Almost 20% of Ireland’s drinking water is sourced from groundwater and springs, with a total of almost 2000 private group water schemes and small private wells across the country.

 

Clean water demands are increasing and Hydrogeophysics is a fast, safe and non-invasive way to investigate land for groundwater sources.

The main aquifer type in Ireland is fractured or fissured bedrock. This type of aquifer can be detected by a geophysical survey through the increased conductivity or reduced resistivity of the broken rock and water mixture. Karst features within limestone can yield large amounts of fast-flowing ground water, which we can be detect using 2D-Resistivity (ERT) surveys

Groundwater vulnerability to contamination is linked to clay content of the soil and depth to bedrock – these factors can be mapped over large areas rapidly using electromagnetic methods, and displayed using the VLF-EM image below.

 This VLF-EM conductivity section display indicates an increased conductivity at 90m along the profile and at a depth of 50m: