Earth Data Northeast, Inc.

Services
              


Groundwater Resource
Case Study #1

Earth Data’s service to water providers within southeastern Pennsylvania began with the North Penn Water Authority (NPWA) almost 35 years ago. The following provides a brief overview of some of the highlights of Earth Data’s service to the NPWA:

  • In the 1970’s, Earth Data located, installed, evaluated and analyzed most, if not all, of the high yielding water supply wells that currently comprise the NPWA groundwater system.
  • In the 1980’s, Earth Data worked with NPWA staff in the permitting of the NPWA groundwater system to comply with the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) Ground Water Protected Area Regulations.
  • In the late 1990’s David Fennimore, P.G. served as an expert witness on behalf of NPWA in successful wellhead protection (WHP) litigation.
  • In the early 2000’s Earth Data worked with NPWA in the drafting of the Authority’s Conjunctive Water Use Plan.
  • Also in the early 2000’s, Earth Data consulted with NPWA staff in support of the Authority’s application for the WHP grant from the PADEP.

Earth Data currently performs an annual comprehensive evaluation and analysis of all groundwater monitoring data and prepares a written report to DRBC in support of NPWA’s ground water withdrawals within the Ground Water Protected Area.

Groundwater Resources Case Study #2

Earth Data is currently engaged by a municipal water authority to conduct an in-depth groundwater study within the township. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact, if any, of a newly installed public sewer system on the township’s groundwater resources. The study consists of the following tasks:

  • Project coordination with the township board of supervisors;
  • Synthesis of groundwater data from a variety of resources, including regional studies conducted by government agencies, compliance monitoring data, and historic groundwater resource testing data;
  • Groundwater modeling via computer and analytical methods to determine the current and hypothetical groundwater characteristics within the township;
  • Evaluation of current township land use policies to ensure the preservation of township groundwater resources.

Groundwater modeling for the project will be conducted utilizing Schlumberger Water Services’ HydroGeo Analyst and Visual MODFLOW software. These software packages enable cutting edge integration and interpretation of data in complex groundwater environments.

Currently, the project is in the data analysis and synthesis phase with a projected completion date of March 2008.