Why is there hot water at Chena?
The Chena geothermal system is fed by water which circulates deep underground over a period of thousands of years, picking up the natural heat from the earth, and then ‘short circuits’ back up to the surface through cracks and fractures in the granite rock underneath the hot springs area. Granite rock fractures or breaks very nicely in all directions, as opposed to layered sedimentary rock that just tends to break horizontally. This allows the hot water to quickly find its way to the surface from a great depth (~3000 feet). Why does the hot water smell funny? While the water is stored underground, it comes in contact with a number of different minerals and rocks. Some of these minerals become dissolved in the hot water and this is responsible for the smell. In particular, humans are very sensitive to the smell of sulphur, and can recognized it in concentrations as low as 1 part per million. The Chena waters have 1 part per million of sulphur, and overall have a very low total dissolved
