Drinking Water / Energy Exchange Groundwater Source Exploration Using Large Scale Land Forms

By

NOWACKI, JAMES A.

Applied Geology Associates, Greenwood, IN

     In Indiana, groundwater sources are being developed using large-scale glacial geomorphology for exploration and drill site selection.  The requirements of wellhead protection have renewed interest in funding and exploring for the remote and/or buried outwash sand and gravel aquifers.

     In Putnam County, west of Reelsville, the ancient (possibly Pre-Wisconsinan) channel was traced under US 40.  An apparent stream capture in the regional drainage pattern exposed the buried channel.

     In Boone County, at Whitestown, a blanket sand contains a braided outwash channel.  The alignment of the local glacial sluiceways indicated the position of the buried, braided sand and gravel aquifer.

     In Hancock County, at Fortville, the extension of a series of till plain depressions, backed by local residential water well drilling, shows an apparent buried aquifer.

     In Madison County, at Ingalls, a deeply buried tributary valley is being developed as a 1-2 MGD capacity wellfield to replace a surface water source.  A series of poorly drained surface depressions on the till plain indicated the location of the buried valley.  Individual wells have been successfully test pumped at over 500 gallons per minute.

     In Rush County, at Carthage, an erosional saddle that cut across a bedrock high, below an ice age sluiceway, was confirmed to contain a buried layer of sand and gravel more than 50 feet thick in an outwash channel deposit capable of supporting a new replacement wellfield.