LACKAGE TLL SLUTEN AkueR LEAKY, CONFINED AQUIFER Ve WET EW A ae = INITIAL POTENTIOMETRIC SURFACE OF BoTH AQUIFERS GVRE OCH _UNDRE AkviFert (hy) af c OPPEN AIKVIFER. a UNCONFINGD AQUIFER TELAT kK Ts SLUTEN AKVIFER Pe cence AerAvdelningen for Teknisk Geologi Lunds Tekniska Hogskola Groundwater and environment 2003, EFFICIENCY OF WELLS AND SKIN EFFECT 7 ILis a common phenomenon that the hydraulic properties of the average aquifer, the zone of the aquifer very close fo the well and/or the well construction itself do not coincide. The difference may occur during installation of the well but it may also develop by using the well. ‘An obvious effect of this phenomenon is that the groundwater potential/Mydrantic head will not be equal outside and inside the well. ‘The difference in head is often named as the skin drawdown, as the skin effect usually provoke an additional drawdown inside the well. Skin do ‘often develop by time due to chemical and mechanical clogging of the well screen or well filter. This is illustrated in the figure below: Xe rounwarae, eae PoreNTIAL THeoreTy| | 7 IMPROVED Bap c owsteucnoss S, Necatve — WNDRAVC eon ductivity ChoceinG ow 8.= skin drawdown 8y= drawdown in the well ‘The efficiency of the well is often expressed as the ratio between the theoretical drawdown and the observed drawdown in the well: Sy (theoretical)/ Sw (observed) = [Sy (observed) - 84 / Sw (observed) ‘Tip: Read also section 5.6.4.1 in Applied hydrogeology, 4th edition,