The U.S. Geological Survey has released two new fact sheets on groundwater quality.
The two new fact sheets assess water quality in the surficial aquifer system and stream valley aquifers. With the addition of the two most recent fact sheets, groundwater quality across 20 principal aquifers in the continental United States can be compared to human-health benchmarks.
Groundwater quality results for principal aquifers sampled in 2019 are available, in addition to those previously available for principal aquifers sampled between 2012 and 2018, and are summarized in the fact sheets. Nearly 1500 deep public-supply wells were sampled within these 20 aquifers, which were analyzed for a broad range of water-quality constituents.
USGS scientists are assessing water quality in source water from wells in principal aquifers across the country. This comprehensive sampling is focused on public-supply wells that tap deeper groundwater. Along with detailed information on geology, hydrology, geochemistry, and chemical and water use, this data can be used to explain how and why groundwater vulnerability to contamination varies across the nation.
The USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project has been assessing the quality of groundwater since 1991.
Click here to assess the surficial aquifer system fact sheet.
Click here to assess the stream valley aquifers fact sheet.