The use of snowmelt as an inexpensive multi-component tracer solution for active aquifer characterization is investigated, creating a valid alternative to existing artificial water isotope labelling using enriched deuterium oxide (²H₂O) and water-¹⁸O (H₂¹⁸O). The approach directly takes advantage of natural differences between groundwater and precipitation. It is shown, at laboratory-scale and small field-scale, that a direct injection of snowmelt into a porous medium allows for the tracing of water flow and, therefore, for the determination of transport parameters based on the stable isotope signatures (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) and on the sum parameter electrical conductivity (EC). The differences in the isotope signature between the snowmelt and groundwater applied in this study were significant, with ∆(δ²H) = 61.0‰ and ∆(δ¹⁸O) = 8.2‰, while the EC difference was ~0.5 mS/cm. Stable isotope breakthrough was observed to be almost congruent to sodium chloride (laboratory tracer experiment) and to uranine (field-scale push-drift-pull test), clearly supporting the assumption of conservative transport. A crosscheck of the isotope data in δ²H-δ¹⁸O plots revealed no significant biases in the tests. On the other hand, the snowmelt’s EC breakthrough suffered from a slight retardation due to ion exchange and mineral reactions.