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Constant Drawdown Aquifer Tests: An Alternative to Traditional Constant Rate Tests
Author(s) -
Rice John B.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6592.1998.tb00617.x
Subject(s) - aquifer , groundwater , drawdown (hydrology) , geology , degree (music) , environmental remediation , mining engineering , hydrology (agriculture) , archaeology , geotechnical engineering , geography , ecology , contamination , biology , physics , acoustics
When designing a traditional constant-rate pumping test, the hydrogeologist is faced with selecting an appropriate pumping rate. It is hoped that the selected pumping rate induces an adequate level of stress on the aquifer without 1) overpumping the well and having to prematurely end the test, or 2) having to reduce the flow rate, which seriously compromises the quality of the test. In selecting a pumping rate the hydrogeologist can either make a best guess of the proper flow rate based on “blown yield” or other pumping information such as that obtained during well development, or he can conduct a Stepdrawdown test. A Step-Drawdown test is basically a pretest, requiring nearly the same level of effort and equipment as a full pumping test. In addition, the aquifer should be allowed to fully recover before the long-term test is initiated. Step-Drawdown tests are therefore costly in term of time and money.