| Title | Groundwater research in southern Ontario by Environment and Climate Change Canada |
| Download | Download (whole publication) |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Roy, J W; Spoelstra, J; Van Stempvoort, D R; Propp, V |
| Source | Regional-Scale Groundwater Geoscience in Southern Ontario: An Ontario Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada, and Conservation Ontario Geoscientists Open House; by Russell, H A J ; Ford, D; Holysh, S; Priebe, E H; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8528,
2019 p. 24, https://doi.org/10.4095/313598  Open
Access |
| Year | 2019 |
| Alt Series | Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6349 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Publisher | Government of Ontario |
| Meeting | Regional-Scale Groundwater Geoscience in Southern Ontario: Open House; Guelph; CA; February 27-28, 2019 |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Regional-Scale Groundwater
Geoscience in Southern Ontario: An Ontario Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada, and Conservation Ontario Geoscientists Open House |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Ontario |
| NTS | 30; 31B; 31C; 31D; 31E; 31G; 40; 41A; 41G; 41H/03; 41H/04; 41H/05; 41H/06; 41H/12; 41H/13 |
| Area | Southern Ontario; Great Lakes |
| Lat/Long WENS | -84.0000 -74.0000 46.0000 41.5000 |
| Subjects | hydrogeology; environmental geology; geochemistry; Nature and Environment; groundwater; aquifers; groundwater geochemistry; groundwater resources; groundwater regimes; groundwater movement; groundwater
pollution; surface waters; pollutants; phosphorus; chloride; metals; organic materials; waste disposal sites; leaching; ecosystems; Climate change |
| Released | 2019 02 08 |
| Abstract | Over the past decade, the groundwater-specific research of Environment and Climate Change Canada has focused on groundwater transport of pollutants to surface waters. Within southern Ontario, the key
pollutant of interest has been phosphorus, due to its link to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms of the Great Lakes and its watershed. Our work has targeted point sources, such as domestic wastewater septic systems, as well as broader-scale
inputs within both urban and rural landscapes. Other contaminants have also received interest, including chloride (road salt), metals, and both legacy and emerging organic contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals, per- and polyfluoralkyl substances
(PFAS), organophosphate flame retardants, etc.), especially in urban environments. A new study is looking at a range of these chemicals in old, closed landfills, of which thousands reside across southern Ontario. These substances pose a toxicity risk
to aquatic ecosystems in the receiving environment and may spread more broadly from there.
This work has largely employed two methodological "tools", i) surface water receptor-targeted groundwater sampling, and ii) the analysis of artificial
sweeteners. The former allows for rapid acquisition of a large number of samples at relatively moderate expense in comparison to the use of wells. It also provides more exact information on the concentrations or mass of contaminants impacting the
receptor. Artificial sweeteners can serve as a tracer of wastewater and landfill leachate, thus being a proxy for the possible presence of other wastewater or leachate contaminants and allow some quantification of their potential inputs. Their
presence can also guide targeted sampling of more costly analytes. Here we provide a brief overview of our recent research in southern Ontario with some key examples of how these two tools have provided important results on the risks posed by
groundwater-sourced pollutants to Great Lakes ecosystems. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Volume of abstracts for Ontario Geological Survey and Geological Survey of Canada groundwater geoscience Open house with Conservation Ontario. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 313598 |
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