Well Hydraulics

Steady State Analysis

Groundwater Wells
The groundwater is collected through the use of wells Well systems usually have well structure, pump and discharge pipes Well usually consists of perforated casing that allows water to enter the well but prevents collapse of hole When waster is withdrawn, the flow becomes established to compensate the withdrawl Because of head loss, piezometric surface adjacent to well is depressed; this is called cone of depression Remember Darcys equation:
dh Q = KA dx

What is well hydraulics? To understand the processes in effect when one or more wells are pumping from an aquifer. This for instance considers the analysis of drawdown due to pumping with time and distance Importance of well hydraulics Groundwater withdrawal from aquifers are important to meet the water demand. Therefore, we need to understand well hydraulics to design a pumping strategy that is sufficient to furnish the adequate amounts of water

Basic Assumptions
The piezometric surface of the aquifer is horizontal prior to the start of the pumping The aquifer is homogeneous and isotropic (same material with same properties in all directions) All flow is radial toward the well Groundwater flow is horizontal Darcys law is valid The pumping well fully penetrates the aquifer

Steady versus Transient (unsteady)

Steady state implies that the drawdown is a function of location only Transient state implies that the drawdown is a function of location and time Thus h = f(r) in case of steady state h = f(r,t) in case of transient state

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers When water is pumped from a confined aquifer, the pumpage creates a drawdown in the piezometric surface that induces hydraulic gradient toward the well Drawdown at a given point is the distance by which the water level is lowered. A drawdown curve shows the variation of drawdown with distance from the well The induced flow moves horizontally toward the well

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers

Apply Darcys law to derive the flow equation that relates drawdown with pumping:

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers

Rearranging and integrating for the boundary conditions at the well h = hw and r = rw and at the edge of the aquifer h = h0 and r = r0 yields (with the negative sign neglected):

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers Thiem equation

where r1 and r2 are the distances and h1 and h2 are the heads of the respective observation wells

Textbook form
r2 528Q log r 1 Kf = m(h2 h1 )

where Q is in gallons per minute, Kf is the permeability in gallons per day per square foot and r and h are measured in feet. m is the thickness of aquifer (same as b in previous case)

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Confined Aquifers From a practical standpoint, the drawdown s rather than the head h is measured so:

Example [1] Steady State Confined Aquifer A well in a confined aquifer is pumped at a rate of 220 gal/min Measurement of drawdown in two observation wells shows that after 1,270 min of pumping, no further drawdown is occurring Well 1 is 26 ft from the pumping well and has a head of 29.34 ft above the top of the aquifer Well 2 is 73 ft from the pumping well and has a head of 32.56 ft above the top of the aquifer. Use the Thiem equation to find the aquifer transmissivity

Solution [1]
We must first convert the pumping rate of 220 gal/min to an equivalent rate in cubic feet per day

Now we substitute the given values into Thiem equation:

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Unconfined Aquifers

Confined versus Unconfined

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Unconfined Aquifers The flow equation is similar for that of confined aquifers except we use h instead of b

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Unconfined Aquifers

Rearranging and integrating for the boundary conditions at the well, h = hw and r = rw, and at the edge of the aquifer, h = h0 and r = r0, yields:

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Unconfined Aquifers

Converting to heads (h1 and h2) and radii at two observation wells at locations r1 and r2:

Steady Radial Flow to a Well in Unconfined Aquifers

Rearranging to solve for the hydraulic conductivity:

Textbook form of unconfined aquifer

Where Q is in gallons per minute, Kf is in gallons per day per square foot and r and h are measured in feet.