Water Quality
Water quality is a concern throughout southeast Kansas due to natural and human induced causes. The Salinity and Conductivity Charts show the values in the Ozark aquifer and Ozark Plateau aquifer from March 2007 to March 2008.
The electrical conductivity of water is directly related to the concentration of dissolved solids in the water. However, in order to determine the relationship laboratory tests are needed to correlate conductivity with total dissolved solids. The EPA secondary drinking water standard for total dissolved solids is 500 ppm; without knowing the correlation factor for these groundwater sources it is unknown at this time whether the range of conductivity measured in these aquifers is above or below the secondary drinking water standard.