WATER QUALITY IN UNITY, ME: INITIAL RESULTS

In many ways Unity is a stereotypic New England village. Camps are located in dense clusters around Unity Pond. Although the arsenic concentration in some of the well water samples exceeds the standard for public drinking water systems, most residents are concerned about iron and hard water. Few residents test their water routinely. Those that have treatment systems generally choose water softeners. There are three aquifers in Unity, Maine: an esker, glacio-marine sands and the bedrock. Are there three distinct water quality signatures?

Water from approximately 25 wells was analyzed for pH, dissolved oxygen, oxidation-reduction potential, temperature, specific conductivity, alkalinity, hardness, iron, manganese, chloride, and arsenic at Unity College. Replicate aliquots were also tested by a certified lab for arsenic, chloride, copper, iron, fluoride, hardness, manganese, sodium nitrite, nitrate, lead, and pH (a standard real estate transaction suite). Water samples were taken at the kitchen sink and at a point prior to treatment where possible.

Data analysis is on-going (as of Dec 2012) and is complicated by lack of information such as well depth and drilling logs. The maximum concentrations for arsenic and for iron were 100 ppb and about 5 ppm respectively. However, there seems to be no statistically significant correlation between those parameters.

In several cases, the residents did not understand the technology of their treatment system, although generally the treatment worked as long as the resident how to operate the system.