Drinking Water and Source Water Research
Featured Study: Lithium in Our Nation's Groundwater
A new USGS study reports that about 45% of public-supply wells and about 37% of U.S. domestic supply wells have concentrations of lithium that could present a potential human-health risk.
Learn MoreFeatured Study: Predicting pH in the Glacial Aquifer System
A new 3-D model predicts pH in groundwater at all depths across the 25-state span of the glacial aquifer system, reports an article by the USGS. The glacial aquifer system provides more water for domestic and public supply than any other US aquifer.
Learn MoreScience Center Objects
Reliable drinking water is vital for the health and safety of all Americans. The USGS works with drinking water facilities and municipal suppliers to monitor and assess the quality of the water used as a source for our nation's drinking water needs.
BACKGROUND
One of the central missions of the USGS is to monitor the natural resources we rely on every day, and one of the most important natural resources monitored is water. As humans, we need water to live, especially clean water. But where does the water we rely on come from? How long can we use it to meet our drinking water needs?
DRINKING WATER IN THE UNITED STATES
Nearly 270 million people rely on public water supply every year1. That means over 85 percent of the United States population depends on municipal water suppliers to provide clean water to their homes and businesses. The source of that water typically is surface water from rivers, lakes, or reservoirs, or groundwater, which is treated before delivery to consumers. The remaining U.S. population relies on private groundwater wells to meet their household needs. The USGS cooperates with drinking water facilities and municipal suppliers to confirm that the source water they use meets its intended purposes, whether those purposes are domestic, commercial, or industrial. The USGS does not regulate or directly monitor water treatment operations, nor does it enforce water-quality standards. But the USGS works with drinking water facilities and municipal suppliers to assess the quality and quantity of the source water they use, whether it comes from a lake, river, reservoir, or groundwater.
RELATED USGS RESEARCH
- Water quality of public supply wells
- Factors affecting the vulnerability of public supply wells to contamination
- Water quality of domestic (private) wells
- Health-based screening levels (HBSLs) for drinking water
- Arsenic and drinking water
- Estimating toxin concentrations from harmful algal blooms in Ohio recreational and source waters
- Harmful algal blooms and drinking water in Oregon
- Groundwater viruses in Minnesota drinking water wells
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Public Supply Wells
Are you among the more than 100 million people in the U.S. who relies on a public-supply well for your drinking water? Although the quality of finished drinking water from public water systems is regulated by the EPA, long-term protection and management of the raw groundwater tapped by public-supply wells requires an understanding of the occurrence of contaminants in this invisible, vital...
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Year Published: 1997The U.S. Geological Survey Drinking Water Initiative
Safe drinking-water supplies are critical to maintaining and preserving public health. Although the Nation's drinking water is generally safe, natural and introduced contaminants in water supplies throughout the country have adversely affected human health. This new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initiative will provide information on the...
View CitationThe U.S. Geological Survey Drinking Water Initiative; 1997; FS; 047-97; Geological Survey (U.S.)
Anthropogenic organic compounds in source water of selected community water systems that use groundwater, 2002-05
Source water, defined as groundwater collected from a community water system well prior to water treatment, was sampled from 221 wells during October 2002 to July 2005 and analyzed for 258 anthropogenic organic compounds. Most of these compounds are unregulated in drinking water and include pesticides and pesticide degradates, gasoline...
Hopple, Jessica A.; Delzer, Gregory C.; Kingsbury, James A.
Quality of Water from Domestic Wells in Principal Aquifers of the United States, 1991-2004: Overview of Major Findings
More than 43 million people - about 15 percent of the U.S. population - rely on domestic wells as their source of drinking water (Hutson and others, 2004). The quality and safety of water from domestic wells, also known as private wells, are not regulated by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act or, in most cases, by state laws. Rather, individual...
DeSimone, Leslie A.; Hamilton, Pixie A.; Gilliom, Robert J. Water-quality data for pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in ground water and in untreated drinking water sources in the United States, 2000-01
This report presents water-quality data from two nationwide studies on the occurrence and distribution of organic wastewater contaminants. These data are part of the continuing effort of the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program to collect baseline information on the environmental occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other organic...
Barnes, Kimberlee K.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Focazio, Michael J.; Furlong, Edward T.; Meyer, Michael T.; Zaugg, Steven D.; Haack, Sheridan K.; Barber, Larry B.; Thurman, E. Michael
Trends in the occurrence of MTBE in drinking water in the Northeast United States
Public water systems in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island sampled treated drinking water from 1993-2006 and analyzed the samples for MTBE. The US Geological Survey examined trends in the occurrence of MTBE in drinking water derived from ground water in these States for two near-decadal time steps; 1993-1999...
Moran, M.J. Vulnerability of shallow groundwater and drinking-water wells to nitrate in the United States
Two nonlinear models were developed at the national scale to (1) predict contamination of shallow ground water (typically < 5 m deep) by nitrate from nonpoint sources and (2) to predict ambient nitrate concentration in deeper supplies used for drinking. The new models have several advantages over previous national-scale approaches. First, they...
Nolan, Bernard T.; Hitt, Kerie J. Workgroup report: Drinking-water nitrate and health - Recent findings and research needs
Human alteration of the nitrogen cycle has resulted in steadily accumulating nitrate in our water resources. The U.S. maximum contaminant level and World Health Organization guidelines for nitrate in drinking water were promulgated to protect infants from developing methemoglobinemia, an acute condition. Some scientists have recently suggested...
Ward, M.H.; deKok, T.M.; Levallois, P.; Brender, J.; Gulis, G.; Nolan, B.T.; VanDerslice, J. VOCs, pesticides, nitrate, and their mixtures in groundwater used for drinking water in the United States
Samples of untreated groundwater from 1255 domestic drinking-water wells and 242 public supply wells were analyzed as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey between 1992 and 1999. Wells were sampled to define the regional quality of the groundwater resource and, thus, were distributed geographically...
Squillace, P.J.; Scott, J.C.; Moran, M.J.; Nolan, B.T.; Kolpin, D.W.
Contaminants present in many parts of the Glacial aquifer system
Are you one of 30 million Americans whose drinking-water supply relies on groundwater from the glacial aquifer system? A new USGS study assesses the quality of untreated groundwater from this critical water resource, which underlies parts of 25 northern U.S. states.
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Date published: January 19, 2017Groundwater Quality in the West: Examining Basin and Range Basin-Fill Aquifers
A regional assessment of untreated groundwater in the Basin and Range basin-fill aquifers, which include parts of Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and adjacent states, is now available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Date published: January 19, 2017
Groundwater Quality in the Coastal Lowlands Aquifer System
A regional assessment of untreated groundwater in the Coastal Lowlands aquifer system in the southeastern United States is now available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Date published: January 19, 2017
Groundwater Quality in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Aquifer System
A regional assessment of untreated groundwater in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system in the eastern United States is now available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Date published: July 13, 2016New Study Shows High Potential for Groundwater to be Corrosive in Half of U.S. States
An analysis of more than 20,000 wells nationwide shows 25 states have groundwater that has either high or very high potential to be corrosive...
Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program -
Date published: May 31, 2016New Science Challenges Old Assumptions about Harmful Algal Blooms
First-of-its-kind survey shows that algal toxins are found nationwide
Attribution: Ecosystems, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program, Region 11: Alaska, Region 3: Great Lakes, Region 5: Missouri Basin, Region 6: Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest, Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf (Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Region 12: Pacific Islands (American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Region 4: Mississippi Basin -
Date published: February 17, 2016Algal Toxins Detected in One-Third of Streams Assessed in Southeastern United States
USGS scientists have detected toxins known as microcystins produced by various forms of algae in 39 percent of the small streams assessed throughout the southeastern United States. Their recent study looked at 75 streams in portions of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
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Date published: January 21, 2015The Quality of the Nation’s Groundwater
About 115 million people—more than one-third of the Nation’s population—rely on groundwater for drinking water. As the Nation’s population grows, the need for high-quality drinking-water supplies becomes even more urgent.
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Date published: May 19, 2014
Groundwater Study Assesses Potential for Contamination of Drinking-Water Aquifers in Los Angeles
Contaminated groundwater found at shallow depths in southern Los Angeles County has the potential to migrate to deeper aquifers, according to a scientific study just published by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.
Attribution: -
Date published: March 8, 2012Atrazine Not Likely to Exceed Drinking Water Standard in Agricultural Groundwater
A new model predicts that atrazine, plus its breakdown product deethylatrazine, has less than a 10 percent chance of exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for public drinking-water supplies in shallow groundwater in about 95 percent of the nation’s agricultural areas. Atrazine is a commonly used herbicide for weed control in corn and sorghum production.
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Date published: August 30, 2011
Arsenic, Uranium and Other Trace Elements, a Potential Concern in Private Drinking Wells
About 20% of untreated water samples from public, private, and monitoring wells across the nation contain concentrations of at least one trace element, such as arsenic, manganese and uranium, at levels of potential health concern, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.