01-02-2008, 04:46 PM
This information is slightly more speculation than fact, from working with Hilo Bay Watershed Advisory Group & taking a couple of hydrology courses at UHH(mainly because there is very little true facts on water movement in this county, seems scientists are still finding these things out):
The lens is a very bottom heavy lens (40' down to 2' up, so if you find water at 2' above sealevel, the lens is about 42' thick...fresh water is at or above sealevel at the coast, so there is at least 40' of water right at the coastline .... so although the lens is thinner by the coast, it is still thick by some mainland aquifer standards(mostly fact, with some speculation).
Surface waters do not tend to infuse into the groundwater, but tend to follow the downhill trend toward the ocean (more speculation than fact).
The groundwater here is some of the finest (Hawaiian Springs bottled water is from a well spring just north of Keaau town)(opinion + fact)
There are a few water testing labs in and around Hilo, the university now has an EPA certified testing lab, rates are cheaper than some of the west coast labs I have been using for WQ tests.(fact)
The lens is a very bottom heavy lens (40' down to 2' up, so if you find water at 2' above sealevel, the lens is about 42' thick...fresh water is at or above sealevel at the coast, so there is at least 40' of water right at the coastline .... so although the lens is thinner by the coast, it is still thick by some mainland aquifer standards(mostly fact, with some speculation).
Surface waters do not tend to infuse into the groundwater, but tend to follow the downhill trend toward the ocean (more speculation than fact).
The groundwater here is some of the finest (Hawaiian Springs bottled water is from a well spring just north of Keaau town)(opinion + fact)
There are a few water testing labs in and around Hilo, the university now has an EPA certified testing lab, rates are cheaper than some of the west coast labs I have been using for WQ tests.(fact)