Synthetic Detergents as a Criterion of Wisconsin Ground Water Pollution: Fid-Bau Portal

Synthetic Detergents as a Criterion of Wisconsin Ground Water Pollution

Nichols, M. Starr / Koepp, Elaine

The presence of coliform organisms is not a satisfactory indication of intestinal virus contamination of drinking water from privately owned shallow wells where a soil absorption system is used for the disposal of domestic sewage. The presence of ABS‐type detergents, however, is a satisfactory indication of possible intestinal virus contamination of drinking water from the same wells under the same conditions. A study showed that anionic‐type detergents are present in 32.1 per cent of 2,167 waters from privately owned shallow wells. The data show that as the concentration of detergent increases in these waters, the percentage of bacteriologically unsafe waters becomes larger, until the group of waters with 3‐10 mg/l of detergents has nearly five times as many bacteriologically unsafe waters as the group free of detergents. Even when less than 1.0 mg/l of detergents was present, the percentage of bacteriologically unsafe waters was more than doubled. Therefore, according to the data, waters free of detergents are much less likely to be bacteriologically unsafe.