A new study from Duke University explains the source of salinity in well water on the Outer Banks. Professor Avner Vengosh directed the study. He says salinity levels are rising in wells on the Outer Banks.
Avner Vengosh: "But our study shows the salinity is not derived from sea water intrusion as some had feared before, but its rather from flow of natural occurring ground water originated from fossil sea water."
Vengosh says that fossil sea water is probably hundreds of thousands of years old, and much less saline than modern sea water. He says current filtering systems are adequate to deal with the level of salt in the aquifer.
