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Underground Storage of Treated Water: A Field Test
Author(s) -
Smith Charles G.,
Hanor Jeffrey S.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1977.tb03184.x
Subject(s) - aquifer , water storage , groundwater , environmental science , surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , water quality , surface water , environmental engineering , geotechnical engineering , geology , ecology , geomorphology , inlet , biology
Successful underground storage of large volumes of treated water (sufficient for a period of weeks or months) could provide a temporary, alternative water supply in areas where potable ground water is not available and where surface runoff varies unpredictably in quantity and quality. A small‐scale field test of underground storage, using an injection well, was performed in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Storage in the tested aquifer was proven to be impractical due to the pre‐existing ground‐water movement rate of 0.5 ft (15 cm) per day. A mathematical model of the injection‐storage‐production process accurately predicted the recovery efficiencies observed in the two tests. The quantity of injected water was not adversely affected by geochemical reactions occurring during the tests. The injected water was softened during storage by ion‐exchange reactions between injected water and clay particles in the aquifer.