Why Some Public-Supply Wells Are More Vulnerable To Contamination Than Others

More than 100 million people in the United States - about 35 percent of the population - receive their drinking water from public groundwater systems, which can be vulnerable to naturally occurring contaminants such as radon, uranium and arsenic, as well as commonly used manmade compounds, including fertilizers, septic-tank leachate, solvents and gasoline hydrocarbons. Public-supply well vulnerability to contamination starts with groundwater vulnerability to contamination. Even wells within a single aquifer, however, may not be equally vulnerable to contaminants in the aquifer because individual wells produce unique mixtures of the groundwater.

This USGS video podcast uses examples from four locations with very different aquifer-well combinations to illustrate why some public-supply wells are more vulnerable to contaminants in aquifers than others.

For more information on how the science behind public-supply well vulnerability to contamination can be used to protect drinking water sources, please refer to the accompanying USGS fact sheets below.

• Press Release
• Video podcast transcript and other video formats
• Radio interview/podcast