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Ground-water Resources, continued
Utilization of Ground Water
In Miami County, ground water is used chiefly for domestic and stock supplies. In 1962, only one public-supply system (Fontana) obtained water from ground-water sources. Most industries use water from municipal supplies, but a few have their own surface-water supplies.
Domestic and Stock Supplies
Nearly all domestic and stock water supplies in rural areas are obtained from privately owned wells. In valley areas most supplies are obtained from driven, drilled, or dug wells, and in the upland areas from dug and drilled wells. In some upland areas where adequate ground-water supplies are difficult to obtain, cisterns are used as a source of domestic water on many farms.
At many places in the county, ponds have been constructed for both domestic and stock water supplies.
Public Supplies
Ground water is the source of supply for one public water system in Miami County. The community of Fontana, in southern Miami County, built its first public water supply in 1962. This supply is obtained from one well in alluvium and Wisconsinan terrace deposits in the Marais des Cygnes River valley about 2 miles northeast of the city. The well is 50 feet deep, 36 inches in diameter, gravel packed, and cased with 45 feet of 18-inch steel casing, and it has 5 feet of stainless steel screen set in the middle of the aquifer. The aquifer is reported to be 9.5 feet of silty gravel between the depths of 39 to 48.5 feet. The yield of the well is reported to be 45 gpm with 5 feet of drawdown.
The water is of satisfactory quality as is shown by an analysis in Table 3, although it is hard, and its iron content exceeds the maximum recommended for use by the U.S. Public Health Service (1962).
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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_gw6.html