During the last 5 year period of the Dora I power plant power generation, full reinjection of disposal water has been carried out in Salavatli geothermal field, Turkey. Since reinjection returns as relatively colder water to the production area was a concern, a tracer test was conducted with no results. Therefore, it was decided to trace reinjected waste water by seismic monitoring. By observing microseismic activities it was hoped that orientation of reinjected brine paths would be identified.

A 9- station network of three-component digital seismometers at the Salavatlı, Köşk, Aydın, Turkey geothermal area was deployed in May 2010 in connection with tracing reinjected water by seismic monitoring project, with high-quality microearthquake (MEQ) recordings that are well suited to monitoring microearthquakes in the Salavatlı, Aydın geothermal area. We are currently using these data to investigate active processes within the geothermal reservoir by applying high-precision MEQ hypocenter location. A velocity model constructed from well – logs, receiver function and surface wave analysis of earthquakes and seismic reflection studies done in the region by Turkish Petroleum Company. MEQ are recorded for a period of 7 months and a dense seismic activity was observed in the west and north-west of AS-2 reinjection well.

First obtained results were very encouraging and the paths that reinjected brine has followed were started to appear. In order to have clear-cut results the project was extended for six more months. With the additional data recorded in the coming months the trends would be more clearly determined.

In this study, geoscientific information on Salavatli field is first introduced. Then, the reinjection operations conducted in the field so far are presented, and finally, after submitting information about previous and actual monitoring operations, results are reported.

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