Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5063
AbstractThe Village of Endicott, New York, is seeking an alternate source of public drinking water with the potential to supplement their current supply, which requires treatment due to legacy contamination. The southerly-draining Nanticoke Creek valley, located north of the village, was identified as a potential water source and the local stratified-drift (valley fill) aquifer was investigated to determine its hydrogeologic and water-quality characteristics. Nanticoke Creek and its aquifer extend from the hamlet of Glen Aubrey, N.Y., to the village of Endicott, a distance of about 15 miles, where it joins the Susquehanna River and its aquifer. The glacial sediments that comprise the stratified-drift aquifer vary in thickness and are generally underlain by glacial till over Devonian-aged shale and siltstone. Groundwater is more plentiful in the northern part of the aquifer where sand and gravel deposits are generally more permeable than in the southern part of the aquifer where less-permeable unconsolidated deposits are found. Generally there is enough groundwater to supply most homeowner wells and in some cases, supply small public-water systems such as schools, mobile-home parks, and small commercial/industrial facilities. The aquifer is recharged by precipitation, runoff, and tributary streams. Most tributary streams flowing across alluvial deposits lose water to the aquifer as they flow off of their bedrock-lined channels and into the more permeable alluvial deposits at the edges of the valley. The quality of both surface water and groundwater is generally good. Some water wells do have water-quality issues related to natural constituents (manganese and iron) and several homeowners noted either the smell and (or) taste of hydrogen sulfide in their drinking water. Dissolved methane concentrations from five drinking-water wells were well below the potentially explosive value of 28 milligrams per liter. Samples from surface and groundwater met nearly all State and Federal water-quality standards for common ion and nutrient concentrations with the exception of manganese, which is common in central New York where water sourced from shale rock or glacial sediments derived from shale bedrock naturally develops higher manganese concentrations. One shallow dug well also had elevated sodium and chloride concentrations that are likely sourced from road salt runoff from two nearby roads. |
First posted May 21, 2014
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Kreitinger, E.A., and Kappel, W.M., 2014, Hydrogeology and water quality of the Nanticoke Creek stratified-drift aquifer, near Endicott, New York: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5063, 19 p. plus appendixes, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20145063.
ISSN 2328–0328 (online)
Abstract
Introduction
Study Area
Purpose and Scope
Methods
Geology
Hydrogeology
Water Quality
Summary
References Cited
Appendix 1. Record of Wells and Test Holes Used in the Nanticoke Creek Stratified-Drift Aquifer Study, Broome County, New York
Appendix 2. Results of Seepage Measurements and Subbasin Data for Nanticoke Creek and its Major Tributaries, Broome County, New York
Appendix 3. Water-Quality Data for Four Surface-Water Sites and Three Groundwater Wells in the Nanticoke Creek Valley, Broome County, New York
Appendix 4. Historic Water-Quality Data for Nanticoke Creek, Broome County, New York
Appendix 5. Susquehanna River Basin Commission Real-Time and Periodic Water-Quality Data for Nanticoke Creek near Maine, New York
Appendix 6. Water-Quality Data from a Greenhouse Supply Well, 1991, 2001, and 2011, and a Residential House Well, 2011, near Union Center, New York