Examples of common aquifer types in Indiana. Usable, good quality ground water can be produced from within a few feet of the surface to several hundred feet below the surface. In general, ground-water quality is good and ground water is safe to drink in Indiana. Natural constituents such as iron, manganese, sulfate, and hardness are common nuisances, but do not pose health threats. Naturally occurring contaminants are, however, occasionally found in wells above EPA-established health protection levels.
Ground water can be, and has been, contaminated by human activities.
How easily ground water is contaminated is dependent on the geology of the area and on how the contaminants are managed by people. As is the case in other states, millions of dollars have been spent in Indiana on characterizing and cleaning up ground water, or on added treatment costs before the water is distributed to the public. In the city of Elkhart, over one million dollars was spent building large towers to remove solvents in the late 1980s. The city of South Bend is building a similar treatment system to save a wellfield. In Valparaiso, the state of Indiana is cleaning up salt contamination in an aquifer used by the public water supply system.