Seepage meters-A method of direct measurement of flow

Gabriela Flores
6 February 2013
GLGY 611 - Groundwater Resource Management
INTRODUCTION
Surface water features such as rivers and lakes can exchange water with underlying aquifers, and
this movement of water can have signicant implications for water quantity and quality.
Sophocleous in 2002, established that an understanding of the basic principles of interactions
between groundwater and surface water (GWSW) is needed for effective management of
water resources and he referred to groundwater and surface as components of the hydrologic
system that interact in a variety of physiographic and climatic landscapes. Also, [Kalbus et al.,
2006] mentioned that it is crucial to understand and quantify exchange processes and pathways
between groundwater and surface water for the protection of water resources particularly in case
of contamination for futures restoration programs.
Since long ago, many methods and techniques have been developed to understand and quantify
the connection between surface water and groundwater (Rosenberry and LaBaugh, 2008; Kalbus
et al.; 2006). Nevertheless, methods of direct measurement of flow as seepage meters (Lee and
Cherry, 1978), have been used in several studies because of its simplicity and low cost.
This report aims to provide details of the application method and techniques of seepage-meters in
the field to determine the interaction between groundwater and surface, either as surface water
into ground water or ground water into surface water.
METHODOLOGY
Standard seepage meter and its installation in the bed of the water body
The standard seepage meter proposed by Lee [1978] consists in a rigid open-ended cylinder of
(44 gallon 0.2 m3) which is inserted into the sediment and a exible water-collection bag
attached to a tube in the top hole of the open ended cylinder (figure 1). The size of the drum
should be selected for the expected rate of seepage across the sediment- water interface. A large
diameter seepage meter can measure accurately an extremely small flow across the sediment
water interface. Rosenberry and LaBaugh [2008], suggested that the use a rigid seepage of a
diameter of approximately 0.5 meter seems to be useful because the areal coverage is being
maximized as convenience of use. And also it is needed to make certain that the entire rim of the
seepage chamber is seated at least a few centimeters into the sediment-water interface. Most
problems in measuring seepage are due to improper placement of the cylinder. If the
cylinder is not positioned with its hole near the highest point, gas from the sediment
accumulates and reduces seepage.

a)

b)

Figure 1. Instalation of seepage meters in deeper and shallower surface waters: 1, 4L bag; 2,
Rubber band wrap; 3, Polyethylene tube of = 1/4; 4, Latex rubber tube; 5, Rubber stopper;
6, Open-ended cylinder; 7, Polyethylene tube of = 1/4 long enough to reach the surface
water (Adapted from Lee and Cherry [1978]).

The importance of the bag and the volume of water

It has been determined that for reducing head losses, the bag should be robust but exible,
smooth and thin-walled to minimize bag resistance. Brodie et al., [2009], used the bladders from
4 L wine casks and Murdoch and Kelly [2003] experimented that seepage meters using a bag
with a low conductance (bag of 150 m thick) were unable to provide meaningful results
comparing with meters using the relatively high conductance bag (25 m thick). Therefore, it is
recommended the use of thin walled bags.
On the other hand, it is important to make sure that the bags are free of air bubbles prior to bag
attachment. Otherwise, it can cause an artificial gain or loss of water in the bag.
Several studies (for instance: Murdoch and Kelly [2003], Shinn et al., [2002], Rosenberry
[2008]) suggested using 4 liter bags, due to the experiments they realized with bigger bags of 15
liters size, even with smaller ones such as few milliliters of capacity. According to this studies it
is favorably to prefill the bag with 500 to 1,000 milliliters of water prior its attachment but no
more than about of 75 percent of its capacity.
Calculation and direction of seepage flux
The time when the bag is connected to the seepage meter and when it is disconnected should be
recorded. So, the difference between the volume of water in the bag before and after the test is
the volume that seeped into or out of the stream bed through the area of influence of the meter.
So, the seepage ux (Q) is calculated as:

Where Vo is the initial volume of water in the bag, Vf is the nal volume of water in the bag, t is
the time elapsed between when the bag was connected and disconnected, and D is the openended cylinder diameter. In figure 2, we can observe that positive seepage ux values indicate
ow of groundwater to the surface water feature (discharge or outow) and negative ux values
indicate ow from the surface water feature to the aquifer (recharge or inow).

a)

b
)

Figure 2.Direction of seepage ux between a shallower surface water body and

underlying aquifer: a) gaining indicates discharge and b) losing indicates recharge.

For calculating hydraulic conductivity of the stream bed, a minipiezometer may be used to
determine the gradient.
RELEVANT ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Since it is a low cost and easy methods, the use of seepage meters has disadvantages for instance:
Seepage meters only measures ux at a point in space, there were be needed many measurements
to derive meaningful interpolations, which is labour-intensive and time-consuming.
The seepage meters are generally unsuitable for hard, gravelly or weedy sediment beds because
of the difculty in providing an effective seal and installation depth. Sand, silt or soft clay is the
best sediment material for embedding the chamber. Therefore, in heavy clay sediments or where
hydraulic gradients are low, measurements may require days for an adequate change in bag water
volume to derive a reliable estimate. For sandy sediments, 1 hour is probably a sufficient time to
wait between installation and first bag measurements.
It is recognized by many investigators that the variability in field measurements made with
seepage meters may result from heterogeneities in the stream or lake bed [Rosenberry, 2008;
Brodie et al., 2009; Shinn et al., 2002; Murdoch and Kelly, 2003]. Also Shinn et al., [2002]
recommends that seepage meters installed in areas exposed to currents, waves, and ocean
swells should be viewed with caution. Due to the possibility that oscillations in barometric
pressure and/or other weather conditions could induce artificial flow.

CONCLUSION
Seepage meters have been used for several decades to quantify exchange between ground water
and surface water in wetlands, ponds, lakes, estuaries, and oceans but as we could analyze due to
several studies there is a range of potential sources of error, and many investigators suggests that
seepage meter measurements should be accompanied by other indirect methods (such as using
minipiezometers to measure head difference, geophysics such as resistivity, or hydrochemistry)
to verify the direction and likely magnitude of seepage ux.
REFERENCES
Brodie, R.S., Baskaran, S., Ransley, T., and J. Spring (2009), Seepage meter: progressing a
simple method of directly measuring water ow between surface water and groundwater
systems: Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 56, 3-11.
Kalbus, E., Reinstorf, F., and M. Schirmer (2006), Measuring methods for groundwater
surface water interactions:a review. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., Vol.10, 873887.
Lee, D.R., and J.A. Cherry (1978), A field exercise on groundwater flow using seepage meters
and mini-piezometers. Journal of geological education, Vol.26, 6-10.
Murdoch, L. C. and S. E. Kelly (2003) Factors affecting the performance of conventional
seepage meters. Water Resources Research, Vol. 39, Nro 6, 1163, doi:10.1029/2002WR001347.
Rosenberry, D.O., and J.W LaBaugh (2008), Field techniques for estimating water fluxes
between surface water and groundwater. UGSG, Reston, Virginia, USA, 54-67.
Rosenberry, D. (2008), A seepage meter designed for use in owing water: Journal of
Hydrology, 359, 118-130.
Sophocleous, M. (2002), Interactions between groundwater and surface water: The state of the
science. Hydrogeology Journal, Vol. 10, 52-67.
Shinn, E. A., Reich, C. D., and T. D. Hickey (2002), Seepage Meters and Bernoulli's Revenge:
Estuaries Vol. 25, Nro 1, 126-132.