Automatic estimation of aquifer parameters using long-term water supply pumping and injection records

Luo, Ning; Illman, Walter A.

Automatic estimation of aquifer parameters using long-term water supply pumping and injection records | Évaluation automatique des paramètres des aquifères à partir d’enregistrements de longues durées de pompages pour la distribution d’eau et d'injections Estimación automática de parámetros del acuífero usando registros de bombeo de agua potable y de inyección a largo plazo 利用长期供水抽水和注入记录自动估算含水层参数 Estimativa automática de parâmetros hidráulicos de aquíferos utilizando série histórica de dados de bombeamento de poços de abastecimento de água e de injeção

2016

Luo, Ning | Illman, Walter A.

Analyses are presented of long-term hydrographs perturbed by variable pumping/injection events in a confined aquifer at a municipal water-supply well field in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario (Canada). Such records are typically not considered for aquifer test analysis. Here, the water-level variations are fingerprinted to pumping/injection rate changes using the Theis model implemented in the WELLS code coupled with PEST. Analyses of these records yield a set of transmissivity (T) and storativity (S) estimates between each monitoring and production borehole. These individual estimates are found to poorly predict water-level variations at nearby monitoring boreholes not used in the calibration effort. On the other hand, the geometric means of the individual T and S estimates are similar to those obtained from previous pumping tests conducted at the same site and adequately predict water-level variations in other boreholes. The analyses reveal that long-term municipal water-level records are amenable to analyses using a simple analytical solution to estimate aquifer parameters. However, uniform parameters estimated with analytical solutions should be considered as first rough estimates. More accurate hydraulic parameters should be obtained by calibrating a three-dimensional numerical model that rigorously captures the complexities of the site with these data.

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