Universidad de Guanajuato Departamento de Ingeniera Qumica Ciencia y Tecnologa Ambiental

GROUNDWATER EXERCISES (1) The hydraulic conductivity of an aquifer is 5 X 10 -3 cm/sec, the hydraulic gradient is 0.02, and the porosity is 0.2. (a) What is the specific discharge, qa, in this aquifer? (b) Calculate the maximum velocity at which dissolved salt could move through this aquifer. (c) Assume the aquifer is 5 m thick. What is its transmissivity? What is the discharge per unit of distance perpendicular to the water flow (bqa)?. (2) A well of 0.1 m radius is installed in the aquifer of question (1) above and is pumped at a rate averaging 80 l/min. (a) Estimate drawdown in this well if the radius of influence is 100 ft. (b) Estimate the hydraulic gradient in the aquifer at distances of 20 and 75 ft., both directly upstream and downstream of the well. (3) In a sand having 1-mm median grain size and porosity of 0.25, how high must specific discharge be to make the mechanical dispersion coefficient equal to the effective molecular diffusion coefficient? (4) A domestic well is located 30 m upstream from a neighbors septic system. If domestic use of water is 1000 l/day, what is the minimum regional flow (bq a) that will just suffice to keep septic effluent from entering the well (easiest to do analytically)? (5) A municipal well pumping 1200 m3/day is located 100 m from a major river. Aquifer transmissivity is 800 m3/day, aquifer thickness is 30 m, and the background hydraulic gradient (i.e., in the absence of the well) toward the river is 0.002. (a) Discuss the calculation of drawdown if the well is 2 m in diameter. (b) A large spill releases carbon tetrachloride (CCI4) into the river upstream, resulting in the river water now containing 50 ppm dissolved CCI4. What maximum concentration do you expect to see in the well if no corrective action is taken? What do you recommend the municipal well operator do to prevent well contamination? (6) A small shop has been dumping used solvents into an abandoned well, as shown below. Sketch a flow net indicating where the solvents are likely to appear at the lake bed. If dissolved solvent moves with the water, roughly how long will it take to travel from the well to the lake?

(7) A laboratory column of 10 cm2 cross-section area is 1 m long. Porosity is 0.25 and influent flow rate 8 l/day. Particle grain size is 0.5 mm. At time t = 0, injection of a nonsorbing contaminant into the influent at a constant concentration is started. Estimate contaminant concentration as a function of the time at the outflow. (8) At what rate must well A be pumped to capture ah of the pollutant plume from the landfill Natural gradient is 0.001 from north to south; aquifer hydraulic conductivity is 10-4 m/sec and thickness is 10 m.