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The effect of changes in land use on nitrate concentration in water supply wells in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania
- Source :
- Environmental monitoring and assessment. 185(1)
- Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- An analysis of private potable water well data was conducted for seven single family residential developments in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. Background data were available for 165 wells within the communities when the wells were first drilled in the 1980s and early 1990s. Sampling of 75 wells within these same communities was performed in 2006 to determine whether conversion of the land to residential housing along with the use of conventional on-lot septic systems had resulted in elevated concentration of nitrate-nitrogen in the drinking water aquifer. The data indicate that prior land use influenced the occurrence of nitrate-nitrogen in the drinking water aquifer. The median nitrate-nitrogen concentration for the 165 wells in the background dataset was 2.9 mg/L. One hundred-seven of those wells were drilled on land previously used for active agricultural purposes. The median nitrate concentration in these wells was 3.8 mg/L. Of 48 wells drilled on forested land, the median nitrate concentration was 1.1 mg/L, approximately 3.5 times lower than those drilled on active agricultural land. The median nitrate concentration in the 2006 sampling dataset was 3.6 mg/L, an increase of 0.7 mg/L. The data indicate that conversion of the land has not resulted in contamination of the drinking water aquifer with respect to nitrate-nitrogen. Likewise, the data suggest that the conversion has not resulted in significant improvements to overall water quality.
- Subjects :
- Conservation of Natural Resources
Water supply
Aquifer
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
engineering.material
chemistry.chemical_compound
Nitrate
Agricultural land
Water Supply
General Environmental Science
Hydrology
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Nitrates
Land use
business.industry
Environmental engineering
General Medicine
Contamination
Pennsylvania
Pollution
chemistry
engineering
Environmental science
Fertilizer
Water quality
business
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Environmental Monitoring
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15732959
- Volume :
- 185
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environmental monitoring and assessment
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....56ba522d5c3721e20bc5f8e45142cb06