Download Water-Well Information Water-Well Contamination Public Drinking

Groundwater
The locations of about 106,000 water wells in Indiana. IndianaMap provides data related to ground
water and surface hydrology.
More than 300,000 water wells have been drilled in Indiana. Many
municipalities, as well as individual residences, obtain their water from such
wells. Even though Indiana receives about 40 inches of rainfall each year,
ground water is increasingly important for agricultural irrigation. Ground water
is also vital to many industries.
Water-Well Information
Information about an existing well can be obtained from the Indiana
Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), Division of Water (DOW), Ground
Water Section. Descriptions of existing water wells can be viewed and
downloaded from the Water Well Record Database of the DOW. A modified
version of the water-well database, known as the "iLITH" database, can be
obtained as part of the Glacial Terrain Explorer of the Indiana Geological
Survey. For installation of new wells, all water-well drillers must be certified by
IDNR. Information about water-well drillers can be obtained from IDNR or the
Indiana Ground Water Association.
Water-Well Contamination
Persons suspecting bacteriological contamination of a water well should
contact their county health department. Persons suspecting chemical
contamination should contact the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management, Office of Water Quality . For many wells, the Indiana
Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water, Ground Water/ Wells
can provide information on changes in water levels or productivity.
Public Drinking Water
Ground-water problems related to landfills, salt-storage piles, underground
storage tanks, chemical spills, and a variety of other sources of contamination
are being addressed by the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management (IDEM), Office of Water, under the provisions of the federal
Clean Water Act. Research on watershed problems and watershed protection
across Indiana is being funded by IDEM by federal pass-through grants as
part of the 104(b) NPDES Related State Program Grants , 205(j) Water
Quality Planning Program , and 319 Nonpoint Source Program. The federal
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 require that states identify the
areas that are sources of public drinking water, assess the susceptibility of
water-supply systems to contamination, and inform the public of the results.
This program is referred to as the "Source Water Assessment Program"
(SWAP) and is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
through the Office of Water Quality of IDEM.
The Indiana Geological Survey (IGS) was selected by IDEM to conduct SWAP
assessments for noncommunity, nontransient Public Water Systems (PWSs),
which include schools, churches, and businesses that serve at least 25 of the
same individuals over 6 months per year. The IGS has developed fact sheets
for each individual PWS; a discussion of the project is available, titled Source
Water Assessments at the Indiana Geological Survey.The United States
Geological Survey and various consultants are assessing source water for
surface-water supplies and municipal ground-water supplies, respectively.
Runoff from farming operations, such as this dairy farm, can contaminate nearby water wells.
Fertilizers and Pesticides
Fertilizers are known to contaminate ground water in many parts of Indiana. A
report is available from the Indiana Farm Bureau (Wallrabenstein, L. K.,
Richards, R. P., Baker, D. B., and Barnett, J. D., 1994, Nitrate and Pesticides
in Private Wells of Indiana, Part 1 [State Summary, 38 p.] and Part 2 [County
Summaries, 442 p.]). For more information on the occurrences and effects of
pesticides in ground water, contact the Office of the Indiana State Chemist,
Indiana Pesticide State Management Plan .
It may be possible to ameliorate problems caused by fertilizers and pesticides
through implementation of "best management practices" (BMPs). The timing,
application methods, and application rates of various agricultural chemicals
application methods, and application rates of various agricultural chemicals
can be altered and refined to lessen their environmental impacts without
adversely affecting productivity. More information about BMPs can be
obtained from Purdue University, Agronomy Extension , and the National
Resources Conservation Service, Conservation Programs .
Confined Animal
Feeding
Operations
(CAFOs)
Large-scale hog operations in Illinois.
In recent years, the growth of
corporate agriculture has
resulted in an increase in the number and size of concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs). These are used for poultry, cattle, and swine production.
Leaching of manures in geologically sensitive areas may pose a threat to
ground water by bacterial and chemical nitrate) contamination. A number of
research projects are proposed or underway to study the environmental
effects of CAFOs in Indiana. For more information, contact the Indiana
Department of Environmental Management, Office of Water Quality . The
Indiana Geological Survey conducted a project titled Analysis of Nitrate in
Ground Water in Jackson County, Indiana to measure and differentiate the
effects of fertilizers and CAFOs.
Bacterial (E. coli) Contamination of Beaches
Aerial photograph showing the Portage-Burns Waterway entering Lake Michigan.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium that normally inhabits the intestines of
humans and many other animals. When released to the environment, some
strains of E. coli can cause illness or death through contamination in food and
water. Each summer, public beaches along Indiana's southern Lake Michigan
shoreline are closed periodically because of the presence of potentially
harmful concentrations of E. coli. These closures have a significant economic
impact and negatively affect tourism ( Lake Michigan Federation). Human
sewage is considered to be the primary source of the problem, and the role of
combined sewage overflows (CSOs) and seepage and runoff from unsewered
The Interagency Technical Task Force was formed in the mid-1990s to
sample beaches and drainage networks and suggest possible avenues for
mitigating the beach-closure problem. A project by the Indiana Geological
Survey to develop an early warning system for forecasting beach closures
along Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline resulted in a report titled Monitoring
and Forecasting Outfalls of Streamflow Contaminated by E. coli at the
Portage-Burns Waterway ("Burns Ditch"), Lake Michigan, Indiana .
Aerial photograph showing karst terrain in south-central Indiana.
Vulnerability of Karst Areas
Certain parts of south-central Indiana that are extensively underlain by
limestone and that possess special hydrologic conditions are referred to as
"karst areas." Wells and springs in karst areas may provide large quantities of
water, but it is highly susceptible to contamination and is often unsafe for
human consumption because surface runoff is generally not filtered by soil or
bedrock in these areas. The Indiana Natural Resources Commission provides
information on rules and policies governing certain activities in karst areas.
For an overview of karst geology and hydrology, visit Karst in Indiana by the
Indiana Geological Survey.
An investigation by the IGS of contamination in Spring Mill State Park, located
in the karst area, is titled Potential Nonpoint-Source Contamination of the
Spring Mill Lake Drainage Basin .