Quality of Groundwater Used for Public Supply in the Continental United States: A Comprehensive Assessment

The presence of contaminants in a source water can constrain its suitability for drinking. The quality of groundwater used for public supply was assessed in 25 principal aquifers (PAs) that account for 84% of groundwater pumped for public supply in the U.S. (89.6 million people on a proportional bas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS ES&T water 2022-12, Vol.2 (12), p.2645-2656
Main Authors: Belitz, Kenneth, Fram, Miranda S., Lindsey, Bruce D., Stackelberg, Paul E., Bexfield, Laura M., Johnson, Tyler D., Jurgens, Bryant C., Kingsbury, James A., McMahon, Peter B., Dubrovsky, Neil M.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The presence of contaminants in a source water can constrain its suitability for drinking. The quality of groundwater used for public supply was assessed in 25 principal aquifers (PAs) that account for 84% of groundwater pumped for public supply in the U.S. (89.6 million people on a proportional basis). Each PA was sampled across its lateral extent using an equal-area grid, typically with 60 wells per PA. Samples were analyzed for 502 constituents, of which 374 had either a regulatory or nonregulatory human health benchmark (HHB). Nationally, elevated concentrations (relative to HHBs) of geogenic constituents have a larger effect than anthropogenic constituents, as indicated by three metrics: detection frequency, 35% versus 8.1%; prevalence (based on area), 41% versus 6.4%; and population potentially affected, 31.2 million versus 7.1 million. Prevalence of any constituent at elevated concentrations was high40 to 75%in PAs comprising unconsolidated sediment (eight PAs) and sandstone or interbedded sandstones and carbonates (four PAs) in the West and Central Interior. Prevalence was lower15 to 35%in PAs comprising sediment and sedimentary rocks along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts (four PAs), carbonates distributed across the continental U.S. (seven PAs), and hard rock (two PAs).
ISSN:2690-0637
2690-0637
DOI:10.1021/acsestwater.2c00390