National Water-Quality Assessment Program

A National Assessment of Volatile Organic Compounds in Water Resources of the United States

Figure: VOCs in the hydrologic cycle

Who we are

In 1993, the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program began planning a a national synthesis effort focused on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The project began in 1995 and is expected to continue through 2007. In contrast to the monitoring of VOC contamination of water at point-source release sites, NAWQA investigtions are designed as large-scale resource assessments that provide a general characterization of water-quality conditions. Three major topics are being studied in the National Synthesis:

1. VOCs in ambient ground water,
2. VOCs in source water and drinking water
3. VOCs in perennial urban streams

Objective statements for these three topics are as follows:

1. Determine the occurrence, status, distribution, major natural and anthropogenic factors, and potential sources of VOCs in the Nation's ground water
2. Determine the occurrence and status of VOCs in supply wells and rivers that serve as public and domestic drinking water supplies
3. Determine the occurrence, status, geographical distribution, and potential sources of VOCs in urban streams

What we do

• Develop data collection and analysis techniques, and study designs for VOCs in ground- and surface-water studies
• Compile, interpret and prepare national reports/articles on VOC data collected by NAWQA's study-unit (i.e. local) investigations:
  
  • VOCs in ambient ground water
    • urban areas
    • agricultural areas
    • major aquifers
• Compile retrospective data on VOCs in ambient ground water, supply wells and drinking water:
  • VOC National Ground Water Retrospective
  • MTBE and other VOCs in Drinking Water in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the U.S.
• Participate with others in designing and completing national VOC surveys
  • National Survey of MTBE and Other VOCs in Community Drinking-Water Sources

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