Anybody who has visited Iceland can affirm there is a lot of water on Iceland. But how about the potable water supply for our project?
We are taking a 2-path approach to assure enough water for our hotel and geothermal spring operation: drilling a well and taking water from creek that passes our property.
There is no published “typical domestic well yield” specifically for the Hvalfjörður area . However, based on hydrogeologic reports from western Iceland and nearby wells, a reasonable estimate can be made.
Typical production for a domestic or small commercial water well
For a drilled freshwater well in the Hvalfjörður area:
| Use | Typical sustained yield |
|---|---|
| Single house | 0.2–0.8 L/s |
| Farm or guesthouse | 0.5–2 L/s |
| Small commercial facility | 1–5 L/s |
Most domestic systems are designed around 0.3–1 L/s, even if the well is capable of more, because household demand rarely exceeds this.
Why yields are relatively good
Hvalfjörður lies in fractured tertiary basalt. Groundwater is stored primarily in:
- lava flow contacts
- cooling joints
- tectonic fractures
- occasional sedimentary interbeds
When a borehole intersects productive fractures, yields can increase substantially.
Evidence from nearby wells
Published drilling results in and around Hvalfjörður show:
- A geothermal well at Möðruvellir initially flowed about 7 L/s naturally and was estimated to produce around 20 L/s with pumping. This is a geothermal production well rather than a domestic water well, but it demonstrates that productive fracture zones exist in the area (11 km. away from Hugarró site)
- A recent exploration program near Skarðsheiði (north of Hvalfjörður) reported four drinking-water boreholes with a combined yield of approximately 95 L/s (roughly 24 L/s per well on average). These are municipal supply wells selected after exploration and are not representative of ordinary private wells.
Design perspective
For planning purposes:
- Excellent domestic well: 1–3 L/s
- Average domestic well: 0.5–1 L/s
- Marginal but usable: 0.2–0.5 L/s (often paired with a storage tank)
- Small commercial development (lodges, workshops, small hotels): typically targets 2–5 L/s
Practical conclusion
For our drinking water well permit we will apppy for maximum extraction of 3 L|/s . That’s 260 m3 per day. No need to ask for more considering our estimated consumption and plenty of capacity to sell water to neighbours and surrounding community.
Add the water we can extract from the nearby Migandalaekur creek, next to our property and depending on the season (summer/winter) we can count on an additional source of 300/40 m3 per day.
Covering our water consumption should not ever be an issue.