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Ground water in Quebec’s Outaouais Region characterized

Outaouais Region, Que. – A detailed ground water quality survey has identified Champlain Sea invasion, cation exchange and fresh water recharge as the main geochemical processes affecting ground water chemistry in the Outaouais Region of Quebec.

As part of the Quebec regional ground water characterization program (PACES), a detailed ground water quality survey was undertaken by the University of Glasgow in the region. The study is entitled Hydrogeochemical Characterization of Groundwater in the Outaouais Region (Quebec, Canada)-A Regional Scale Study.

During the summers of 2011 and 2012, 139 samples were taken from municipal and private wells which were analyzed for major ions, nutrients, metals and sulphides. About 70 per cent of the samples were obtained from bedrock wells, mainly in the Canadian Shield, and the remainder from wells screened in Quaternary deposit aquifers.

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