Predicting Water Resource Impacts of Unconventional Gas Using Simple Analytical Equations

The rapid expansion in unconventional gas development over the past two decades has led to concerns over the potential impacts on groundwater resources. Although numerical models are invaluable for assessing likelihood of impacts at particular sites, simpler analytical models are also useful because they help develop hydrological understanding. Analytical approaches are also valuable for preliminary assessments and to determine where more complex models are warranted. In this article, we present simple analytical solutions that can be used to predict: (1) the spatial extent of drawdown from horizontal wells drilled into the gas‐bearing formation, and rate of recovery after gas production ceases; (2) the potential for upward transport of contaminants from the gas‐bearing formation to shallow aquifers during hydraulic fracturing operations when pressures in the gas‐bearing formation are greatly increased; and (3) the potential downward leakage of water from shallow aquifers during depressurization of gas‐bearing formations. In particular, we show that the recovery of pressure after production ceases from gas‐bearing shale formations may take several hundred years, and we present critical hydraulic conductivity values for intervening aquitards, below which the impact on shallow aquifers will be negligible. The simplifying assumptions inherent in these solutions will limit their predictive accuracy for site‐specific assessments, compared to numerical models that incorporate knowledge of spatial variations in formation properties and which may include processes not considered in the simpler solutions.     

A Sophisticated Ground Water Analytical Tool

Stiff diagrams arc a multivariate method of analysis used to describe the chemical state of ground water. The use of Stiff diagrams to describe multiconstituent contamination sites, such as landfills, has distinct advantages over single constituent analyses. Problems associated with traditional Stiff diagram analyses, such as diagram attentuation, can be addressed by allowing the scale of the diagram to vary with the ionic strength of the analyzed sample. The use of these sliding scale Stiff diagrams reveals the chemical slate of the ground water over wide ranges of constituent concentrations and thus allows for sensitive and sophisticated depictions of complicated contamination sites in a fashion that is extremely difficult to replicate with single constituent analyses. This approach has possible applications for understanding and tracing the mixing and chemical changes in uncontaminated settings.     

An Analytical Method to Determine Ground Water Supply Well Network Designs

An analytical method is provided where the ground water practitioner can quickly determine the size (number of wells) and spacing of a well network capable of meeting a known ground water demand. In order to apply the method, two new parameters are derived that relate theoretical drawdown to the maximum drawdown that is achievable without mining the aquifer. The size of a well network is shown to be proportional to the ground water demand and inversely proportional to the transmissivity and available head. The spacing between wells in a supply well network is shown to be most sensitive to a derived parameter r _{HA/ 3}, which is related to the available head and the propagation of drawdown away from a theoretical well if the total ground water demand was applied to that well. The method can be used to quickly determine the required spacing between wells in well networks of various sizes that are completed in confined aquifers with no leakance.     

An Analytical Method for Groundwater Inflow into a Drained Circular Tunnel

Groundwater inflow estimation is essential for the design and construction of tunnel and the assessment of the environmental impacts. Analytical solutions used in current engineering practice do not adequately account for the effect of the excavation‐induced drawdown, which leads to significant change in pore water pressure distribution and reductions of the water level beyond tunnel. Based on the numerical analysis results, this article proposes semianalytical method to predict the height of lowered water level and groundwater tunnel inflow. The tunnel problem is conceptualized as two‐dimensional flow in a plane perpendicular to the tunnel axis. The analytical formula, considering the effect of the excavation‐induced drawdown, provides a better prediction of the tunnel inflow compared to the existing analytical formulas, even for the cases with inclined groundwater level.     

A Simple, Low-Cost Method to Monitor Duration of Ground Water Pumping

Monitoring ground water withdrawals for agriculture is a difficult task, while agricultural development leads frequently to overexploitation of the aquifers. To fix the problem, sustainable management is required based on the knowledge of water uses. This paper introduces a simple and inexpensive direct method to determine the duration of pumping of a well by measuring the temperature of its water outlet pipe. A pumping phase is characterized by a steady temperature value close to ground water temperature. The method involves recording the temperature of the outlet pipe and identifying the different stages of pumping. It is based on the use of the low-cost and small-size Thermochron iButton temperature logger and can be applied to any well, provided that a water outlet pipe is accessible. The temperature time series are analyzed to determine the duration of pumping through manual and automatic posttreatments. The method was tested and applied in South India for irrigation wells using electricity-powered pumps. The duration of pumping obtained by the iButton method is fully consistent with the duration of power supply (1.5% difference).     

Estimating Persistent Mass Flux of Volatile Contaminants from the Vadose Zone to Ground Water

Contaminants may persist for long time periods within low permeability portions of the vadose zone where they cannot be effectively treated and are a potential continuing source of contamination to ground water. Setting appropriate vadose zone remediation goals typically requires evaluating these persistent sources in terms of their impact on meeting ground water remediation goals. Estimating the impact on ground water can be challenging at sites with low aqueous recharge rates where vapor-phase movement is the dominant transport process in the vadose zone. Existing one-dimensional approaches for simulating transport of volatile contaminants in the vadose zone are considered and compared to a new flux-continuity-based assessment of vapor-phase contaminant movement from the vadose zone to the ground water. The flux-continuity-based assessment demonstrates that the ability of the ground water to move contaminant away from the water table controls the vapor-phase mass flux from the vadose zone across the water table. Limitations of these approaches are then discussed with respect to the required assumptions and the need to incorporate three-dimensional processes when evaluating vapor-phase transport from the vadose zone to the ground water. The carbon tetrachloride plume at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site is used as the example site where persistent vadose zone contamination needs to be considered in the context of ground water remediation.     

Potential Effects on Ground Water of a Hypothetical Surface Coal Mine in Indiana

The possible mine will remove a gently, less than 50 feet per mile, westerly dipping Springfield coal from an area covered by glacial till and some channel sands and gravel. The area is flat, with less than 20 feet of relief in a square mile. The channel sands and gravels, the till and the bedrock are capable of yielding ground water at 5 to 75,3 to 10, and 1 to 10 gallons per minute (gpm), respectively. The ground water in the drift and the shallow bedrock is calcium-bicarbonate type, contrasting with the sodium-bicarbonate type in the deep bedrock. The surface mine will feature selective handling of overburden. The probable hydrologic consequences of the mine will be 1) a short-term, areally limited dewatering, 2) an increase in dissolved solids, 3) a change in ground water chemistry in some areas to a calcium-bicarbonate sulfate water, 4) an increase in ground water storage, and 5) a new integrated surface water system. The proposed ground water monitoring system will include seven monitoring wells in the glacial material and one in the bedrock. The primary effort in ground water monitoring to the west of the mine will be to detect changes in the quality of the ground water, whereas to the east, changes in both quality and quantity will need to be monitored intensively.     

Reversed Flow Test: A Borehole Logging Method for Estimating Pore Water Quality and Inflow Rates Along an Uncased Borehole Profile

There is often a need to estimate the variation in water quality and flow rate with depth in an aquifer given access only to an uncased borehole. In such situations, borehole logging techniques can be applied. This paper describes the Reversed Flow Test (RFT), a rarely used borehole logging method. The RFT is intended to provide information on pore water quality and inflow rates along the length of an uncased borehole profile. They are carried out by logging the conductivity of the borehole fluid under two pumping phases. During the first pumping phase the pump intake is located at the top of the borehole, and during the second the intake is located at the base. Provided the pumping rates are low and the system does not have marked lateral heterogeneity, stable conductivity profiles are often achieved within a relatively short time period. The data are interpreted to give estimates of electrical conductivity and inflow at each point in the profile. The test has been successfully carried out on a range of British aquifers, and four case histories are summarized here. In each case, the test was easily accomplished by two people in less than a day.