Effects of Highway-Deicer Application on Ground-Water Quality in a Part of the Calumet Aquifer, Northwestern Indiana

摘要

The effects of highway-deicer application on ground-water quality were studied at a site in northwestern Indiana using a variety of geochemical indicators. Site characteristics such as high snowfall rates; large quantities of applied deicers; presence of a high-traffic highway; a homogeneous, permeable, and unconfined aquifer; a shallow water table; a known ground-water-flow direction; and minimal potential for other sources of chloride and sodium to complicate source interpretation were used to select a study area where ground water was likely to be affected by deicer application. Forty-three monitoring wells were installed in an unconfined sand aquifer (the Calumet aquifer) near Beverly Shores in northwestern Indiana. Wells were installed along two transects that approximately paralleled groundwater flow in the Calumet aquifer and crossed US-12. US-12 is a highway that receives Indiana's highest level of maintenance to maintain safe driving conditions. Ground-water quality and water-level data collected from the monitoring wells, and precipitation and salt-application data were compiled from 1994 through 1997.