Quality of ground water in the Columbia Basin, Washington, 1983
Groundwater from 188 sites in the Columbia Basin of central Washington was sampled and analyzed in 1983 for pH, specific conductance, and concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria, major dissolved ions, and dissolved iron, manganese, and nitrate. Twenty of the samples were also analyzed for concentrations of dissolved trace metals including aluminum, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, and zinc. The predominant water types were sodium bicarbonate and calcium bicarbonate. The sodium bicarbonate water samples had higher pH, fluoride, and sodium:adsorption ratio values than samples with other water types. Most trace metal concentrations were also < 10 ug/L except for barium and zinc, which had maximum concentrations of 170 and 600 ug/L, respectively. Nitrate concentrations were < 1.0 mg/L in water from more than half the wells sampled. US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) drinking water regulations were exceeded in several samples, most commonly involving pH and concentrations of fluoride, nitrate, and dissolved solids in samples from Adams and Grant Counties. Generally, the historical data lead to similar conclusions about the quality of groundwater in the Columbia Basin region. However, historical samples had higher dissolved solids concentrations in Douglas County. Historical samples also included fewer sodium bicarbonate type waters in the region as a whole than the 1983 samples. 24 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6701473
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Water Resources Investigations Report 85-4320
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
WATER POLLUTION
GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION
ALUMINIUM
ARSENIC
BARIUM
CADMIUM
CHROMIUM
COPPER
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
FLUORIDES
LEAD
MERCURY
MONITORING
NITRATES
PH VALUE
SELENIUM
SILVER
TRACE AMOUNTS
ZINC
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ELEMENTS
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
METALS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
SEMIMETALS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
WATER
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)