThe movement and break down of contaminants in the soilcan be affected by the amount of rainfall, irrigation, orboth.Both soil moi.ture and temperature can affect chemicalbreak down. If cold rain or irrigation watsr cool. the soil,break down reaction. can be .lowed. It can also washpe.ticide. oft' plants and into the soil, removing them from•unlight which might otherwi.. promote break down. Toomuch water can leach water-soluble chemical. heyondplant roots, resulting in ground water contamination.Well Water TestingAbout 90% of the rural population of Utah depends onground water as the primary source of drinking water.Many of th... individual., e.pecially tho.. re.iding inrural are.., have their own wen.. In light of recentreports of ground water contamination in many .tate.,much concern exi.t. about the safety of well water.No regulation. govern water quality in private wen•.There are no enforceable limits for particularcontaminants and no requirements for tests to be made atregular time intervals. However, health agencies do makerecommendation. as to the .uitability of wen water basedon .tandards e.tabli.hed for public drinking watersupplie•.Te.ts of well water have to be very .pecific. It i. notpossible to te.t one well and determine what thecontaminant levels are in other wells in that area. Thus,it i. up to the well owner to decide if particular ts.ts.hould be performed.Ifwell water quality i. in doubt, the first thing that a wellowner .hould do i. to contact the local health department.Department sanitarians can discuss the problem andrecommend further action. In some case., a vi.it to thewell site may he needed before a decision can be reached.SamplingIfts.ting i. recommended, the first .tep i. the collection ofthe water sample. If the well owner perform. thesampling, he or .he is u.ually provided with theappropriate .terilized sample bottle and in.tructions onhow, when and where to collect the sample. Thi. i. acrucial step, since the contaminants are generally presentin very minute amounts, and careless sampling cande.troy the possibility of obtaining accurats re.ults.Once the sample i. obtained, it may be te.ted for anumber of different type. of contaminants. One type ofte.t i. designed to detect bactsrial contamination. Sincemost odor, tasts, and discoloration problem. are due tobacteria, this te.t is performed quits commonly.A second type ofevaluation, a partial chemical analy.i., i.used to detect commonly occurring inorganic constituents,such as magnesium, calcium, sodium, iron, fluoride,chloride and nitrats. Some of the.., such as fluoride andnitrate, may be haalth hazard. at high level.. Other.,such as magnesium and iron, are usually of concern dueonly to their effects on water taste, color, odor or cleansingpropertie.. This type of test i. more expensive than thebactsriological analysis, but it i. still not very costly.A third, and potentially very expensive, type of analysis i.a .pecific chemical analysi.. Thi. i. u..d to look for oneor a few particular chemical. which are .uspected ofbeingpre..nt in the water. It i. extremely costly to analyzewatsr for everything. The wen owner mu.t narrow downthe possible source. of the problem so that a limited ..t ofte.ts can be conductsd.Once the te.ts are completed, the well owner i. faced withinterpreting any positive re.ults. The pre..nce of acontaminant i. not alway. an indication of a healthhazard. It i. the level at which it i. found that i. mo.timportant. Although there are no e.tabli.hed levels forprivate wen water, the levels e.tablished for public.upplie. can be u..d as guide•. It i. be.t to discuss re.ultswith a sanitarian from the local health department, sincehe or .he will have th... e.tablished levels available andcan help you interpret your re.ults.If the wen owner find. that the wen .hould not be u..d,there are five basic alternatives: install a new well;connect with a public .y.tem (if available); u.. bottladwater; install filters; or move to another area.Drilling a new well into the same aquifer may not solvethe problem if the contaminant has polluted all or most ofthe aquifer or if the source ofcontamination has not beenidentified. It i. also expensive. Connecting with a public.y.tem will only work if one i. close enough. Bottledwater i. generally ju.t a temporary solution. In additionto the expen.., the quality of bottled water i. not alway.certain. In.tallation of filter. may appear to be anattractive solution but the.. devices are unregulated andvary in effectivene88; they require careful maintenanceand generally lack malfunction indicators. The lastsolution, moving to another location, is a drastic one butmay be necessary in extreme situations.Water Analysis LaboratoriesIfyou believe that you have a water problem, contact yourlocal health department. In some in.tance. they may beable to offer assi.tance. In some case. you may find itnece.sary to obtain your own analysi•.The following li.t of certified laboratories can conductvarious watsr analy.... Contact the laboratory forinstructions on how to sample the water and for coetinformation. The.. laboratorie. have been certified by theUtah Department of Health to perform variousenvironmental chemical and microbiological analyses.American West Analytical Laboratories463 We.t 3600 SouthSalt Lake City, Utah 84115266-5858Central Valley Water Reclamation Lab800 We.t Central Valley RoadSalt Lake City, Utah 84119973-9100Chemtech6100 South Stratler AvenueMurray, Utah 84107262-7299DataChem Laboratorie.960 West LeVoy DriveSalt Lake City, Utah 84123266-7700Ford Chemical Laboratory40 We.t Loui.. AvenueSalt Lake City, Utah 84115466-8761Mountain State. Analytical1645 We.t 2200 SouthSalt Lake City, Utah 84119973-0050Southern Utah State Watsr Laboratory351 We.t Center StreetCedar City, Utah 84720586-7914Utah State UniversitySoil, Plant, and Water Analysis LaboratoryLogan, Utah 84322-4830750-2217For Further InformationMore extensive infonnation on ground water and ondrinking watsr in Utah can be obtained from the following:Utah Department of Agriculture- Divi.ion of Environmental Quality 538-7179Utah Department of HealthDivi.ion of Drinking Water - Sanitation 538-6159- Divi.ion of Water Pollution Control 538-6146Utah Department of Natural Resources- Divi.ion of Water Resource. 538-7230CD'OIlHoward M. Deer, Associate Professor and Extension Pesticide Coordinator,Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences;Richard C. Peralta, Associate Professor, and Robert W. Hill, Professor,Department of Agricultural and Irrigation Engineering,Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-4649.The Utah Cooperative Extension Service, an equal opportunity employer, provides programs and services to all penons regardless arrace, age,sex, color, religion, national origin or handicap.Issued in furtherance ofCooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the u.s. Department of Agriculture.R. Paul lanen, Vice President and Director, Cooperative Extension Service, Utah State Univcnity. AMRIll-91

Utah Water Quality- Utah Ground Water

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Utah Water Quality- Utah Ground Water

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