Is septic waste affecting drinking water from shallow domestic wells along the Platte River in eastern Nebraska?

Abstract

The quality of drinking water from shallow domestic wells potentially affected by seepage from septic systems was assessed by analyzing water samples for substances derived from septic systems. The effects of septic systems on water from domestic wells was demonstrated using several tracers including bacteria, virus indicators, dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen species, nitrogen and boron isotopes, and organic compounds such as prescription and nonprescription drugs. Domestic wells seemed to be most vulnerable to septic-waste contamination when they were sand-point wells within 100 feet of a septic system and were less than 45 feet deep in a shallow, thin aquifer.

Pharmaceuticals in On‐Site Sewage Effluent and Ground Water, Western Montana

“…Our research supports observations and conclusions of a small number of previous studies that suggest some pharmaceutical compounds found in on‐site system effluent leave the holding tanks, percolate to the underlying shallow ground water, and are transported in aquifers at measurable concentrations (Dejong et al 2004; Godfrey and Woessner 2004; Szabo et al 2004; Verstraeten et al 2004). As we found 12 of our 22 prescription and nonprescription drugs, and metabolites (acetaminophen, caffeine, codeine, carbamazepine, cotinine, erythromycin‐18, nicotine, paraxanthine, ranitidine, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and warfarin) in a community septic tank serving 350 users, it is likely that measurable concentrations of these compounds will be observable in on‐site waste water from similar sources.…”

“…A few researchers have reported the presence of trace quantities of pharmaceuticals in shallow ground water impacted by septic system effluent. Nonprescription drugs and antibiotics were detected in shallow domestic wells finished in a sand and gravel aquifer (Verstraeten et al 2004). Seiler et al (1999) detected low levels of caffeine, phensuximide, and carbamazepine in shallow monitoring wells near a small subdivision using on‐site sewage disposal.…”