Ground-Water Quality in the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, New York, 2004-05

In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, groundwater samples were collected from 6 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Lake Champlain Basin and from 11 production wells and 9 domestic wells in the Susquehanna River Basin in New York. All samples were collected from June through December 2014 to characterize groundwater quality in these basins. The samples were collected and processed using standard procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, radionuclides, and indicator bacteria. The Lake Champlain Basin study area covers the 3,050 square miles of the basin in northeastern New York; the remaining part of the basin is in Vermont and Canada. Of the 13 wells sampled in the Lake Champlain Basin, 6 are completed in sand and gravel, and 7 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Lake Champlain Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents-fluoride, iron, manganese, dissolved solids, sodium, radon-222, total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli bacteria-sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. The constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (5 of 13 samples) was radon-222. The Susquehanna River Basin study area covers the entire 4,522 square miles of the basin in south-central New York; the remaining part of the basin is in Pennsylvania. Of the 20 wells sampled in the Susquehanna River Basin, 11 are completed in sand and gravel, and 9 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Susquehanna River Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents-pH, chloride, sodium, dissolved solids, iron, manganese, aluminum, arsenic, barium, gross-α radioactivity, radon-222, methane, total coliform bacteria, and fecal coliform bacteria-sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. As in the Lake Champlain Basin, the constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (13 of 20 samples) was radon-222.

Section: Study Area Year Report Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater quality in the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River basins, New York, 2014

Scott¹,

Nystrom²,

Reddy³

2016

“…Mohawk River Basin 2002 Water-Data Report NY-02-1 Butch and others, 2003Chemung River Basin 2003Open-File Report 2004-1329Hetcher-Aguila, 2005 Lake Champlain Basin 2004 Open-File Report 2006-1088Upper Susquehanna River Basin 2004-2005Open-File Report 2006-1161Hetcher-Aguila and Eckhardt, 2006Delaware River Basin 2005Open-File Report 2007-1098Nystrom, 2007bGenesee River Basin 2005Open-File Report 2007-1093Eckhardt and others, 2007St. Lawrence River Basin 2005Open-File Report 2007-1066Nystrom, 2007aMohawk River Basin 2006Open-File Report 2008-1086 Western…”

Section: Study Area Year Report Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater quality in the Genesee River Basin, New York, 2010

Reddy¹

2012

Water samples collected from eight production wells and eight private residential wells in the Genesee River Basin from September through December 2010 were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality in the basin. Eight of the wells were completed in sand and gravel aquifers, and eight were finished in bedrock aquifers. Three of the 16 wells were sampled in the first Genesee River Basin study during 2005-2006. Water samples from the 2010 study were analyzed for 147 physiochemical properties and constituents that included major ions, nutrients, trace elements, radionuclides, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and indicator bacteria. Results of the water-quality analyses are presented in tabular form for individual wells, and summary statistics for specific constituents are presented by aquifer type. The results are compared with Federal and New York State drinking-water standards, which typically are identical. The results indicate that groundwater generally is of acceptable quality, although concentrations of the following constituents exceeded current or proposed Federal or New York State drinking-water standards at each of the 16 wells sampled: color (one sample), sodium (three samples), sulfate (three samples), total dissolved solids (four samples), aluminum (one sample), arsenic (two samples), copper (one sample), iron (nine samples), manganese (eight samples), radon-222 (nine samples), and total coliform bacteria (six samples). Existing drinking-water standards for pH, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, nitrite, antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, thallium, zinc, gross alpha radioactivity, uranium, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, and heterotrophic bacteria were not exceeded in any of the samples collected. None of the pesticides and VOCs analyzed exceeded existing drinkingwater standards.

“…The groundwater-quality program began in 2002 with a pilot study in the Mohawk River Basin (Butch and others, 2003). Groundwater-quality sampling was completed in the Chemung River Basin in 2003(Hetcher-Aguila, 2004; the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River Basins in 2004 (Hetcher-Aguila and Eckhardt, 2006); the St. Lawrence (Nystrom, 2007b), Delaware (Nystrom, 2007a), and Genesee River Basins others, 2007) in 2005; the Mohawk River Basin and western New York (Niagara and Allegheny River Basins, and tributaries to Lake Erie and western Lake Ontario) (Eckhardt and others, 2008) in 2006; and the Upper Hudson River Basin (Nystrom, 2009) and Central New York (Oswego, Seneca, and Oneida River Basins) (Eckhardt and others, 2009) in 2007. Sampling in the Eastern Lake Ontario Basin, the Chemung River Basin, and the Lower Hudson River Basin (Nystrom, 2010) was completed in 2008.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater quality in the Chemung River Basin, New York, 2008

Risen¹,

Reddy²

2011

The second groundwater quality study of the Chemung River Basin in south-central New York was conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey 305(b) water-qualitymonitoring program. Water samples were collected from five production wells and five private residential wells from October through December 2008. The samples were analyzed to characterize the chemical quality of the groundwater. Five of the wells are screened in sand and gravel aquifers, and five are finished in bedrock aquifers. Two of these wells were also sampled for the first Chemung River Basin study of 2003. Samples were analyzed for 6 physical properties and 217 constituents, including nutrients, major inorganic ions, trace elements, radionuclides, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, phenolic compounds, organic carbon, and four types of bacterial analyses. Results of the water-quality analyses for individual wells are presented in tables, and summary statistics for specific constituents are presented by aquifer type. The results are compared with Federal and New York State drinking-water standards, which typically are identical. Water quality in the study area is generally good, but concentrations of some constituents equaled or exceeded current or proposed Federal or New York State drinkingwater standards; these were: sodium (one sample), total dissolved solids (one sample), aluminum (one sample), iron (one sample), manganese (four samples), radon-222 (eight samples), trichloroethene (one sample), and bacteria (four samples). The pH of all samples was typically neutral or slightly basic (median 7.5); the median water temperature was 11.0 degrees Celsius (°C). The ions with the highest median concentrations were bicarbonate (median 202 milligrams per liter [mg/L]) and calcium (median 59.0 mg/L). Groundwater in the study area is moderately hard to very hard, but more samples were hard or very hard (121 mg/L as calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) or greater) than were moderately hard (61-120 mg/L as CaCO 3); the median hardness was 205 mg/L as CaCO 3. The maximum concentration of nitrate plus nitrite was 3.67 mg/L as nitrogen, which did not exceed established drinking-water standards for nitrate plus nitrite (10 mg/L as nitrogen). The trace elements with the highest median concentrations were strontium (median 196.5 micrograms per liter [µg/L]), barium (median 186 µg/L), and iron (median 72.5 µg/L in unfiltered water). Five pesticides and pesticide degradates were detected among four samples at concentrations of 0.11 µg/L or less; they included herbicides and herbicide degradates. Six volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were detected among four samples; these included four solvents, methyl tert-butyl ether, and one trihalomethane. Trichloroethene, a solvent, was detected in one production well at 5.5 µg/L; the Federal and New York State Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) (5 µg/L) was exceeded. The highest radon-222 activities were in samples from bedrock wells [maximum 1,740 picocuries per liter (pCi/L)]; eight of the wells sampled exceeded a proposed U.S. E...