Groundwater

The Water Research Laboratory has a team of hydrogeologists and environmental engineers who are highly regarded for groundwater problem solving. This team is recognised in Australia and internationally for project services and applied research in: geophysical imaging and borehole tomography of the subsurface; groundwater chemistry; and geochemical indicators of leakage through clay barrier systems.

A pragmatic approach to solving groundwater problems is adopted by project staff, in consultation with industry and government agencies. Studies generally commence with a desktop investigation followed by design and implementation of specific data collection programs. WRL has extensive borehole, geophysics and logging instrumentation along with numerical models and chemistry laboratory facilities to aid with data interpretation and process understanding.

The application of these expert groundwater services include: effluent reuse and disposal, salinisation, managed aquifer recharge, water budgets, groundwater quality, transport and fate of contaminants, acid sulphate soils and leakage through clay barriers.

The Water Research Laboratory is a key part of the UNSW Connected Waters Initiative.