Montgomery County, PA

Water quantity and quality is important to the health and welfare of all county residents. As such, the Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD) Division of Water Quality Management (WQM) in collaboration with the United States Geological Service (USGS) has developed a  groundwater monitoring program for the county. Information collected from this network will assist MCHD in assessing water quantity trends allowing for county issuance of a drought status.

 

The program began in July 2005 and includes a network of nineteen wells of average depth. The selected wells are currently not in use and not impacted by large groundwater withdrawals such as public water wells or irrigation wells for golf courses. The network well locations generally represent the major geological formations in the county shown in the above map. The wells are located on public and private properties.

 

WQM staff conduct monitoring inspections on the second Tuesday of every month regardless of weather conditions. The water table is measured by accessing the well and lowering an electronic monitoring probe down the casing to measure the water level. The collected data is inputted in a database for reference. Annual reports are submitted to the volunteering municipalities and participating well owners. The results collected from wells participating at least five years in the program are currently available for review on the link below. The results are also formatted in graphs indicating depth in feet below the ground surface. The results will assist MCHD staff in developing localized drought status levels such as Watch, Warning and Emergency during times of extended low precipitation.