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Private Domestic Well Locations and Potential Impacts from Contaminant Sources and Climate Change
Citation:
Hall, Alex AND F. Kremer. Private Domestic Well Locations and Potential Impacts from Contaminant Sources and Climate Change. Private Well Conference, NA, OH, May 25, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
An application was recently released using a new method developed by USEPA to determine private domestic well (PDW) density in the US. Using the 1990 Census, which was the last national data on private domestic wells, along with State PDW records, and the Community Housing Survey this new method provides PDW density by census block. The results estimate housing units served by domestic wells and population served for over 11 million census blocks in the United States for 2010. This dataset/application will assist in a better understanding of the reliance on private domestic in the US and better position local, state, and federal groups in protecting this water resource from contamination.
Description:
This presentation to the Private Well conference touches on resently published research on estimating private domestic well desnity for the US at a census block resolution. With this new dataset, we can now more accurately determine the co-location of this unregulated, and often untested, drinking water source for 23 million americans. We discuss potential contaminatin from de-icing road salts, cafos, superfund sites, landfills, septic systems, and leaking underground storage tanks. With increased flooding, drought, and concominate groundwater flux due to climate change, transport issues of contaminates to wells is discussed.