KGS--Miami County Geohydrology--Chemical Quality

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Ground-water Resources, continued

Chemical Quality of Ground Water

Water is often referred to as the universal solvent. Various gases and minerals are taken into solution by water as it falls through the air and as it percolates through materials in the earth. The kind and amount of impurities in ground water can be determined by chemical analysis. The corrosiveness, encrusting tendency, potability, and other properties can he predicted from the results of a quantitative analysis.

The analyses of 25 samples of water from wells and springs in Miami County are given in Table 2. Factors for converting parts per million of mineral constituents to equivalents per million are given in Table 3.

Table 2—Analyses of water from typical wells in Miami County, Kansas (in parts per million, except as otherwise indicated*). (Samples analyzed by Howard A. Stoltenberg)

Well number	Date of collection	Depth of well, feet	Geologic source	Temp. (deg. F)	Silica (SiO₂)	Iron (Fe)	Calcium (Ca)	Magnesium (Mg)	Sodium (Na)	Potassium (K)	Bicarbonate (HCO₃)	Sulfate (SO₄)	Chloride (Cl)	Fluoride (F)	Nitrate (NO₃)	Dissolved solids (residue at 180 deg. C)	Hardness as CaCO₃		Specific conductance (micromhos at 25 deg. C)
Well number	Date of collection	Depth of well, feet	Geologic source	Temp. (deg. F)	Silica (SiO₂)	Iron (Fe)	Calcium (Ca)	Magnesium (Mg)	Sodium (Na)	Potassium (K)	Bicarbonate (HCO₃)	Sulfate (SO₄)	Chloride (Cl)	Fluoride (F)	Nitrate (NO₃)	Dissolved solids (residue at 180 deg. C)	Carbonate	Noncarbonate	Specific conductance (micromhos at 25 deg. C)
15-21-35abb	8/16/62	23.2	Stanton Limestone	67	14	0.06	126	45	32	7.8	388	187	24	0.3	32	659	318	182	1110
15-22-33bbb	7/18/62	49.2	Wyandotte Limestone	74	5.5	0.08	74	30	34	4.7	300	68	15	0.1	49	428	246	62	720
15-23-34bbb	7/18/62	18.5	Stanton Limestone	69	12	0.21	54	11	41	19	229	85	8	0.4	4	347	180	0	570
16-21-23aac	8/17/62	15	Stanton Limestone	61	9.5	0.2	100	8.9	28	0.6	327	16	39	0.1	6.2	369	268	18	660
16-22-15bbc	7/16/62	19.9	Wyandotte Limestone	65	14	0.38	88	23	165	1.6	547	56	112	0.2	28	757	314	0	1270
16-22-34bca	8/17/62	Spring	Stanton Limestone	59	11	0.05	89	18	15	1	344	28	7	0.1	5.8	344	282	14	620
16-23-25dbc	7/19/62	86	Wyandotte Limestone	65	14	1.6	67	53	25	1.7	471	34	9	0.2	0.8	437	385	0	760
16-23-28ddc	7/24/62	135	Dennis Limestone	59	1.5	58	10	26	282	11	264	379	113	0.4	0.7	954	132	0	1620
16-24-29ddc	7/19/62	20	Wyandotte Limestone and Lane (?) Shale	65	14	0.75	138	11	13	2	425	43	15	0.1	0.4	446	348	42	730
16-25-18ddd	7/18/62	100		61	10	0.07	136	12	4.7	0.6	412	33	11	0.1	10	420	338	51	630
17-21-12bcc	8/16/62	22	Plattsburg Limestone	67	7.5	0.75	46	10	10	44	185	40	18	0.3	17	284	154	4	500
17-22-26ccc	7/24/62	35	Cherryvale Shale	62	8	126	63	8	25	1.6	259	22	7	0.1	1.8	264	190	0	450
17-24-20ccc	7/24/62	102		61	7.5	0.34	61	20	11	2.3	215	48	16	0.5	2.9	275	176	58	490
17-25-7cdd	7/25/62	23	Wyandotte Limestone and Lane (?) Shale	67	9.5	0.18	117	16	5.8	2.2	366	62	4	0.1	0.8	397	300	58	590
18-21-13baa	8/16/62	38	Iola Limestone	60	10	1.5	107	90	78	6.6	337	337	75	0.4	111	981	276	361	1530
18-21-35caa	7/16/62	65	Chanute Shale	60	9.5	4.3	19	15	210	1.6	495	48	60	0.6	36	643	109	0	1070
18-22-26bbb	7/16/62	18	Iola Limestone and Chanute Shale	65	12	0.65	182	49	97	2.4	259	59	415	0.4	15	959	212	444	1770
18-23-12aba	7/25/62	22	Dennis Limestone	63	10	0.18	130	24	18	2.7	312	78	40	0.1	80	534	256	167	920
18-23-23cbc	7/26/62	22	Recent alluvium and Wisconsinan terrace deposits	63	12	0.13	150	16	14	10	405	71	25	0.1	31	528	332	108	850
18-23-36da (city of Fontana)	3/11/63	50	Recent alluvium and Wisconsinan terrace deposits		15	3	114	13	17	0.7	407	28	8	0.1	1.8	398	338	4	680
18-25-33bbb	7/25/62	18.4	Dennis Limestone	72	13	1.4	286	42	33	12	305	325	127	0.4	239	1227	250	636	1860
19-22-9ddd	7/26/62	80	Chanute Shale and Drum (?) Limestone	60	15	1.9	35	8	14	1	144	17	9	0.1	4.2	174	118	2	310
19-23-15abb	7/26/62	52	Swope Limestone	65	10	0.13	130	12	6.4	7.8	373	44	10	0.1	27	431	306	68	690
19-24-4bbb	7/26/62	27	Dennis Limestone	67	8	3.1	123	46	30	14	315	244	39	0.4	4.2	664	258	238	1020
19-25-7dcd	7/25/62	25.5	Dennis Limestone	70	9.5	0.22	144	12	5.5	1.2	393	37	12	0.1	49	464	322	87	820

* One part per million is equivalent to one pound of substance per million pounds of water or 8.33 pounds per million gallons of water.

Table 3—Factors for converting parts per million of mineral constituents to equivalents per million.

Cation	Conversion factor	Anion	Conversion Factor
Ca++	0.0499	NCHO3 -	0.0164
Mg++	0.0823	SO4 - -	0.0208
Na+	0.0435	Cl -	0.0282
		NO3 -	0.0161
		F -	0.0526

Quality in Relation to Use

Ground water from properly constructed wells will have good sanitary quality. The chemical content of the water also is important. Water to be used for drinking should not contain excessive amounts of iron, magnesium, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, or other undesirable constituents.

Water to be used for cooking and washing should not have an excessive hardness and should not have a high bicarbonate content. The quality of water in relation to use, with principal constituents and characteristics, acceptable concentrations, and range in concentrations in water in Miami County, is found in Table 4.

Table 4—Quality of water in relation to use, Miami County, Kansas.

Constituents	Principal characteristics	Acceptable maximum concentration*	Range in concentration (ppm)
Dissolved Solids	Water high in dissolved solids may have a disagreeable taste or have a laxative effect. When water is evaporated the residue consists mainly of the minerals listed in Table 2.	500 ppm	174-1,227
Hardness	Hardness is caused by calcium and magnesium. Forms scale in vessels used in heating or evaporative processes. Hardness is commonly noticed by its effect when soap is used with the water. Carbonate hardness can be removed by boiling, noncarbonate hardness	120 ppm (easily detected) 200 ppm (sometimes softened for household use)	109-886
Iron (Fe)	Stains cooking utensils, plumbing fixtures, and laundry. Water may have a disagreeable taste.	0.3 ppm	0.06-126
Fluoride (F)	Fluoride concentrations of about 1 ppm in drinking water used by children during the period of calcification of teeth prevents or lessens the incidence of tooth decay. 1.5 ppm may cause mottling of the tooth enamel (Dean, 1936). Bone changes may occur wit	1.5 ppm	0-0.6
Nitrate (NO₃)	Nitrate concentration of 90 ppm may cause cyanosis in infants (Metzler and Stoltenberg, 1950). Comly (1945) states that 45 ppm concentrations may be harmful to infants. Adverse effects from drinking high nitrate water are also possible in older children a	45 ppm	0.4-239 (2 samples >90 ppm; 3 samples > 45 ppm)
Sulfate (SO₄)	Derived from solution of gypsum and oxidation of iron sulfides (pyrite, etc.). Concentrations of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) and sodium sulfate (Glauber’s salt) may have a laxative effect on some persons.	250 ppm	16-379
Chloride (Cl)	Chloride in ground water may be derived from connate marine water in sediments, surface contamination, or solution of minerals containing chlorides.	250 ppm	4-415

* Concentrations as recommended by the Public Health Service, Drinking Water Standards, 1962.

Sanitary Considerations

The analyses of water (Table 2) show only the amount of dissolved solids and do not indicate the sanitary quality of the water. Well water may contain dissolved mineral matter that gives the water an objectionable taste even though it may be free of harmful bacteria and consequently safe for drinking. On the other hand, well water, good tasting and seemingly pure, may contain harmful bacteria. Excessive amounts of certain ions, such as chlorides or nitrates, may indicate pollution.

Recommendations for the location and construction of wells and suggestions for pump installations for the different types of wells can be obtained from the Kansas State Department of Health.

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Kansas Geological Survey, Miami County Geohydrology
Comments to webadmin@kgs.ku.edu
Web version June 2002. Original publication date June 1966.
URL=http://www.kgs.ku.edu/General/Geology/Miami/08_gw5.html