Groundwater Contamination Research Paper

Contamination:
Of the United States population, over 50% depend on groundwater for drinking water and so do other living organisms. We use groundwater to bathe, to cook food with, and to drink with. But, when groundwater contamination occurs which is when man-made products such as road salts, chemicals, gasoline and oil get into the groundwater, it causes the water to become unsafe and unfit for living organisms use. If the groundwater becomes contaminated, it has some serious health effects such as diseases like hepatitis and dysentery which is caused by contamination from septic tank waste. Poisoning can also be caused by toxins leached into well water supplies and other long term effects such as certain types of cancer can occur as well.
Groundwater supplies many of the hydrologic needs of people everywhere when surface water like lakes and rivers are inaccessible. It also provides over 50 gallons per day for agricultural needs and is the source of drinking water for about half the total population as well as all of the rural population. Groundwater depletion, long-term water-level declines caused by sustained groundwater pumping, is one key issue associated with groundwater use and many areas of the U.S. are experiencing groundwater depletion. Pumping water out of the ground faster than it is replenished over the long-term causes similar problems and the volume of groundwater in storage is decreasing in many areas of the U.S. in response to pumping. Primarily, groundwater depletion is caused by sustained groundwater pumping. Some of the negative effects of it are drying up of wells, reduction of water in streams and lakes, deterioration of water quality, increased pumping costs, and land subsidence. Some of the negative effects of the environment and the people who make use of the water are lowering of the water table, deterioration of water quality, land subsidence, etc. So, the protection of this source from excessive pumping is extremely