Pumping tests in nonuniform aquifers: The radially asymmetric case

Abstract

An analytical solution for the case of transient, pumping-induced drawdown in a nonuniform aquifer is presented. The nonuniform aquifer is conceptualized as a uniform matrix into which a disk of anomalous properties has been placed. The disk can be arbitrarily located with respect to the pumping well. This solution can be used to develop considerable insight concerning the nature of drawdown in nonuniform systems. Changes in drawdown are sensitive to the hydraulic properties of a discrete portion of an aquifer for a time of limited duration. After that time, it is virtually impossible to gain further information about those properties. The volume of the aquifer controlling a given increment of drawdown at an observation well increases greatly as the distance between the pumping and observation well increases. At observation wells located at moderate to large distances from the pumping well, this volume is so large that the effect of spatial variations in flow properties may be negligible. In general, drawdown data from wells located at a distance from the pumping well should nicely fit the ideal models of the well hydraulics literature. When combined with previous work, these results demonstrate that constant rate pumping tests are not an effective tool for characterizing lateral variations in flow properties.