Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007ME129B

The ABC^2 of Drinking Water Quality on Main St., Unity, ME: Arsenic, Bacteria, and Other Common Contaminants

Institute: Maine
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2008-03-01 End Date: 2009-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $19,767 Total Non-Federal Funds: $49,886

Principal Investigators: Lois Ongley, Peter Milligan

Project Summary: In Unity, ME, water quality issues have included arsenic contamination, bacterial contamination, hard water, and iron/manganese contamination. Some residents rely on water softening to remove iron and hopefully arsenic as well. Homeowners may or may not operate point of entry (POE) and/or point of use (POU) water treatment systems in an optimal fashion and may never have assessed the efficacy of treatment. This study will examine the realities of attempting to properly treat residential well water and determine the extent to which homeowners are successful. We will focus on arsenic and bacterially contaminated water supplies, both of which are known to occur in Unity, ME. Students will engage in important scientific inquiries and methods that directly impact local populations. For example, they will investigate the water quality of drinking well water from multiple sites in unity Maine as well as determine the microbial ecology of these sites as it pertains to arsenic contamination. Questions students will answer included, are arsenic tolerant bacteria present? Do such populations impact the As (III) / As (V) speciation? Do POE/POU systems work as advertised? Do residents know what they are drinking? Are there unknown public health implications about residential well water the State of Maine needs to know about? Such research is important in the training of future scientists. This project will teach research methods and include undergraduates in the excitement of discovery and knowledge creation. Students are often more engaged when there is a perceived public need or benefit for the work and the local and information transfer aspects of this project will enhance student buy in. Geochemical and microbiological examination of well water both pre and post treatment will be used to train future water professionals, to enhance stakeholder knowledge of household water issues, and to develop a better understanding of the quality of water residents are actually consuming.