Water Quality
The water that discharges from springs provide a means of determining the quality of water in the aquifer as well as the degree of human impact in the springshed. A number of factors influence ground-water chemistry. These include the precipitation chemistry, surface conditions at the site of recharge, soil type in the recharge area, mineralogy and composition of the aquifer system, nature of aquifer system porosity and structure, flow path in the aquifer, residence time of the water in the aquifer, mixing of other waters in the aquifer system, and aquifer microbiology.1
[1] For more information on what the parameters mean see the section on Physical Field Parameters in the Water Quality section of the Springs of Florida, Florida Geological Survey Bulletin 66.
