Groundwater Doesn’t Age Like Fine Wine

Groundwater Doesn’t Age Like Fine Wine

In hydrogeology, ‘groundwater age’ refers to the time since water infiltrated the subsurface. While conceptually useful, its interpretation in fractured or heterogeneous aquifers is complex, as mixing, dispersion, and variable flow paths can obscure the true residence time and challenge straightforward age estimations. Unlike a sealed bottle of wine, which follows a relatively predictable chemical evolution under controlled conditions, groundwat…