Detecting Groundwater Pipelines Using Transient Electromagnetic Method—A Case Study

The Transient Electromagnetic Method (TEM) has some unique qualities that make it amenable to pipeline detecting and environmental monitoring. TEM is carried out to locate the groundwater pipelines and to detect the spread of groundwater contamination in an abandoned industrial service site. Based on the analysis of electrical conductivity and in-phase electromagnetic component of the survey area, the geophysical anomaly zones are delineated. The TEM method is sensitive to the conductive layers and demonstrates the ability to measure small changes in subsurface properties involving groundwater. The measurement shows the position of groundwater pipelines and the behavior of groundwater contamination. The study is beneficial to help waste management processes and to determine possible locations of monitoring wells in the survey area in the future. The study shows that the TEM technique has a high accuracy, and that it is quite suitable for providing a rapid, reliable and time-saving means for the maintenance and renewal of the underground pipeline preceding the drilling.