Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID MD2025-Magen

Well water quality in western and southern Maryland: Investigation of methane and metals.

Institute: Maryland
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $42,515 Total Non-Federal Funds: $42,515

Principal Investigators: Cedric Magen

Project Summary: Drinking water from private wells supposes that groundwater is of good quality. In the state of Maryland, many homeowners have access to water via a private well tapping the underlying aquifer. Water quality is often established by analysis in private laboratories, which can be costly, and homeowners often consume their well's water without the guarantee that it is safe. Here, we investigate the presence and origin of methane in volunteered private wells to establish a basis for present and future analyses. In conjunction, we measure metals to detect potentially harmful concentrations. The objective is to investigate groundwater quality in areas that are not known, for parameters that are not analyzed on a regular basis. We also propose to investigate the origin of methane using state-of-the-art isotopic analyses, to detect whether the presence of methane is natural or due to human activities.