The quality of ground water can affect not only our health, but also society and the economy. Ground water contamination can adversely affect property values, the image of a community, economic development, and the overall quality of life we all share. Citizens need clean water at reasonable cost and in many parts of the country, ground water is the only economical water source available. Once ground water has been contaminated, it is usually very difficult and costly to clean. Even small contamination sites often cost many thousands of dollars to clean-up.

For many years ground water was thought to be protected from contamination by the layers of rock and soil that act as filters, but contaminants do make their way into the ground water and affect its quality. Every state in the nation since the 1970's has reported cases of contaminated ground water. Between 1971 and 1985, 245 ground water related disease outbreaks were reported in the United States. About 10 percent of all ground water public water supply systems violate drinking water standards for biological contamination. Approximately 74 pesticides, a number of which are carcinogens, have been detected in the ground water of 38 states.

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