​The GSI Groundwater team were back out on site drilling boreholes in Navan, Co Meath. 

Two boreholes were installed as part of the GSI GW3D project: one into the shallow broken weathered zone at the top of the bedrock, known as the Transition Zone (TZ) - and the other deeper into the deeper bedrock. The purpose of the boreholes is to understand how the transition zone functions, and how it differs from the deeper aquifer.  Real-time monitoring data will allow us to observe the response of the TZ to antecedent weather conditions, and how this differs to the response of the deeper aquifer.

After the mapping of the TZ in areas all around Ireland, the installation of the boreholes initiates the second phase of the Transition Zone section of the GSI GW3D project. The Groundwater team are monitoring the water levels in the TZ and deeper aquifer to investigate their aquifer properties and better understand the TZ's role as a pathway for pollution.

More information about the GW3D project here.