• delineating the source water protection area
• conducting a contaminant source inventory
• determining the susceptibility of the public water supply to contamination from the inventoried sources releasing the results of the assessments to the public

The susceptibility determination process in the SWAP consists of the three steps shown in the table 1.  The first step will use the findings from the VAS study to determine if a ground-water source (community well or spring) is sensitive to land-use activities in the source water assessment area. The second step will consist of an inventory of land-use activities in the assessment area.  The third step will be the assignment of  the SWAP susceptibility determination using the criteria listed in table 1.

The VAS study used a threshold CFC concentration of 5 picograms per kilogram as an indication of the presence of young water (less than 60 years) in the regional aquifers sampled.  The potential for an aquifer to be contaminated can be related to the presence of young waters.  The hydrogeologic analysis of  the results from the water samples from over 150 wells and springs will designate which regional aquifer systems across the Commonwealth are susceptible to contamination from near-surface sources.