Among the more significant point sources are municipal landfills and industrialwaste disposal When either of these occur in or near sand and gravel aquifers, thepotential for widespread contamination is the In Ville Mercier, Quebec, for example, the disposal of industrial wastes intolagoons in an old gravel pit over many years rendered the water supplies of thousandsof residents in the region Water had to be pumped from a well 10 kilometersaway to replace the area's Other point sources are individually less significant, but they occur in largenumbers all across the Some of these dangerous and widespread sources ofcontamination are septic tanks, leaks and spills of petroleum products and of denseindustrial organic Septic systems are designed so that some of the sewage is degraded in the tank andsome is degraded and absorbed by the surrounding sand and Contaminants thatmay enter groundwater from septic systems include bacteria, viruses, detergents, andhousehold These can create serious contamination Despite the factthat septic tanks and cesspools are known sources of contaminants, they are poorlymonitored and very little Contamination can render groundwater unsuitable for Although the overallextent of the problem across Canada is unknown, many individual cases ofcontamination have been investigated such as Ville Mercier in Quebec; the highwayde-icing salt problem in Nova Scotia; industrial effluents in Elmira, Ontario; variouspesticides in the Prairie provinces; industrial contamination in Vancouver, BritishColumbia; and so In many cases, contamination is recognized only aftergroundwater users have been exposed to potential health The cost of cleaning upcontaminated water supplies is usually extremely