Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2003MN29B

Arsenic in Minnesota Groundwater and its Impact on the Drinking Water Supply

Institute: Minnesota
Year Established: 2003 Start Date: 2003-03-01 End Date: 2004-02-29
Total Federal Funds: $18,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $22,691

Principal Investigators: Randal Barnes, Randal Barnes

Project Summary: In 2001 the United States federal drinking water standard, or Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), was decreased from 50 g/L to 10 g/L. Public water supplies have until January 1, 2006 to comply with the new standard. Nationwide, the change in the MCL will have significant economic impact on public water supplies that exceed the new MCL. In Minnesota alone, 67 (12%) of Minnesotas public water supplies have arsenic in excess of 10 g/L. A recent western-Minnesota study found that over 50% of the 900 sampled private drinking water wells had arsenic over 10 g/L. Statewide, almost 15% of wells sampled exceed 10 g/L arsenic. The proposed research projects key components involve creating a useful database from existing data; field work, including groundwater and solids sampling; laboratory analyses of groundwater and solids samples; and data analysis/model building to provide the following information:  Characterization of the sampling and temporal variability of arsenic concentration in wells.  Determination of how many samples are enough to be confident that the arsenic concentration is actually below the MCL.  Determination of the relationship between arsenic concentration in geologic material and arsenic concentrations in water.  Determination of likely mechanisms.  Characterization of the changes in arsenic concentration in new wells. Specifically, determining how the wells presence changes the arsenic concentration in the water.