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Water Quality as Related to Linears, Rock Chemistry, and Rain Water Chemistry in a Rural Carbonate Terrain¹

ABSTRACT

Water from wells, springs, and streams from a 259-km² area in rural, carbonate terrain of northwest Arkansas was analyzed for Na, K, Ca, Mg, NO³, PO⁴, and trace metals, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Mn, Li, and Sr. Bacterial counts for total coliform, fecal coliform, and fecal streptococci were also made. The same area was mapped for linears by means of aerial photographs and field observations. Average rain water chemistry was determined for the year 1974 when the various water sources were sampled. The average chemical composition of the St. Joe Limestone Member of the principal aquifer was determined from 22 samples collected in northwest Arkansas. Water sources on linears had higher nitrate and were more bacteriologically contaminated than those off linears. Trace metals pollution was negligible in all waters except for copper and zinc which were high due to contamination from household plumbing. Rain water is the main source of trace metals for wells, springs, and streams, and limestone is the main source of Ca and Mg. Rain water is a prime source of Na and K; however, clay, shale, animal waste, and agricultural fertilizer probably also contribute Na and K.

Key Words: pollution • environment • ground water • well water • spring water

¹ Contribution by the Dep. of Geol. and the Dep. of Agric. Econ. and Rural Soc. Develop., Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701. Financial assistance was provided in part under the Rural Develop. Act of 1972, Title V; by the Office of Water Res. and Technol., U. S. Dep. of the Interior, as authorized under the Water Resour. Res. Act of 1964, Public Law 88-379, and administered through the Arkansas Water Resour. Res. Center; and by the Res. Reserve Fund of the Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

² Adjunct Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Graduate Assistant, respectively. (All are members of the Dep. of Geol. but held temporary appointments to the Dep. of Agric. Econ. and Rural Soc. Develop. during 1974.)

Received for publication November 21, 1975.