Monthly fluctuations in the quality of ground water near the water table in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island, New York

Water samples from wells in a sewered and an unsewered suburban area and an unsewered rural area on Long Island, N.Y. were collected and analyzed monthly from August 1975 to July 1976 to determine the concentrations of chloride, sulfate, and nitrate in ground water near the water table. Short-term and seasonal fluctuations in concentrations of these substances were evaluated to determine their relation to nonpoint discharges. Major factors that may cause concentrations of these substances to fluctuate at any particular site are precipitation, lawn fertilizer, dissolved salts in storm runoff, and effluent from septic tanks and cesspools. Chloride concentrations during the study fluctuated by as little as 2 milligrams per liter (mg/liter) at some sites and as much as 300 mg/liter at others. Nitrate and sulfate concentrations showed essentially no change at some sites but fluctuated by as much as 8 and 40 mg/liter, respectively, at others. Short-term fluctuations in the concentrations of these substances in ground water seem to have no consistent correlation with type of land use (suburban or agricultural) or precipitation but seem to be related to seasonal variations in input from specific nonpoint sources. (Woodard-USGS)