ABSTRACT
Extensive computer modeling was employed to obtain a wellfield design that would maintain water quality stability as long as possible, but was also sensitive to construction economics. As the Island Water Association, Inc. expanded its capacity, the lessons learned from the performance of the electrodialysis (ED) wellfield were not forgotten, and the reverse osmosis wellfield was developed in a much different manner. During 1973, a number of deep wells were drilled into the Hawthorn Aquifer System beneath Sanibel Island to provide feedwater to the 1.2 mgd ED water treatment plant. Construction of a causeway linking the islands with the Florida mainland in 1963 resulted in increased population growth, and during the early 1970s, large-scale resort and residential construction occurred. A large quantity of data is available on the hydrogeology of Sanibel Island. Hydrogeologic investigations of the deeper part of the Hawthorn Aquifer System and the upper part of the Suwannee Aquifer System began in 1979 and continue to present.
