ASSESSMENT OF VIRAL CONTAMINATION IN NEBRASKA'S SMALL COMMUNITY WELLS

摘要

Most Nebraska communities rely on groundwater as a source of drinking water. Nebraska's groundwater aquifers typically have a non-Karstic hydrology: they are more or less typical aquifers in unconsolidated sands and gravels that do not initially appear to be at particular risk for microbial contamination. It has often been assumed that Nebraska's municipal groundwater supplies are free of pathogens due to natural filtration provided by the soil. Although there are few published studies on virus occurrence in groundwater, limited data available from some states seem to indicate that groundwaters may be vulnerable to contamination and may contain pathogens (e.g., Abbaszadegan et al.; 1998). The presence of human pathogens such as viruses in well waters has not been studied sufficiently, and no general consensus on the presence of viruses can be reached at the present time.To assess the vulnerability of Nebraska's drinking water wells from pathogen contamination, a study of well integrity factors or 'well vulnerability' was performed. In this study, only small (<10,000 population) Nebraska communities that do not currently disinfect or treat their drinking water were studied. There are 608 small community water systems in Nebraska. In addition there are 719 non-community water systems. The overall goal of this study was to assess the general frequency of pathogen (bacterial and viral) contamination in community water systems in Nebraska. In this project, a total of seven small community wells were studied intensively; the wells selected for study were believed to be among the most vulnerable to microbial contamination in Nebraska.