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An Introduction to Hydraulic Testing in Hydrogeology

Basic Pumping, Slug, and Packer Methods

Publication year: 2023
Number of pages: 352
ISBN: 978-1-77470-090-7

Authors:
William W. Woessner: University of Montana, USA
A. Campbell Stringer: NewFields, USA
Eileen P. Poeter: Colorado School of Mines, USA

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Updated: 31 October 2023

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An Introduction to Hydraulic Testing in Hydrogeology

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An Introduction to Hydraulic Testing in Hydrogeology - Data for Exercises 2, 3, 5, 7

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Description

All groundwater investigations (including resource investigations, development of water supplies, and identification and remediation of contaminated sites) require deriving field-based values of basic hydrogeologic properties such as hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity and storativity. In the earlier Groundwater Project book “Hydrogeologic Properties of Earth Materials and Principles of Groundwater Flow” (Woessner and Poeter, 2020) groundwater principles and parameters were defined. Discussion of methods to determine parameters focused on laboratory methods and referenced field hydraulic testing methods but did not provide details on application. This book is a companion to that earlier work, as well as a standalone document that provides foundational methods used to generate field-scale representations of common hydraulic parameters. 

The authors present a conceptual view of how hydraulic testing methods such as the pumping tests, slug tests, and testing with packers are applied, as well as the advantages and limitations of the underpinning analytical solutions. They focus on methods addressing simplified confined, leaky confined and unconfined groundwater systems. 

The authors explain how curve-matching of field test data to analytical models is used to interpret test results. Software for analyzing hydraulic test data is briefly discussed, some of which include choices of several additional analytical models and one-button automated analysis, which can lead to misinterpretation of the data, so this book emphasizes basic concepts, principles, and methods. The main body of text along with many illustrations, examples, and exercises with solutions provide the reader with the information needed to correctly apply hydraulic testing and analytical methods.

Contents

OVERVIEW

1 INTRODUCTION

2 TYPES OF HYDRAULIC TESTS

2.1 Pumping Tests

2.2 Slug Tests

2.3 Testing with Packers

2.4 Text Organization

PART 1: PUMPING TESTS

3 CONCEPTUALIZING GROUNDWATER FLOW TO WELLS

3.1 Development of the Cone of Depression Under Transient Conditions

3.2 The Cone of Depression Under Steady-State Conditions

4 SETTING A PURPOSE, DESIGNING, AND CONDUCTING A PUMPING TEST

4.1 Purpose

4.2 Compiling and Interpreting Existing Data Sets

4.3 Pumping and Observation Well Design and Construction Data

4.3.1 Design of Pumping and Observation Wells
4.3.2 Observation Well Spacing

4.4 Pumping Test Components and Design

4.4.1 Selecting the Pumping Rate
4.4.2 Selecting the Duration of the Pumping Test
4.4.3 Choosing a Pump and Power Supply

4.5 Water Level and Discharge Measurement Schedules

5 TEST EXECUTION AND DATA ANALYSIS

5.1 Measuring and Recording Water Levels

5.2 Establishing Baseline Conditions and Water Level Trends

5.3 Methods to Measure and Maintain a Pumping Rate

5.4 Data Analysis

5.4.1 Correcting Water Level Data
5.4.2 Determining the Test Pumping Rate for analysis

5.5 Notes for Successful Test Execution

6 MATHEMATICS OF FLOW TO A PUMPING WELL

6.1 Using Polar Coordinates

6.2 Development of Equations Describing Aquifer Responses to Pumping

6.2.1 Confined Aquifers
6.2.2 Unconfined Aquifers

6.3 General Assumptions Used to Develop Analytical Well Hydraulic Equations

7 THIEM STEADY-STATE ANALYTICAL MODELS FOR PUMPING CONFINED AND UNCONFINED AQUIFERS

7.1 Steady-State Conditions in a Confined Groundwater System

7.2 Steady-State Conditions in an Unconfined Aquifer

7.3 An Opportunity to Work with Steady State Pumping Test Data

8 TRANSIENT ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR PUMPING OF A FULLY CONFINED AQUIFER

8.1 Formulation of the Theis Equation

8.2 Using The Theis Equation to Predict Drawdowns in Totally Confined Aquifers

8.3 Computing T and S from Hydraulic Test Data Using the Theis Method

8.3.1 Theis Curve Matching Method
8.3.2 Cooper Jacob Straight Line Method
8.3.3 Cooper-Jacob Distance-Drawdown Method
8.3.4 Analyzing Recovery Data
8.3.5 Variable Discharge Pumping Test
8.3.6 Applicability of Methods Presented in this Section

8.4 An Opportunity to Work with Pumping Test Data from a Confined Aquifer

9 TRANSIENT ANALYTICAL MODELS FOR PUMPING IN A LEAKY CONFINED AQUIFER

9.1 Formulation of Equations to Address Leaky Confined Conditions

9.2 Hantush-Jacob Solution (Leaky Confined-No Water Released from Aquitard Storage)

9.2.1 Formulation of the Hantush-Jacob Equation
9.2.2 Predicting Drawdown in Leaky Confined System with the Hantush-Jacob Equation
9.2.3 Pumping Test Data from a Confined Aquifer with a Leaky Confining Bed without Additional Water Released from Aquitard Storage
9.2.4 Hantush-Jacob Curve Matching Method for a Pumping Test in a Confined Aquifer with a Leaky Confining Bed without Water Released from Aquitard Storage
9.2.5 Hantush Inflection-Point Method for a Pumping Test in a Confined Aquifer with a Leaky Confining Bed without Water Released from Aquitard Storage

9.3 Hantush Equation for a Leaky Confined System with Water Released from Confining Bed Storage

9.3.1 Using the Hantush Equation to Predict Drawdown in Leaky Confined Units with Water Released from Confining Bed Storage
9.3.2 Hantush Curve Matching Method to Compute T and S From a Pumping Test in Leaky Confined Unit with Aquitard Storage

9.4 An Opportunity to Work with Pumping Test Data from a Leaky Confined Aquifer

10 TRANSIENT ANALYTICAL MODELS FOR PUMPING AN UNCONFINED AQUIFER

10.1 Approximating the Response of Pumping Unconfined Aquifers Using Theis Approach

10.1.1 Pumping Test Analysis

10.2 Formulating Equations to Represent the Delayed Yield Response

10.3 Formulating Delayed Yield analysis

10.3.1 Mathematical Development of a Delayed Yield Analysis Method

10.4 Computing T and S From Aquifer Test Data

11 EFFECTS OF WELL INTERFERENCE, BOUNDARIES, AND AQUIFER ANISOTROPY ON DRAWDOWN

11.1 Well interference

11.2 Using Superposition to Represent Simple Boundary Conditions

11.2.1 Image Well Methodology
11.2.2 Linear Impermeable and Recharge Boundaries

11.3 Development of Cones of Depression in Anisotropic Heterogeneous Material

11.4 An Opportunity to Use Well Hydraulics to Evaluate Well interference in the Presence of a Recharge Boundary

12 ESTIMATING HYDROGEOLOGIC PROPERTIES USING A SINGLE PUMPING WELL

12.1 Special Considerations When Using Drawdown Data from a Pumping Well

12.1.1 Partial Penetration
12.1.2 Well Loss and Using Step-Drawdown Tests to Assess Loss
12.1.3 Well Interference
12.1.4 Other Conditions that Effect Pumping Well Drawdown

12.2 Drawdown and Recovery Curve-Matching Methods for a Single Pumping Well

12.2.1 Analyzing Time-Drawdown Data
12.2.2 Analyzing Recovery Data

12.3 Steady-State Approximation of Transmissivity

12.4 Performance Tests, Specific Capacity Data, and Estimating T

12.4.1 Cautions When Using Performance Test Results
12.4.2 Methods to Estimate Transmissivity from Performance Tests
12.4.3 Using Specific Capacity to Estimate Transmissivity Assuming Steady-State Conditions
12.4.4 Using Specific Capacity Data to Estimate Transmissivity Assuming Transient Conditions
12.4.5 Basic Equations Relating Specific Capacity to Transmissivity

12.5 An Opportunity to Evaluate Hydrogeologic Properties Using Data from a Pumping Well

13 USING SOFTWARE TO ANALYZE HYDRAULIC TEST DATA WITH A PUMPING WELL

13.1 Pumping Test Analysis Software Packages

13.2 Data Plotting and Curve Matching Methods

PART 2: SLUG TESTS

14 ESTIMATING HYDROGEOLOGIC PROPERTIES USING A SINGLE UNPUMPED WELL

14.1 The Slug Test

14.2 Performing a Slug Test

14.2.1 Assessing the Hydrogeologic Setting and Well Construction
14.2.2 Special Considerations for Water Table Systems
14.2.3 Free Exchange of Water with the formation
14.2.4 Raising and Lowering the Water Level
14.2.5 Recording Water Level Change
14.2.6 Test Repeatability

14.3 Field Data: Overdamped, Underdamped and Critically Damped Water Level Responses to Slug Tests

14.4 Methods to interpret Overdamped Slug Tests

14.4.1 Hvorslev Slug Test Method
14.4.2 Bouwer and Rice Slug Test Method
14.4.3 Cooper-Bredehoeft-Papadopulos Slug Test Method
14.4.4 KGS Slug Test Method

14.5 Method to Interpret Underdamped Slug Tests

14.5.1 Development of Type Curve Equations
14.5.2 Unconfined-High-K Bouwer and Rice Model
14.5.3 Confined–High-K Hvorslev Model
14.5.4 Transitional Slug Test Responses

14.6 Software Available to Analyze Slug Tests

14.7 an Opportunity to Evaluate Hydrogeologic Properties Using Slug Test Data

PART 3: PACKER TESTS

15 BASIC HYDRAULIC TESTING WITH PACKERS

15.1 The Packer Test

15.1.1 Selecting the Test Interval
15.1.2 Setting Up the Packer System

15.2 Testing Methods and Analyses

15.2.1 Slug Tests
15.2.2 Constant Rate Pumping Tests
15.2.3 Constant Head Injection/Withdrawal Test
15.2.4 Step Rate Injection Test (Lugeon Test)
15.2.5 Drill Stem Test

16 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR CHARACTERIZING LOW PERMEABILITY SYSTEMS, AQUITARDS

16.1 Properties of Aquitards

16.2 Test Methods Used to Estimate Aquitard Properties

16.2.1 Internal Methods
16.2.2 External Methods

17 WRAP-UP

18 EXERCISES

19 REFERENCES

20 BOXES

Box 1 Samples of Graph Paper for Curve Matching Methods

Box 2 Estimating Storativity and Specific Storage (Ss)

Box 3 Image Well Theory Application when Two Linear Boundaries are Present

Box 4 Production Well Efficiency

Box 5 Aqtesolv

Box 6 Aquifertest V12

Box 7 Aquiferwin32 V6

Box 8 Software Used to Analyze Slug Tests

Box 9 Laboratory Methods Used to Determine Hydraulic Properties of Aquitards and Low Permeability Formations

Box 9.1 Falling Head Permeameter (Modified From Box 4.3 of Woessner and Poeter (2020)
Box 9.2 Triaxial Permeability Test
Box 9.3 Consolidometer

Box 10 Reproduction of Figures From Rowe and Nadarajah (1993) Correction Factors

Box 11 Aqtesolv Solutions to Exercises

Box 11.1 Aqtesolv Solution for Exercise 2
Box 11.2 Aqtesolv Solution for Exercise 3 A and B
Box 11.3 Aqtesolv Solution for Exercise 5
Box 11.4 Aqtesolv Solution for Exercise 7

21 EXERCISE SOLUTIONS

22 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Interview with Authors