About The Illinois State Water Survey

Illinois has a number of sources of groundwater quality data. The two largest are (1) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) ambient water quality data, from public water supply wells dating back to the 1970s, and (2) the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) Public Service Laboratory (PSL) data, primarily from domestic wells, but also include samples from public supply and industrial/commercial wells, and date back to the 1890s. These two data sets, along with water quality data from a number of ISWS research projects, are maintained at the ISWS in our Groundwater Quality Database (GWQDB). The data are searchable by location, facility, specific well, well depth, aquifer tapped, sample date, sample number, and water quality parameter(s).

A long-term goal for the ISWS GWQDB is to make it more accessible to entities and individuals outside the ISWS. There are, however, a number of shortcomings to the ISWS GWQDB that need to be fixed before this can be done. There are numerous quality assurance/quality control concerns for a significant number of samples, including transcription errors, analytical errors, incorrect or incomplete location and well depth information, etc.

Findings to Date:

In this project, we began to address issues of QA/QC, including correcting errors in the data. Future planned work, pending funding, includes completing the error correction process and integrating the data within a larger portal where users will have access to water quality, water level, and other water usage data from water facilities across the state.

Project Publications

Final Report: Mannix, D., W.R. Kelly, T.R. Holm, and G. Rogers. 2014. Upgrade of Illinois State Water Survey Groundwater Quality Database: Year 1 Summary. Report submitted to Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, June 30, 2014.