Kurikka Aquifer Project 7

Introduction

KURIKKA AQUIFER PROJECT

The Geological Survey of Finland continues its groundwater research in the Kurikka region in cooperation with Vaasan Vesi, Kurikan Vesihuolto Oy and the Southern Ostrobothnia ELY Centre. The ambitious aim of the research is to find enough groundwater in the Kurikka region to meet the demands of 150,000 people and the large food industries in the Vaasa and Kurikka regions.

Groundwater surveys (for GTK’s part) started some ten years ago, when hydrogeological geological structural surveys were carried out in the groundwater area of Aronlähde and Kuusistonloukko. At that time, very thick sand and gravel inter till layers located in a bedrock depression were found by deep drilling. This brought up the possibilities for larger scale water abstraction in the Kurikka region, and thus the City of Vaasa also became interested in Kurikka’s potential for deep groundwater.

The sediment cover in Kurikka is exceptionally thick and complex in structure, and the fragmented bedrock surface of the area contributes to the significance of the groundwater body. Groundwater is recharged in wide highland areas to flow aquifers that are located at lower elevations and the quality of (deep) groundwater has also proven to be good. In addition, the groundwater in the area is well protected under thick clay deposits.

After finding the Kurikka buried valley aquifer, Kurikka’s deep groundwater bodies have been surveyed in several separate projects since 2014. Therefore, the groundwater surveys will continue for several more years and many more steps are required to find out the hydrology and hydrogeology of deep groundwater in the Kurikka region with the precision required for water supply planning.

In phase 7 of the project, the groundwater surveys in the buried valleys of Kurikka are continued. The purpose of the research is to secure the water supply of the cities of Vaasa and Kurikka for years to come, which would also contribute to securing the water supply for the whole of South Ostrobothnia. This phase of the project supports the previous studies and aims at the identification of water in the different aquifers layers of the large and complex hydrogeology system based on chemical and microbiological criteria. The purpose of the project is also to investigate the flow of groundwater from the recharge area into the aquifers located in the buried valleys and to investigate the interaction between the aquifers. In addition to these, the project supports previous geological and geophysical surveys with extended surveys and creates IT solutions for WEB-based groundwater monitoring.

The project is financed by Vaasan Vesi, Kurikan Vesihuolto Oy, South Ostrobothnia ELY Centre and GTK.

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