Since then, however, little work has been done to better understand the problem or the potential health implications for the country's rural residents. The responsibility for testing groundwater rests with the provinces, which have largely turned the job over to municipalities. Meanwhile, the federal government's groundwater researchers have dwindled in number from about 25 to 10. Groundwater collects below the surface in pores, cavities and other spaces in the earth's bedrock. The water can be cycled back to the surface through springs and wells after a lengthy period of underground travel.
Contamination can come from a variety of sources.
A 1996 federal government study estimated that 37 per cent of all rural wells in southern Ontario were polluted by bacteria or nitrates. Thousands more wells have been contaminated by pollutants that seep from landfills, industrial waste sites and underground storage tanks. Because groundwater goes through a cycle that can take decades to complete, many of the problems now making themselves evident result from pollutants released into the earth years ago. Ohio's grocers and the state health department have, according to this story, teamed up to provide basic training for the battle against E. coli, salmonella and other food-borne bugs. Most can be traced to improper food handling, such as using the same spoon to beat raw eggs and then to dollop out potato salad, he said.