Campton Township
Campton Township in Kane County has one of the highest densities of private wells of any township in Illinois. Residents rely exclusively on groundwater to meet domestic needs, either from individual private wells, shared private wells, or wells operated by public water entities, such as in subdivisions.
Domestic wells in Campton Township withdraw from 4 major aquifer/geologic units:
1) the glacial sands and gravels at land surface,
2) the thin Silurian Dolomite and Maquoketa Shale at the bedrock surface,
3) the underlying Galena-Plattevile Dolomite, and
4) the deep St. Peter Sandstone.
The Maquoketa Shale is an important aquitard that under natural conditions limits the amount of recharge to the deeper bedrock units. However, the presence of multiaquifer wells drilled through this aquitard may be allowing shallow groundwater to flow into deeper aquifers. While this may seem beneficial, it could also cause more water level variability in shallow aquifers and leave deep aquifers more susceptible to contamination.
There has been anecdotal evidence in Campton Township of deep multiaquifer wells (open to both the Galena-Platteville and St. Peter Sandstone) causing nearby shallow wells to go dry. This may be due to localized draining of shallower aquifers into the deeper St. Peter sandstone via wells drilled through the Maquoketa Shale. However, it is unclear to what extent, if any, that this is occurring. In the last decade, the number of St. Peter Sandstone wells also has steadily increased in the township. The Illinois State Water Survey, in partnership with the Kane County Water Resources, is actively monitoring groundwater levels and analyzing well records to address these issues.
This interactive map depicts densities of wells (number of wells/square mile) open to specific geologic units that serve as aquifers. Since most of the domestic wells are open to multiple aquifers, the density maps represent the deepest aquifer that wells are open to. In addition, locations of monitoring wells and other geologic information is also depicted
Final Letter Report
ISWS Letter Report: Evaluation of Multi-Aquifer Wells in Campton Township, Kane County, IL
Additional Information
Illinois State Water Survey 2007 Kane County Water Resources Investigations Executive Summary and Final Report
USGS Report: Hydrogeology Water Use, and Simulated Ground-Water Flow and Availability in Campton Township, Kane County, Illinois
USGS Report: Ground-Water Levels in Aquifers Used for Residential Supply, Campton Township, Kane County, Illinois
Video depicting well installation into shale and sandstone aquifers in Kane County from 1971 to 2015
