Aquifer Test

William Mremi
Main Objective of Pumping Test
To determine hydraulic properties of the
aquifer (geologic formation)

To determine the performance of the well

To choose the suitable to install

A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving,
boring, or drilling to access the saturated zone of one or more aquifers in order to
extract groundwater and make it available.

The discharge pumped from a well causes a depression of the level of the aquifer,
which changes in space and time. The study of this depression as a function of
time or as a function of distance provides important information both on the well
and on the aquifer.

Characteristic curve of the well Transmissivity

Efficiency of the well Storage coefficient
Critical and operating flow rate Kind of aquifer
Head losses Boundary conditions
Pumping represents a perturbation of the groundwater flow field. This
interference is theoretically described by differential equations of
groundwater flow; in practical terms, solutions to the equations can be
found just under simplified conditions (as we introduce approximations, we
reduce the number of unknown variables of the differential equations and
analytical solutions can be found).
The simplified analytical solutions that we can find present an important
first division depending on the flow regime:

TRANSIENT STATE STEADY STATE

Porous, infinite, homogeneous,
isotropic, penetrated throughout its
thickness from a well of infinitesimal
diameter pumped at constant
discharge.
Depression increases over time.
Porous, infinite, homogeneous,
isotropic, aquifer penetrated
throughout its thickness from a well
of infinitesimal diameter pumped at
constant discharge.
The pumping is sufficiently long to
reach a stabilization of depression.
A cone of depression will form in the aquifer around a pumping well as the water
level declines. We can determine the hydraulic properties of an aquifer by
performing a pumping test at constant rate and measuring the stabilized
drawdown OR the change in drawdown over time.
Steady-state flow head constant with time
Transient or Unsteady flow head changes with time
General basic assumptions of analytic solutions
1. The bottom of the aquifer is a confining impermeable layer
2. Geologic formations are horizontal and have infinite extent
3. The initial potentiometric surface is horizontal
4. Changes in the potentiometric surface are only due to pumping
5. The aquifer is homogeneous and isotropic
6. All flow is radial toward the well
7. Darcy’s law is valid
8. GW has constant density and viscosity
9. Wells and piezometers are screened over the entire thickness of the aquifer
10. The pumping well has infinitesimal diameter and is 100% efficient
Aquifer types
Occurs where water table joins with a downstream/sink
‘’BC’’ (e.g a well)
Dupuit approximations inaccurate at r<1.5Ho