Missouri Public Drinking Water Website

The Source Water Inventory Project (SWIP)

SWIP Home | Project Profile | SWIP Maps | Reports | Landuse Maps | FAQs | Links | Contacts

¹ In general, ground water contamination stems from the misuse and improper disposal of liquid and solid wastes; the illegal dumping or abandonment of household, commercial, or industrial chemicals; the accidental spilling of chemicals from trucks, railways, aircraft, handling facilities, and storage tanks; or the improper siting, design, construction, operation, or maintenance of agricultural, residential, municipal, commercial, and industrial drinking water wells and liquid and solid waste disposal facilities. Contaminants also can stem from atmospheric pollutants, such as airborne sulfur and nitrogen compounds, which are created by smoke, flue dust, aerosols, and automobile emissions, fall as acid rain, and percolate through the soil. When the sources listed in this table are used and managed properly, ground water contamination is not likely to occur.

2 Contaminants can reach ground water from activities occurring on the land surface, such as industrial waste storage; from sources below the land surface but above the water table, such as septic systems; from structures beneath the water table, such as wells; or from contamination recharge water.

3 This table lists the most common wastes, but not all potential wastes. For example, it is not possible to list all potential contaminants contained in storm water runoff or research laboratory wastes.

4 Coliform bacteria can indicate the presence of pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms that may be transmitted in human feces. Diseases such as typhoid fever, hepatitis, diarrhea, and dysentery can result from sewage contamination of water supplies.

5 Pesticides include herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, and avicides. EPA has registered approximately 50,000 different pesticide products for use in the United States. Many are highly toxic and quite mobile in the subsurface. An EPA survey found that the most common pesticides found in drinking water wells were DCPA (dacthal) and atrazine, which EPA classifies as moderately toxic (class 3) and slightly toxic (class 4) materials, respectively.

6 The EPA National Pesticides Survey found that the use of fertilizers correlates to nitrate contamination of ground water supplies.

7 Automotive wastes can include gasoline; antifreeze; automatic transmission fluid; battery acid; engine and radiator flushes; engine and metal degreasers; hydraulic (brake) fluid; and motor oils.

8 Toxic or hazardous components are found in most common household products.

9 Common household pesticides for controlling pests such as ants, termites, bees, wasps, flies, cockroaches, silverfish, mites, ticks, fleas, worms, rats, and mice can contain active ingredients including naphthalene, phosphorus, xylene, chloroform, heavy metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons, arsenic, strychnine, kerosene, nitrosamines, and dioxin.

10 Common pesticides used for lawn and garden maintenance (i.e., weed killers, and mite, grub, and aphid controls) include such chemicals as 2,4-D; chlorpyrifos; diazinon; benomyl; captan; dicofol; and methoxychlor.

11 Swimming pool chemicals can contain free and combined chlorine; bromine; iodine; mercury-based, copper-based, and quaternary algicides; cyanuric acid; calcium or sodium hypochlorite; muratic acid; and sodium carbonate.

12 Septic tank/cesspool cleaners include synthetic organic chemicals such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, and methylene chloride.

13 Common wastes from public commercial buildings include automotive wastes; rock salt; and residues from cleaning products that may contain chemicals such as xylenols, glycol esters, isopropanol, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, sulfonates, chlorinated phenols and cresols.

14 Municipal wastewater treatment sludge can contain organic matter; nitrates; inorganic salts; heavy metals; coliform and noncoliform bacteria; and viruses.

15 Municipal wastewater treatment chemicals include calcium oxide; alum; activated alum, carbon, and silica; polymers; ion exchange resins; sodium hydroxide; chlorine; ozone; and corrosion inhibitors.

16 The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) defines a hazardous waste as a solid waste that may cause an increase in mortality or serious illness or pose a substantial threat to human health and the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed. A waste is hazardous if it exhibits characteristics of ignitabliity, corrosivity, reactivity, and/or toxicity. Not covered by RCRA regulations are domestic sewage; irrigation waters or industrial discharge allowed by the Clean Water Acts; certain nuclear and mining wastes; household wastes; agricultural wastes (excluding some pesticides); and small-quantity hazardous wastes (i.e., less than 220 pounds per month) generated by businesses.

17 X-ray developers and fixers may contain reclaimable silver, glutaldehyde, hydroquinone, phenedone, potassium bromide, sodium sulfite, sodium carbonate, thiosulfates, and potassium alum.

18 This table lists potential groundwater contaminants from many common industries, but it does not address all industries.

For more information contact David Erickson