1.

What are the main differences between unconfined and confined aquifers when they
are pumped?

2. Why is radial flow used to describe flow towards a well?

3. Explain the principle of Superposition. Why (and where) does it work?

4. A confined aquifer is pumped at a constant rate until as stable condition is reached.

At an observation well, a steady state drawdown of 1 m is reached. What would be
the drawdown if:

a. The pumping rate were doubled?

b. The Storage coefficient was half the original value?

5. Explain how slug tests are used to determine aquifer parameters. What is the
difference between a rising head slug test and a falling head slug test?

6. A mining company wishes to install some water supply wells to provide water for their
operation. One pumping well has been completed and they are seeking approval for
a second well. A Farmer on an adjacent property owns an artesian well. This is a well
that flows freely as the potentiometric surface is greater than the land surface. The
new well can only be installed if it will not adversely impact the farmers well. A
schematic for this is presented in Figure 1. Assume the aquifer is homogeneous and
isotropic (show working for whole question). See Figure and Table 1 on page 2.

a. A pumping test was conducted over 100 days with a pump rate of 700 Litres per
minute (700 L/min). Drawdowns have been observed in the monitoring well and
are presented in Table 1 (on page 3).
i. Calculate the radial distance between the pumping well and the observation well

ii. Calculate the transmissivity of the aquifer

iii. Calculate the storativity of the aquifer

b. The mining company plans to pump both the old and new wells at 700 L/min for a
period of 10 years.
i. Calculate the radial distance between the existing pumping well and the artesian
well
ii. Calculate the radial distance between the proposed pumping well and the
artesian well
iii. Calculate the drawdown at the artesian well due to pumping from the existing well
after 10 years
 iv. Calculate the drawdown from the at the artesian well due to pumping the
proposed well after 10 years
v. Calculate the combined drawdown at the artesian well from pumping both wells
after 10 years.
vi. Would the artesian well still flow at the end of the 10 year period (i.e. would the
potentiometric surface be greater than land surface)?
vii. At what rate could the two wells be pumped if the acceptable level of drawdown at
the artesian well was 5m after 10 years?

Figure 1 – Schematic for the scenario in Question 6. Numbers in brackets represent the x
and y locations of the wells.

Table 1: drawdown data from the observation well based on the well being pumped.
 Time Drawdown Time Drawdown
(days) (m) (days) (m)
0.1 0.00 40 1.89
0.2 0.00 45 1.98
0.5 0.00 50 2.06
1 0.03 55 2.13
2 0.14 60 2.20
4 0.39 65 2.26
6 0.60 70 2.32
10 0.90 75 2.37
15 1.17 80 2.42
20 1.38 85 2.47
25 1.54 90 2.52
30 1.67 95 2.56
35 1.79 100 2.60