City updates well sampling data near jail site
LANCASTER - With all the attention being paid to contaminant levels in the city's well field near the new county jail now under construction, the Eagle-Gazette is providing running updates of test results.
Most of the wells in the Lancaster Wellhead Protection Zone are tested annually for multiple contaminates, including arsenic. Monitoring Wells 4-shallow, 4-deep, 9-shallow and 9-deep, as well as Production Wells 15 and 23 have been tested monthly since February.
Below is a map showing the location of each monitoring well and general locations of production wells 15 and 23 in the Miller Park Well Field, located in Miller Park in Lancaster. Click on the icon for each well to see a listing of the arsenic results for each recorded test.
Results are given in micrograms per liter (mc/l). The maximum contaminant level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 for arsenic is 10 micrograms per liter, or parts per billion in treated water from the consumer's tap. The results charted in the map show tests on untreated water.
Arsenic is removed at the city's water treatment plant through an ion exchange treatment used to reduce water hardness.
Below is a table of arsenic test results for production wells in the Miller Wellfield. The table also includes a line for "plant source" and "plant tap." Plant source is the water that enters the water treatment plant. It is a blend of water from the wells that are operating on the day the sample was taken. Plant tap is a sample of water leaving the plant after it has been treated and entering the water distribution system:
BDL stands for below detectible levels (10 micrograms per liter); O.O.S. stands for out of service.
Source: Lancaster Water Department
Below is the spreadsheet produced by the Lancaster Water Department showing the historical contaminate levels for test wells in the wellhead protection zone and production wells in the Miller Park Wellfield.
To read about more of our coverage on the controversial decision to build the new Fairfield County Jail, click on the following stories.
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Experts: Jail/water supply fears unfounded
Local officials raise concerns about new jail site
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Construction manager search for new county jail narrows
Report: No hazardous waste at jail site
Sorting through the truths and rumors of county jail project
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Councilman says city must talk to county about jail
Commissioner says water contamination is not true
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