OH, THE WELL WATERS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE SAME AQUIFER; ARE THEY?

Indiana Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) is located adjacent to one of three rivers passing through Fort Wayne, Indiana. A well field (containing 20 wells) was established on campus in a wetland along a small creek that flows to the St. Joseph River. Three of these wells (wells 1, 3, and 5), located within a cluster of 9 wells, were monitored regularly for 13 years, since November 2001, to find any correlation between the tested water parameters. These three wells were chosen as a representative sample of the cluster of wells all located within the same aquifer. The parameters measured were pH, temperature, conductivity, and water level. A strong positive correlation exists between all the wells for water level, pH, and temperature (r values = 0.730, 0.894, and 0.985 respectively). A moderately high positive correlation between wells 3 & 5 exists for conductivity, however a low correlation is found between wells 1 & 3 and wells 1 & 5 (r values = 0.696, 0.312, and 0.301 respectively). Although no direct relationship exists between pH and conductivity, we were still anticipating that some correlation would exist between the conductivity and the pH. Also, no noticeable correlation exists between pH and temperature as shown in the literature. For wells 1 and 5 this proved to be true however well 3 only met expectations for one correlation. A low negative correlation exists between temperature and pH (r value = -0.299) and also between pH and conductivity (r value = -0.271), which are expected. A positive correlation exists between conductivity and temperature (r value = 0.793) as was anticipated. As an ongoing project, the correlation of the parameters between the wells will be presented along with new data.