Surface runoff and groundwater modeling
The Mannvit team has over 25 years of surface runoff and groundwater modeling experience in Iceland and abroad. Consulting services are provided to water supply utilities, electric utilities, municipalities and industries. Specialists of the Mannvit team have designed surface runoff and groundwater models for use in a wide range of projects relating to watershed management, wellhead protection and contaminant transport. Groundwater models are often an important tool in environmental impact studies regarding geothermal and hydroelectric power plants as well as land use and development projects.

The expertise within the Mannvit team in the field of surface water and groundwater hydrology along with strong background in groundwater modeling has allowed the development and utilization of our own modeling software.  Mannvit team member, Vatnaskil, has developed the AQUAFLOW modeling software package which consists of SURF, a rainfall-runoff model and AQUA3D, a three-dimensional groundwater model.

Project example:
In 1982, Mannvit team member Vatnaskil commenced the development of a surface runoff and groundwater model of the area surrounding Reykjavik for Reykjavik Energy.  The model includes the groundwater aquifer which supplies the Reykjavik municipal water wells.  It is updated on an annual basis, taking into account the latest available measurements for model recalibration.  The model has been utilized for a wide range of water quality and quantity projects, including the delineation of wellhead protection zones for municipal water wells within the model area.  Furthermore, an important aspect of this work has been the calculation of the transport of geothermal wastewater in the groundwater from the geothermal power plant at Hengill.