Groundwater Age–a Surrogate for Water Quality on Long Island, New York

Groundwater Age–a Surrogate for Water Quality on Long Island, New York: The figure above illustrates how water-quality susceptibility on Long Island, NY can be quantified using groundwater age. One approach to assessing the potential water-quality risks to public supply is to use the groundwater model to calculate the age of the groundwater in the aquifer system.  By doing so, it is then possible to determine the (1) volume of aquifer, (2) number of public-supply wells, (3) amount of water pumped, (4) population served, and (5) future vulnerability based on an understanding of the distribution of young (less than 100 years old) and old (greater than 100 years old) groundwater. (Figure for illustrative purposed only, data subject to change.)