MICHIGAN GROUND-WATER QUALITY By D.H. Dumouchelle and T.R. Cummings, U.S. Geological Survey and G.R. Klepper, Michigan Department of Natural Resources U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 87-0732 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DONALD PAUL MODEL, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information: For sale by: Chief Hydrologist U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Books and Open-File Reports Section 407 National Center Federal Center Reston, VA 22092 Box 25425 Denver, Colorado 80225 Use of trade names in this report is for descriptive purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey FOREWORD This report contains summary information on ground-water quality in one of the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, Saipan, Guam, and American Samoa. The material is extracted from the manuscript of the 1986 National Water Summary, and with the exception of the illustrations, which will be reproduced in multi-color in the 1986 National Water Summary, the format and content of this report is identical to the State ground-water-quality descriptions to be published in the 1986 National Water Summary. Release of this information before formal publication in the 1986 National Water Summary permits the earliest access by the public. Contents Ground-Water Quality .................................................. 1 Water-Quality in Principal Aquifers ...................................... 1 Background Water Quality ......................................... 1 Effects of Land Use on Water Quality ................................ 2 Waste Disposal and Spills ...................................... 2 Agricultural Practices ......................................... 2 Salt Storage and Use .......................................... 3 Water Withdrawal ............................................ 3 Potential for Water-Quality Changes ................................ 3 Ground-Water-Quality Management ..................................... 3 Selected References .................................................... 4 Illustrations Figure 1.--Selected geographic feature and 1985 population distribution in Michigan. .................................................... 5 Figure 2.--Principal aquifers and related water-quality data in Michigan. ..... 6 Figure 3.--Selected waste sites and ground-water quality information in Michigan. ................................................. 7 Figure 4.~Areal predominance of total recoverable iron in ground water in Michigan. ................................................. 8 IV MICHIGAN Ground-Water Quality Ground water is the source of 17 percent of public-water sup­ Constituent or property (/ig/L, micrograms plies and almost 100 percent of the rural-domestic water supplies per liter; mg/L, milligrams per liter; Maximum constituent or property velue in Michigan (Bedell, 1982) (fig. 1.) About 43 percent of Michigan's °C, degrees Celcius) occuring tor the indicated percentile residents depend on ground-water supplies (U.S. Geological Survey, 10 25 50 75 90 1985). Most natural ground water contains dissolved constituents Aluminum, total recoverable l/ig/L as AD 7 19 31 56 150 Arsenic, total 1/ig/L as As) 0 0 1 2 5 in amounts that do not exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Barium, total recoverable (jjg/L as Ba) 0 0 0 84 127 Agency's national drinking-water standards (1986a,b); at some loca­ Cadmium, total recoverable l/ig/L as Cdl 0 0 1 2 9 tions, however, the concentrations of dissolved solids, iron, Calcium, dissolved (mg/L as Ca) 20 34 48 64 97 manganese, and lead equal or exceed the standards (fig. 2). Ground Chloride, dissolved (mg/L as CD 7 1.1 2.2 14 54 Chromium, total recoverable l/»g/L as Cr) 2 8 9 10 11 water in the southeastern part of the State tends to have larger con­ Cobalt, total recoverable (j»g/L as Co) 0 0 1 2 5 centrations of dissolved solids, hardness, ammonia, barium, sodium, Copper, total recoverable (jjg/L as Cu) 1 2 5 10 20 sulfate, and chloride than elsewhere. Statewide, the dissolved-solids Cyanide, total (mg/L as CNI .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 concentrations of water are larger in bedrock aquifers than in glacial Fluonde. dissolved (mg/L as Fl .0 .0 .1 .3 .6 Germanium, total l/i g/L as Ge) <2 <3 <4 <10 <23 aquifers (Cummings, 1980). Ground-water quality is affected by Hardness (mg/L as CaCO3) 75 119 178 244 375 waste disposal and spills, agricultural activities, storage and use Iron, total recoverable (jig/L as Fe) 51 160 740 2,400 4,300 of road salts, brine disposal, and pumping-induced movement of Lead, total recoverable l/ig/L as Pbl 2 5 11 21 78 deeper lying saline waters (Deutsch 1961a,b; 1962; 1963). Manganese, total recoverable l/ig/L as Mn) 6.5 9.8 36 120 200 Mercury, total recoverable l/»g/L as Hg) .0 .0 .4 .5 5 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1986c) has iden­ Nickel, total recoverable l/ig/L as Ni) 0 2 5 9 16 tified 56 National Priorities List (NPL) sites that require evaluation Nitrogen, Ammonia, total (mg/L as N) .00 .00 .04 .16 .37 under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Nitrogen, Nitrate, total (mg/L as N) .00 .00 .00 .07 .24 and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 (fig. 3). At 42 sites, disposal pH (units) 7.3 7.5 7.7 7.9 8.1 Phenols l/ig/L) 0 0 0 0 2 of hazardous materials requires ground-water monitoring under the Phosphorus, total (mg/L as P! .00 .00 01 .03 .07 Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976. Selinium, total (jjg/L as Sel 0 0 0 0 0 The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has identified 49 sites at Silver, total recoverable (j»g/L as Agl 0 0 0 0 1 6 federally owned facilities as having potential for contamination. Sodium, dissolved (mg/L as Nal 1.1 1.9 3.4 12 55 Solids, residue at 180° C. dissolved (mg/LI 106 145 223 360 630 In addition, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (1986b) Sulfate. dissolved (mg/L as SO«) 3.1 6.5 12 35 170 has identified more than 1,000 sites with environmental contamina­ Titanium, total l/ig/L as Til 1 2 5 14 120 tion. Ground-water contamination has been detected at 49 of the Uranium, dissolved (jjg/L as Ur) .00 .03 .11 .24 .46 NPL sites and at more than 700 of the State-identified locations. Zink, total recoverable l/ig/L as Zn) 6 13 65 240 710 percent of the chloride concentrations are equal to or less than 0.7 WATER QUALITY IN PRINCIPAL AQUIFERS mg/L; 90 percent of the concentrations are equal to or less than 54 mg/L. BACKGROUND WATER QUALITY Concentrations of most substances are within the range com­ In a discussion of Michigan's ground-water resources, the mon for ground water, with the exception of the concentrations of U.S. Geological Survey (1985, p. 255-260) identified three glacial iron, aluminum, and titanium. Maximum concentrations of these aquifers and five bedrock aquifers that yield significant quantities substances were: iron, 29,000 jtg/L (micrograms per liter); of water to wells (figs. 2A,B). Of the glacial aquifers, yields aluminum, 44,000 ftg/L; and titanium, 3,600 ng/L. generally are largest from outwash and glaciofluvial deposits, National standards that specify the maximum concentration although yields range from 1 to 1,000 gal/min (gallons per minute). or level of a contaminant in a drinking-water supply have been Lacustrine sand aquifers typically yield less water (80 to 500 established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1986a,b). gal/min), and till aquifers (5 to 200 gal/min) still less. Among The primary maximum contaminant level standards are health bedrock aquifers the Saginaw and Marshall Formations in the Lower related and are legally enforceable. The secondary maximum con­ Peninsula are the most productive; yields commonly range from taminant level standards apply to esthetic qualities and are recom­ 100 to 500 gal/min. In the Upper Peninsula, Silurian-Devonian rocks mended guidelines. A comparison of the frequency data for natural (10 to 300 gal/min), Cambrian-Ordovician rocks (10 to 100 gal/min), water quality to these national drinking-water standards indicates and Precambrian sandstone (5 to 50 gal/min) are important sources that most substances and properties do not exceed the standards. of water. However, there are exceptions. For example, 15 percent of the In 1974, the Geological Survey Division of the Michigan dissolved-solids concentrations equaled or exceeded the standard. Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the U.S. Geological Similarly, 44 percent of the iron concentrations, 30 percent of the Survey began a cooperative program to investigate the natural manganese concentrations, and 13 percent of the lead concentra­ characteristics of water in aquifers in the State. The program is a tions did also. continuing one in which carefully selected wells are sampled each Geologic conditions are a principal factor determining the year. New wells also have been drilled in some of the principal areal variation in the natural quality of ground water throughout aquifers to monitor both water quality and water levels. Laboratory the State, although differences can also be due to hydrologic con­ analyses normally are made for more than 60 naturally occurring ditions. Data are inadequate, however, to establish the chemical substances and properties. In addition, analyses are made for syn­ characteristics of water in each glacial and bedrock aquifer or to thetic substances to determine their presence or absence. Frequency permit conclusions regarding differences in quality. In general, data for some of the substances and properties, based on the analyses chemical characteristics seem to be related more to mineralization of 113 samples collected statewide (Cummings, 1980), are given than to a specific aquifer; however, areal variations in the concen­ in the following table. trations of some substances are evident. The table indicates how often values of a given magnitude Some of the chemical characteristics of water of each aquifer may be expected in natural waters of Michigan.