Case Study - Hydrogeologist

Name: Donal Daly
Job: Hydrogeologist (www.epa.ie)

Geoscientists gather and interpret data about the earth (they are earth science detectives); the soils, subsoils, bedrock that form the solid structure of our planet, and the water, hydrocarbons and gases that fill the pores and cracks.

Coming from a farming background, my early interest was in working outdoors, dealing with nature, particularly the physical landscape. In secondary school, my favouruite subject was physical geography. I went to University College Galway to study science (B.Sc.), and geology in particular, and then to Birmingham University to study hydrogeology (M.Sc.) (or groundwater, a resource that supplies 25 per cent of Ireland’s drinking water and over 50 per cent of the water in many rivers), as I wanted to work in a practical area with a clear relevance to society’s wellbeing and to the environment.

Since I graduated, I have worked with a Water Authority in Britain, the Geological Survey of Ireland and now with the Environmental Protection Agency. Virtually every day of over 30 years working as a hydrogeologist has been enjoyable and challenging: whether drilling wells for water supply; measuring flows in springs; analysing water quality data (chemical and bacteriological); locating landfill sites; giving courses on the proper location septic tank systems for rural houses; producing maps of Ireland’s groundwater resources and vulnerability to pollution; locating and installing groundwater quality monitoring wells; or reporting on Ireland’s groundwater quality.