Impacts of shallow geothermal energy on groundwater quality

Impacts of Shallow Geothermal Energy on Groundwater Quality provides a hydrochemical and geomicrobial overview of the effects of ground source heat pumps and aquifer thermal energy storage. The area is investigated with field and laboratory experiments, and reactive transport models, showing that shallow
geothermal energy systems can influence groundwater quality in a number of ways. Most prominent in open ground source heating systems operating at low temperature (<20°C) is the physical mixing of deep and shallow groundwater of different quality distorting the natural water quality stratification in aquifers. At temperature of 25°C and beyond certain trace elements were observed to mobilize in laboratory experiments, and beyond 40°C redox conditions change significantly while the microbial community shift towards a thermophilic community. Based on the results of this research, guidelines are presented for monitoring and permitting of SGE systems.