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Fetter Ch 5 - GW Flow to Wells

5.1 - introduction

well analysis very important component of hydro -

extraction of GW for human needs
control salt water intrusion
remove contam water from aquifer
control water level during construction
drain or irrigate farmland

also used to pump wastewater into isolated aqs
and sometimes accelerate recharge via injection into aquifer

conveniently, same math applies whether you pump the well or inject the well - you just
switch the signs

2 key things you can do with knowledge of the "cone of depression":
1. can compute expected decline in water level in aquifer around well if we know the
hydraulic props of aquifer
2. can compute hydraulic props of aquifer by using the well to create a drawdown
condition with a known pumping rate


5.2 - Basic assumptions
bunch of simplifying assumptions listed by Fetter that will be in force throughout
chaptermany of these assumptions are quite reasonable and realistic

5.3 - Radial flow
assume radial symmetry around a wellbore, which will result in radial flow to it

note his point that angle relative to the well bore is irrelevant when aquifer is radially
symmetrical around the well

equations such as LaPlace can be used to determine the drawdown of either a
potentiometric surface or of a water table at a certain distance from a well if formation
characteristics are known.

Conversely, we frequently use "pump tests" and monitoring of position of a cone of
depression as a way to compute important aquifer properties



5.4 Computing drawdown caused by a pumping well
5.4.1 - completely confined aquifer
recall the mechanism of flowwater is released from storage and moves toward
the well. Product of specific storage and aquifer thickness is known as the storativity, S:

S
s
x b = S
2
C.V. Theis equation is the famous one we will use to determine drawdowna few
assumptions go with this:
- aquifer confined at top and bottom
- no recharge coming in from the outside
- water released from aquifer as soon as head is lowered
- well pumps at constant rate

Theis equation reduces to:

h
o
- h = Q [-0.5772 - ln u + u - ..]
4T

or

h
o
- h = Q W(u)
4T

where W(u) is taken from a table like Appendix 1

Typically, you may have the information you see in example problem on p. 156K, b,
pump rate Q, time t since beginning of pumping,

so your steps for determination of drawdown at a distance r away from the center of
the wellbore are:
1. determine T (= K x b)
2. calculate u (= r
2
S )
4Tt
3. determine W(u) from the u & W (u) chart
4. solve for h
o
- h


5.4.2 - flow in confined aquifer, but " leaky"
this is a modification of the confined aquifer situation above. Mentally, picture a water
table aquifer above a confining unit that is above the confined aquifer, and then assume
the water table aquifer leaks through the confining unit and recharges the confined
aquifer.



Ground level

Water table









Confining unit
Confined aquifer
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The Hantush-Jacob formula is used for solution. Essentially same equation, but different
W factor to use.


5.4.3 - Flow in Unconfined Aquifer

need to develop a mental picture as to what is occurring. First, as well begins to pump
and pressure near well drops, the initial flow to well acts like that coming from a confined
aquifer. Flow is essentially all horizontal to wellbore.

Following this, as water table itself begins to decline, the behavior is more like that of
gravity drainage. Flow is both horizontal and vertical.

At last stage, returns to horizontal, follows a Theis curve (fig ???) in which S = S
y


Again, the equation is similar to that for confined aquifer, but with different W factor.



5.5 Determining aquifer parameters from time vs drawdown data
very important function of pump tests is to provide aquifer propertiesthis type of test is
known as "aquifer test"

5.5.2 Steady State conditions
after a sufficient time, a pumping well will achieve equilibrium with the aquifer. There will
be a cone of depression, but it will not be changing with timethese are "steady state"
conditions with respect to time. The analogy is like you and other traffic going 65 mph
on the NJ turnpike.if you compare your vehicle to others moving at the same velocity,
there is no change relative to each other. You are in a steady state conditionyou and
the traffic are moving like you were ultra-fast groundwater.

5.5.2.1 - steady radial flow in confined aq
assume two observation wells at distances r
1
and r
2
from the pumping well

once drawdown has stabilized, head (h
1
, h
2
) is measured in the 2 observation wells

then Q, r
1
, r
2
, h
1
, h
2
get plugged into eq. 5.44 and you solve for transmissivity, T:



T = Q ln (r
2
)
2 (h
2
- h
1
) (r
1
)

Fetter makes point that storativity is not part of this equation, because there is no water
coming out of storage with these conditions, nor is head changing with time.

Typical situation is like example problem on p.168

Let's do problem 5.1, or at least start it so you can finish it for homework.


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Prob 5.1 , p.215, Fetter 4
th
ed asks you compute the cone of depression (drawdown
profile) created by a new community water well. This is a real world problem as shown
below:













Datum = Mean sea level



For this problem, we use a 3-step solution at a variety of distances away from the well
that is drawing the water table down:
1. Calculate u
2. Find W(u) from Appendix 1, p. 535
3. Solve for h-ho (the difference between orig height of water table and new height) at a
number of different distances r from the well; at each r distance, there will be a different
value of h-ho:

r (ft) h-h
o

(ft) Parameters are given that wont change:
50 T (transmissivity) = 1589 ft
2
/day
150 S (storativity) = 0.0005 (no units)
250 Q (discharge) = 325 gal/min (will need to change to ft
3
/day)
500 t (time) = 30 days
1000
3000 the only variable will be r!
5000
10,000


Step 1. Calculate u = r
2
S start with r=50 feet; we will calculate the
4Tt drawdown (h-h
o
) caused by the pumping well at a
distance r (since it is a radius) from the well

Map view: radius r away from well
r
u = (50 ft)
2
x 0.0005
4x1589 ft
2
x 30 days
1 day
Note that all units cancel out
u = 1.25 = 6.56 x 10
-6

190680
Orig ht of wtr
table, h
o

New well Existing farm well
Cone of
depression
from new well
farm well
now dry
h
o
h
h-h
o

New ht of wtr
table, h
5
Step 2. Find W(u). From Appendix , p.535, we see that u = 6.56 x 10
-6
is bracketed
Between 2 values that have values for W(u):
U W(u)
6 x 10
-6
11.45 We want to find W(u) for actual u, so we must interpolate
6.56 x 10
-6
??
7 x 10
-6
11.29
If you were to go up one full unit (from 6 up to 7) in u, you go down .16 units in W(u)

The correct way to set this up is with a ratio equation..point five six is to one
.56 = x as x is to point one six
1.0 .16 ( you subtract X from 11.45 to get the correct value of W(u)

X x 1.0 = .16 x .56
X = .0896, or .09 so W(u) = 11.45 - .09 = 11.36

Step 3. Solve for h-h
o


h h
o
= Q x W(u)
4 T

First, you need to convert Q from units of gal/min to units of ft
3
/day, otherwise the units
will not work (Transmissivity is in Ft
2
/day, and h-h
o
needs to be in feet)

325 gal x 60 min x 24 hr = 468,000 gal
1 min 1 hr 1 day day

From the inside front cover of Fetter, 1 gallon/day = .1337 ft
3
/day
468000 x 1 gal = 468000 x .1337 ft
3
= 62,571.6 ft
3

1 day day day

So now we can plugnchug:

h h
o
= 62,572 ft
3
/day x 11.36 = 710817.92 ft
3
/day
4 x 3.14 x 1589 ft
2
/day 19957.84 ft
2
/day

h h
o
= 35.62 ft
3
/day
1 ft
2
/day
to take care of the units, you can use the concept that division is the same thing as
multiplying by a reciprocal:

h h
o =
35.62 ft
3
x 1 day = 35.62 feet
1 day 1 ft
2


You have determined that at a distance of 50 feet from the pumping well, the water table
has dropped almost 36 feet! That is a huge drop over a short distance, especially if you
are a farmer who was previously using a nearby well to irrigate your crops..

From here, you can calculate the rest by hand, or as an alternative I will prepare a
spreadsheet that performs the calculations. A spreadsheet can be used to make a
graph, which can be viewed as a cross-section across the top of the aquifer, from the
new well out to where the water table remains undisturbed.
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5.5.2.2. steady radial (equilibrium) flow in unconfined aquifer

as in the above case, a similar equation for unconfined aquifers gives you hydraulic
conductivity, K once you plug in saturated thickness and radial distance from pumping
well

K = Q ln (r
2
)
(b
2
2
- b
1
2
) (r
1
)



5.5.3 nonequilibrium flow conditions
in transient flow conditions, prior to equilibrium, the time-drawdown data from an
observation well can be used to determine both T and S. If no observation well is
present, you can still determine T, but not S.


5.5.3.1 - nonequilibrium flow in a confined aquifer
Equations used for these conditions are:
T = Q W(u)
4 (h
o
-h)

and

S = 4Tut
r
2




the drawdown or pump test yields a curve such as Fig 5.7, on log-log paper

this is compared with a 1/u vs W(u) graph, which reflects the shape of the cone of
depression near the pumping well

you overlay the two graphs, keep the axes parallel, and find a match point, any point, on
the field data graph for drawdown and time, not necessarily on the curve itself. Record
W (u), 1/u, time, drawdown (h
o
- h)

you use all this information to solve first for transmissivity T, then storativity, S

look at example problem on p.172

can you use Excel to make a log-log drawdown vs time chart?


5.5.3.2 - Nonequilibrium radial flow, confined aquifer -
Jacob-Cooper straight-line time-drawdown method

This is an alternative to Theis curve-matching method to find T and S


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Jacob-Cooper Procedure:

Use semi-log paper as in Fig 5.9, time on horizontal log scale, and drawdown on vertical
normal scale

Use the later times to find a straight line, then project it back to a t
o
value.

Then use the appropriate equations:

T = 2.3 Q
4 (h
o
-h)

S = 2.25 T t
o

r
2


Example problem p.174 - compare the two methods using same pump test data set -
this would be an excellent exam problem



5.5.3.3 - Nonequilibrium radial flow, confined aquifer -
Jacob straight-line distance-drawdown method (vs time-drawdown method above)


T = 2.3 Q
2 (h
o
-h)

S = 2.25Tt
r
o
2


where t is time since pumping started
r
o
is distance at which straight line intercepts zero-drawdown axis

skipped the rest of section 5.5



5.6 Slug Tests

slug tests are an important test for low-conductivity materials, and can be used to
determine K.

mechanism - a known amt of water is added to well ( a "slug") in order to raise the
head.sometimes you can extract an amount to lower the headeither way, you
disrupt equilibrium

two types of well response, overdamped or underdamped, will dictate what type of
evaluation method you use