LECTURE SERIES: 3

Well Hydraulics and Design

Radial Flows
Considering the general partial differential equation for
unsteady flow of groundwater in the horizontal direction
-


For axisymmetric groundwater flow to wells normally radial
coordinates are preferable and for homogeneous & isotropic
aquifer it can shown that the above equation is equivalent to
-


- Where r is the radial coordinate of the well
) 1 (
2
2
2
2

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
t
h
S
y
h
T
x
h
T
y x
) 2 (
1
2
2

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
t
h
T
S
r
h
r r
h
Radial Flow in a Confined Aquifer
Figure (a) shows a pumped well
with discharge Q which fully
penetrates a confined aquifer of
constant saturated thickness m
& uniform radial hydraulic
conductivity K
r
& Figure (b)
shows a cylindrical element at
radial distance r with width dr.
From Darcys Law
- Q = Area x hydraulic
conductivity x head gradient
-

- rearranging
) 3 ( 2 2 = =
dr
dh
rT
dr
dh
K rm Q
r
t t
r
dr
T
Q
dh
t 2
=
Radial Flow in a Confined Aquifer
Integrating gives
-


The boundary condition is such that the groundwater head at
radius R is H hence, constant of integration A is evaluated as

-

Substituting back the groundwater head equation is given as
-
( ) ) 4 ( ln
2
+ = A r
T
Q
h
t
( ) R
T
Q
H A ln
2t
=
( ) ( ) ( ) ) 5 ( ln
2
ln ln
2

|
.
|

\
|
= + =
r
R
T
Q
H R r
T
Q
H h
t t
Radial Flow in a Confined Aquifer
Alternatively, the derivation can be made from the governing
differential equation for radial flow which for the case of the
given confined aquifer problem can be expressed as
-


For the given confined aquifer problem q = 0 and since the
aquifer thickness is constant, equation (6) reduces to
-

Integrating twice and substituting the boundary conditions
that (1) for any radius the total flow Q=2rT(dh/dr) and that
(2) at any outer radius R the groundwater head is H, should
lead to equation (5).
) 6 (
1
= +
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
.
|

\
|
q
dr
dh
K
r
m
dr
dh
mK
dr
d
dr
dh
r mK
dr
d
r
r r r
) 7 ( 0
1
=
|
.
|

\
|
dr
dh
r
dr
d
r
Radial Flow in a Confined Aquifer
Instead of working in terms of h, it is more convenient to
work in drawdown terms s below the rest water level s=H h
Therefore a more general form of equation (5) can be written
in terms of drawdowns as
-


Which is called the Thiem equation used for preliminary
analysis of groundwater flow to wells. The equation can be
used to determine the drawdown s
w
in a pumped well of
radius r
w
when the drawdown at radius r1 is s
1
-
) 8 ( ln
2
1
2
2 1

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
r
r
T
Q
s s
t
) 9 ( ln
2
1
1

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
w
w
r
r
T
Q
s s
t
Radial Flow in a Confined Aquifer
The thiem equation enables the hydraulic conductivity
to be determined from a pumped well
The method consist of measuring drawdowns in two
observation wells at different distances from well
pumped at a constant rate
When this approach is used to determine the
hydraulic conductivity, pumping must continue at a
uniform rate for sufficient time approach a steady state
condition
The derivation assumes that the aquifer in
homogeneous, isotropic, of uniform thickness and
that the initial piezometric surface/water table is
horizontal

Radial Flow in a Confined Aquifer
Radial Flow in an Unconfined Aquifer with
Recharge
Assuming that the saturated depth remains approximately
uniform so that a constant transmissivity can be used.
The analysis of steady-state unconfined flow with uniform
recharge q uses a simplified form of equation (6) given as
-


Equation (10) is a second order differential equation and
hence necessary to perform two integration
As indicated the figure below the two boundary conditions
apply at the outer boundary r=R
Discharge Q needs to be substituted by Q = R
2
q to arrive at
the final expression


) 10 (
1
=
|
.
|

\
|
T
q
dr
dh
r
dr
d
r
Radial Flow in an Unconfined Aquifer with
Recharge derivation with a pumped well
Radial Flow in an Unconfined Aquifer with
Recharge
In equation (11) the first term in the bracket is the same as for
confined flow while the second term is a correction which
results from increasing flow towards the well as recharge
enters the well
Results for a typical problem in which Q/2T = 1.0 with a
maximum radius R = 1000 m are given in the table below
The third column lists the correction term which tends to a
maximum radius 0.5
Drawdowns at radial distances of 900 m & 300 m are smaller
for the unconfined situation because the flow through the
aquifer at these radii is smaller than in the confined aquifer
for which all the flow enters at the outer boundary
For radial distances of 100 m or less, the drawdowns for the
unconfined aquifer with uniform recharge is consistently
0.5m less than in the confined situation
Radial Flow in an Unconfined Aquifer with
Recharge comparison of drawdowns
Radial Flow in Unconfined aquifer with
varying saturated depth
From Dupuit approx. soln for
radial flow in an unconfined
aquifer can be obtained
Consider the pumping rate
from the unconfined aquifer
- Q = K2rh(dh/dr)
Rearranging gives
-

Integrating gives
-

) 12 ( 2 =
r
dr
K
Q
hdh
t
( ) ) 13 ( ln
2
+ = A r
K
Q
h
t
Radial Flow in Unconfined aquifer with
varying saturated depth
Boundary conditions
- At r = R, h = H; therefore A = H
2
(Q/K)ln(R), thus
-

At r = r
w
, h = h
w
hence
-


Which can be rearranged as
-
) 14 ( ln
2 2

|
.
|

\
|
=
r
R
K
Q
H h
t
) 15 ( ln
2 2

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
w
w
r
R
K
Q
H h
t
( )
( )
) 16 (
/ ln
2 2

+
=
w
w
r R
h H K
Q
t
Radial Flow in Unconfined aquifer with
varying saturated depth
As is the case with one dimensional flow (x direction) the
flow equation (16) is correct but the expression for
groundwater head is not due to Dupuit approximation
Comparison between the flow equations for constant and
variable saturated depths allow a better judgement to be
made about the validity of constant saturated depth approx.
Equation (16) can be rewritten as
-

Eq. (5) for radial flow in a confined aquifer is rewritten as
-
( )( )
( )
) 17 (
/ ln

+
=
w
w w
r R
h H h H K
Q
t
( )
( )
) 18 (
/ ln
2


=
w
w
r R
m h H K
Q
t
Radial Flow in Unconfined aquifer with
varying saturated depth
The difference between the two equation is the last
term in the numerators (H + h
w
) and 2m.
If h
w
which is the elevation of water level in the well is
close to full saturated thickness H (i.e. small
drawdowns) then H + h
w
2m, where m is the
constant saturated depth.
Therefore if hw > 0.9H (the pumped well drawdown is
less than 10 percent of the maximum saturated
thickness) the error in the flows will be less than 5%
when a constant saturated thickness approach is
adopted
Otherwise for hw < 0.9H the errors become significant
Time Variant (Unsteady) Radial Flow
Considering unsteady groundwater flow equation in two
dimension
-

In polar coordinates and in terms of drawdowns s

-

Which applies to both confined and unconfined flow under
conditions that S = Storage coefficient for confined flow and
Specific yield for unconfined flow. For unconfined flow the
equation is a linearized form of the Boussinesq equation
which holds when drawdown s << h (piezometric head)

) 19 (
2
2
2
2

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
t
h
T
S
y
h
x
h
) 20 (
1
2
2

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
t
s
T
S
r
s
r r
s
Time Variant (Unsteady) Radial Flow
The solution of Equation (20) was developed by Theis (1935)
for a well of infinitesimally small diameter in a confined
aquifer using heat flow as analogy. The resulting equation is
-

Where s(r, t) is the drawdown, Q is constant well discharge &
-

The solution of the equation is
-

Where W(u) well function, can be given as an infinite series
- W(u) = [-0.5772 ln u + u u
2
/2.2! + u
3
/3.3! u
4
/4.4! ]


) 21 (
4
) , (
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
}

du
u
e
T
Q
t r s
u
u
t
) 22 (
4
2
=
Tt
S r
u
( ) ( ) ) 23 (
4
, = u W
T
Q
t r s
t
Time Variant (Unsteady) Radial Flow
If u < 0.01, the first two terms are sufficient to evaluate the
equation and therefore the equation can be written as
-


A semi-log plot of s(r, t) versus ln(t/r
2
) allows T and S to be
estimated from the slope & intercept of the resulting straight
line.
Pseudo-Steady State
The Theis equation predicts that drawdown will change
continuously with time, but in practice, there will be an area
near the well that can be assumed to be in a steady state after
pumping has continued for a reasonable time. For small r
and/or larger t, when u < 0.01 the Theis equation is approx. as
) 24 (
25 . 2
ln
4
) , (
2

|
.
|

\
|
=
S r
Tt
T
Q
t r s
t
Time Variant (Unsteady) Radial Flow
-

For two (2) observation wells at r
1
and r
2
the drawdowns are

-

-

-

-

Which is the Thiem Equation for steady flow







) 25 ( 5772 . 0
1
ln
4

(

=
u T
Q
s
t
) 26 ( 5772 . 0
1
ln
4
1
1

(

=
u T
Q
s
t
) 27 ( 5772 . 0
1
ln
4
2
2

(

=
u T
Q
s
t
) 28 (
1
ln
1
ln
4
2 1
2 1

(

=
u u T
Q
s s
t
) 29 ( ln
2
ln
4
1
2
2
1
2
2 1

(

=
(

=
r
r
T
Q
r
r
T
Q
s s
t t
Time Variant (Unsteady) Radial Flow
Hence under the assumed conditions that u < 0.01 the
approximate version of the Theis equation reduces to Thiem
equation implying that a steady or Pseudo steady state has
been reached. If u is then taken as < 0.01 at radial distance r
2
-


Equation (30) can be used as a criteria for steady state being
established


) 30 ( 01 . 0
4
2
2
< =
Tt
S r
u
Pumping Test Theis soln technique
The Theis equation is applied, and our objective is to find
values of Transmissivity T and storage coefficient S for an
aquifer into which a well has been sunk fully together with
one or more observation wells (piezometer holes). The
method is to stress the aquifer (by pumping) and by
analysing the subsequent response (series of values of
drawdown s and time t) such that T and S can be evaluated.
The solution technique/method of analysis employs the
assumptions implicit in the Theis equation which include
- Confined or unconfined aquifer if s << saturated thickness
- Unsteady state (drawdown is changing with time)
- Water removed from storage is discharged instantaneously
with decline of head ( no delayed yield)
- Well diameter is small (no storage in the well)
- When pumping starts at t = 0, discharge instantaneously
reaches the pumping rate Q
Pumping Test Theis soln technique
The Theis solution technique employs rewriting Eq. (23) in
terms of logs as follows
-

Since u = r
2
S/4Tt; S = 4Tu/(r
2
/t) or r
2
/t = (4T/S)u
Taking logs

Since Q/4T , 4T/S are constants for a given test in the two
equations above the relationship between Log(s) & Log(r
2
/t)
must be similar to the relation between Log W(u) & Log u.
That is if s is plotted against r
2
/t and W(u) plotted against u
on the same scale, double log plot, the resulting curves will
be of the shape but horizontally & vertically offset by the
constants Q/4T, 4T/S
( ) ( ) ( ) ) 31 (
4
+ = u W Log
T
Q
Log s Log
t
( ) ) 32 ( log
4
2
+ = u
S
T
Log
t
r
Log
Pumping Test Theis soln technique
The technique for solution is to plot these curves on separate
sheets (one transparent), superimpose the plots and while
keeping the axes parallel, move the curves over each other
until the best match or fit is found. An arbitrary match point
is chosen for which the corresponding values of W(u), u, r2/t
& s can be read off from the respective axes.
Example of Theis Method
A well penetrating a confined aquifer is pumped at a uniform
rate of 2500 m
3
/day. Drawdown during the pumping period
are measured in an observation well 60m away. Observations
of t and s are listed in the following table which also
contains computed values of r
2
/t. Values of s and r
2
/t are
plotted on logarithmic paper. Values of W(u) and u from
Table 4.1 are plotted on another logarithmic sheet and a
curve is drawn through the points.
Pumping Test Theis soln technique
The two plotted log-log sheets
are superimposed & shifted
with the coordinate axes
parallel until the points
coincide with the curve
A convenient match point is
selected with W(u) = 1.00 & u =
1 x 1o
-1
such that s = 0.18 & r
2
/t
= 150 m
2
/min
- T = (Q/4s)W(u)
- 2500(1.00)/4(0.18) = 1110
m
2
/d
- S = 4Tu/(r
2
/t)
- 4(1110)(1 x 10
-2
)/216,000 =
0.000206

Pumping Test Theis soln technique
Pumping Test Theis soln technique
Pumping Test Cooper-Jacob soln method
Cooper and Jacob noted that for small values of r & large
values of t, u is small so that the series terms in equation (23)
become negligible after first two terms & holds for u < 0.01
-

Which can be rewritten as
-

Changing to Log 10 gives

Which can written as
-

Which is the equation of a straight line if s is plotted against
Log t




) 33 ( 5772 . 0
1
ln
4

(

=
u T
Q
s
t
) 34 (
25 . 2
ln
4
4
ln 5615 . ln
4
2 2

|
.
|

\
|
=
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
S r
Tt
T
Q
S r
Tt
T
Q
s
t t
) 35 (
25 . 2
4
3 . 2
2
=
S r
Tt
Log
T
Q
s
t
) 36 ( ) (
4
3 . 2 25 . 2
4
3 . 2
2
+ = t Log
T
Q
S r
T
Log
T
Q
s
t t
Pumping Test Cooper-Jacob soln method
The solution procedure is as follows
- A semi-log plot of the observed data (s vs Log t) is prepared
and a best line through the data is drawn and extended to
intercept the t axis at s = 0, t = t
o
When s = 0, Equation (35) becomes
-

- since 2.3Q/4T 0 ; 2.25Tt
o
/r
2
S = 1 ; hence S = 2.25Tt
o
/r
2
- which can be calculated from the value of t
o
from the graph
If two times t
o
and t
1
during pumping are chosen such that
Log(t) Log(t
o
) = Log(t/t
o
) = 1 (that is a Log cycle on the time
axis, t/t
o
= 10. Then s can be replaced by s = drawdown per
Log cycle of time. From Equation (36) it is seen that the
slope of the straight line is 2.30Q/4T hence s = 2.30Q/4T

) 37 (
25 . 2
4
3 . 2
0
2
=
S r
Tt
Log
T
Q
o
t
Pumping Test Cooper-Jacob soln method
Example
From the pumping test data of the previous table, s and t are
plotted on semi logarithmic paper as shown in the following
figure. A straight line is fitted through the points and s =
0.40 m; t
o
= 0.39 min = 2.7 x 10
-4
day. Thus
- T = 2.3(2500)/4(0.4) = 1090 m
2
/day
- S = 2.25Tt
o
/r
2
= 2.25(1090)(2.7 x 10
-4
)/(60)
2
= 0.000184
Recovery Test
At the end of a pumping test, water levels in the pumping and
observation wells will begin to rise. This is referred to as recovery
of groundwater levels, while measurements of drawdowns below
the original static water level (prior to pumping) during the
recovery period are known as residual drawdowns.
It is good practice to measure residual drawdowns because
analysis of the data enables transmissivity to be calculated,
therefore providing and independent check on the pumping test
result. Also cost are less compared to the pumping test.
The rate of recharge to the well during recovery is assumed
constant and equal to the mean pumping rate.
If a well is pumped for a known period of time and then shut
down, the drawdown thereafter will be identically the same as if
the discharge had been continued and a hypothetical recharge
well with the same flow were superposed on the discharging well
at the instant the discharge is shut down
Recovery Test
Recovery Test
From the stated principles Theis showed that the residual
drawdowns can be given as
-

- where u = r
2
S/4Tt and u

= r
2
S/4Tt

For small r and large t

the well functions are approximated

by the first two terms of Equation (38) such that
-

Thus, a plot of residual drawdowns s

versus the logarithm of

t/t

forms a straight line. The slope of the line is 2.3Q/4T

such that for s

the residual drawdown per log cycle of t/t

the transmissivity is calculated as T = 2.3Q/4s





( ) ( ) | | ) 38 (
4
' '
= u W u W
T
Q
s
t
) 39 ( log
4
3 . 2
'
'
=
t
t
T
Q
s
t