Quality of ground water in southern Buchanan County, Virginia

In seven small contiguous stream basins in the coal area of southwest Virginia, ground water is predominantly bicarbonate in anion composition, with calcium as the major cation in the ridges and sodium the major cation in the lower altitudes. Sulfate is the major anion in water associated with coal seams and in stream waters draining areas extensively disturbed by mining activities. Water found along a major linear feature in the Big Prater Creek valley and water from deep wells in Levisa Fork basin contain chloride as the predominant anion. Hydrogen ion activities (pH) in the ground water range from 5.2 to 8.4. Iron concentrations as high as 14,000 micrograms per liter are present in domestic wells. The chemical composition of most streams changes with diminishing discharge and at baseflow is similar to the composition of local ground water. At high flows, streams draining mined areas are enriched with sulfate. (USGS)