Vulnerability of wells in unconfined and confined aquifers to modern contamination from flood events

Groundwater is a primary potable water supply for coastal North Carolina (NC), but the increased intensity of extreme rainfall events and floods may exacerbate surface and subsurface processes that contribute anthropogenic chemicals to wells in the major confined aquifers of this region. We evaluated groundwater for organic chemicals of emerging concern (CEC) and the presence of tritium using flooded and not-flooded wells in the NC Department of Environmental Quality well monitoring network across the NC Coastal Plain. Flooded wells experienced standing water around the well casing at least once during the study period. Tritium concentrations, which indicate modern water presence (water recharged after 1953), were significantly greater in groundwater from flooded wells than not-flooded wells. In confined aquifers, modern water was detected at greater depths in flooded wells (206 m) than not-flooded wells (100 m). Suspect-screening high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) analysis of 150 groundwater samples yielded a total of 382 unique organic chemicals. Each groundwater sample contained, on average, 19 tentatively identified chemicals from the NIST 20 mass spectral database (M1) and 9 USEPA ToxCast chemicals. The number of tentatively-identified chemicals per sample was not significantly different among aquifers demonstrating the pervasive presence of the detected CECs in unconfined and confined aquifers. The presence of modern water in groundwater from flooded wells coincided with higher detection frequencies of certain organic contaminant classes, particularly pharmaceuticals, food additives, and regulated aromatic hydrocarbons. These results indicate that wells in both unconfined and confined aquifers are susceptible to modern water contamination during flood events; this finding has critical public health implications for coastal communities.