Flow to Vertical and Nonvertical Wells in Leaky Aquifers
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 10, Issue 6
Abstract
A solution is obtained for unsteady flow to a continuous point sink in a homogeneous, anisotropic, leaky aquifer. Then superposition is used to distribute sinks with constant strength along straight-line segments to model flow to either partially penetrating vertical wells or nonvertical wells with finite length. The result is shown to duplicate the Hantush solution for flow to a vertical, partially penetrating well in a fully confined aquifer. However, differences occur when the corresponding result for a leaky aquifer is compared with an approximate solution obtained by Hantush, who assumed that inflow leakage is distributed uniformly over the full aquifer thickness. These differences are believed to result from inaccuracies in the Hantush approximation. Additional examples are used to illustrate the method, including flow to a single horizontal well, flow to two horizontal wells crossed at right angles to each other, and flow to a “blind” well formed by joining inclined and horizontal wells. A particle tracking exercise is carried out to illustrate use of this solution for pump-and-treat groundwater remediation.
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Acknowledgments
The writer is indebted to Liping Pang of Environmental Science Research New Zealand and Philip Berger of the United States Environmental Protection Agency for calling his attention to a need for horizontal well solutions.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 10 • Issue 6 • November 2005
Pages: 477 - 484
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 30, 2003
Accepted: Feb 8, 2005
Published online: Nov 1, 2005
Published in print: Nov 2005
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