Private well owners need to test their drinking water

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis Municipal public water systems in Ohio are required to test drinking water for contaminants on a regular basis. For many parameters, that is daily. This helps to ensure the water they produce is safe for consumers to drink. Private well owners, on the other hand, …

PFAS Part IV – PFAS in Major Rivers of the Great Miami River Watershed

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis Are PFAS compounds present in our rivers and if so at what levels or concentrations are they present?  Recent river water sampling by the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) shows some Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) compounds present in all of the major rivers. The results …

Too much salt: It’s not good for you or our water

By Mike Ekberg and Richard Stuck Most of us know that too much salt is unhealthy for the body, raising blood pressure for example. Well, apparently it can be unhealthy for our water, too. As the saltiness or salinity of groundwater increases above naturally occurring levels, so does its potential to harm aquatic life and …

Severe drought in the West — what about our region’s water levels?

According to the measurements taken by MCD over the last 35 years, the water supplies in the Great Miami River Watershed are in what’s called a “steady state.” That means the amount of water that flows into the watershed is roughly equal to the amount of water that flows out. In other words, the amount of water stored in the 4,000 square miles of land that drains into the Great Miami River is relatively constant over the last 35 years. Most of the water stored in the Great Miami River Watershed is in aquifers and lakes.

Get the water data info you want

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis Whether you’re just curious and want to know how much rain fell in the Miami Valley region over the past 24 hours. Or you’re an engineer who needs to know the highest river level for infrastructure design. Or you’re a hydrologist needing groundwater levels for …

2020 Precipitation: Up, Down and All Around

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysisNote: At MCD, we track water movement into and out of Great Miami River Watershed over long periods of time, spanning decades. The records generated by our observer precipitation stations, stream gages, and observation wells allow MCD staff to examine long-term trends in water resources. Water …

Earn your Water Diploma – Enroll at Great Miami U!

Win a gift card to your favorite local brewery or coffee shop At most universities you pay to learn. At Great Miami U, we’ll pay you (if we pick your name in a drawing of all our graduates). Earning your degree from Great Miami U is free and easy. And better yet, it only takes …

Do a little (septic system maintenance) to save a lot!

By Mike Ekberg, manager for water resources monitoring and analysis If you could spend less than $100 a year to avoid a $7,000 home repair expense, you’d do it wouldn’t you? Consider this: It only costs about $250 to $500 every three to five years to maintain a septic system. But it can cost up …

PFAS Part III — Strategies

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis In Part I, we looked at what per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, are and why you should care. In Part II, we looked at their presence in local drinking water. In this final post, we look at the strategies for dealing with PFAS. …

Part II — PFAS and our water

In Part I, we looked at what per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, are and why you should care. In Part II, we look at the impact to our drinking water. Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances or PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals widely used in consumer products such as cookware, pizza boxes, …