Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No.

1 (January-March) 2011

Science, Technology & Development

Section B: Biological & Agricultural Research

Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011

Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and SoluteTransport under Skimming Well

Zakir Hussain Dahri1, Ata-ur-Rehman Tariq2, Bashir Ahmad1, Ghulam Ali1 and Shakil Ahmad3

The study employed three-dimensional finite-difference groundwater flow (MODFLOW) and transport model (MT3D) to model the behavior of groundwater flow and solute transport beneath a skimming well. Data regarding aquifer characterization, watertable elevations and pumped-water quality for a double-strainer well located at Haroon farm, Khairpur, was used to calibrate and verify the flow and transport models. A number of pumping-scenarios were formulated to evaluate the performance of skimming well. The results indicated that, for a shallow layer of fresh water, the pumped-water salinity increases linearly with pumping time. The rise in salinity is more pronounced for a higher well-discharge and greater well operational factor. Although the drawdown in the well achieved steady-state condition within 0.75 day, but the quality of pumped-water continued to deteriorate. The rise of saline-water mound also kept rising with pumping time. The study revealed that, in the aquifers where salinity-difference of fresh and saline water is small, upconing not only occurs at a rapid rate but also to a greater height. Furthermore, it was observed that, in case when the saline-water cone had already intruded the fresh aquifer, any reduction in well-discharge could neither ensure salt-free water-supply nor any fall in the already raised saline-water mound could be observed; instead they kept rising on but at a sluggish rate. Unlike the common belief and field observations, intermittent pumping could neither control the upward movement of interface, nor was any improvement in quality of pumped water observed; instead they remained more or less stagnant, nevertheless the technique is helpful to avoid aquifer deterioration. Such contrast in the results of this study is mainly attributed to the fact that MODFLOW/MT3D models do not take into account the density of fresh and saline water, which is an important parameter in suppressing the upconing. Therefore, it was believed that the models tend to over-estimate the solute movement and quality of pumped water. Modification is suggested to be incorporated in MODFLOW/MT3D programs. INTRODUCTION

G
1 2 3

ROUNDWATER is a hidden, but important component of the hydrological cycle. In many regions, the groundwater

resource is so huge that its occurrence and hydrological significance cannot be overlooked in the planning and management of water-resources.

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan. Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

Groundwater represents an exploitable resource, provided its quality and depth permit its economical development and optimal use. It can serve as a source of dependable, flexible and demand-based irrigation-water for boosting agricultural production. Groundwater has played a major role in increasing the overall cropping-intensity in Pakistan from about 63% in 1947 to 120% in 2010. Over 40% of the total irrigation-water at farm-gate and over 70% of the total drinkingwater are currently met from groundwater. The spatial distribution of groundwater-abstraction in the Country is also highly variable. In some regions, annual pumpage has surpassed the safe annual yields and so watertables are declining. There are however many areas where great potential for groundwater-development still exists. This requires controlled and optimal groundwater-pumpage. Recent estimates regarding availability and use of fresh groundwater indicate that the resource has been heavily exploited and is at the brink of exhaustion. This large-scale indiscriminate, uncontrolled and unregulated abstraction of groundwater has changed the policy-approach from the development of groundwater to its management. The major policy-issues now relate to environmental sustainability and long-term availability. The standard approaches to manage groundwater often require monitoring of groundwater-aquifers, establishment of formal water-rights and regulation mechanisms, so as to bring the groundwater abstraction within sustainable levels. Sustainable groundwater development in the Lower Indus Basin (LIB) of Pakistan is seriously hampered by quality-problems, due to intrusion of brackish groundwater from adjacent areas, upconing of underlying saline water, backward intrusion of seawater in coastal areas and disposal of drainage effluents. The native groundwater was originally brackish, because of the marine origin of the underlying geologic formation. This native brackish groundwater is now overlain by a fresh-water layer of varying thicknesses, due to seepage from conveyance system and percolation from irrigation and precipitation. The depth of that fresh-water layer is greater near the recharging sources and decreases away from the

line source. Subsurface investigations in the LIB show that, for about 4.66 m. ha (75.77 per cent) of the irrigated area the underlain groundwater is classified as hazardous and saline (TDS > 3,000 ppm), while for another 8.94 per cent of the area, the groundwater is marginal (TDS from 1,500 to 3,000 ppm) and for only 15.29 per cent of the area is the groundwater fresh (TDS < 1,500 ppm) (Zuberi and Sufi, 1992). The areas with fresh groundwater thickness less than 45 m can be termed as critical areas, where sustainable groundwater development requires careful thinking in the selection, design and operation of irrigation-wells. Moreover, the spatial distribution of its abstraction is highly variable. In some regions, annual pumpage has surpassed the safe annual yields and the watertables are declining. There are however many areas where great potential for groundwater-development still exists. This requires controlled and optimal pumpage of groundwater. Under natural conditions, the fresh and saline groundwater layers are usually in a state of dynamic equilibrium. Extraction from fresh-water layer, however, disturbs that equilibrium and, consequently, the adjacent or underlying saline groundwater starts moving upward in the shape of a cone. This phenomenon is termed as salinewater upconing. The extent and intensity of upconing is greatly dependent on pumping-rates, degree of penetration, thickness of fresh groundwater layer, quality of water-withdrawal zone, location of the fresh and saline water interface, vertical hydraulic conductivity, and extent of aquifer-recharge. Moreover, hydrodynamic-dispersion phenomenon significantly affects the solute transport towards the well (Kemper, et al., 1976; Mirbahar, et al., 1997 and Sufi, et al., 1998). Therefore, many engineers and researchers are of the view that the overlying fresh groundwater must be abstracted in such a way that the underlying saline groundwater is not disturbed (Chandio and Chandio, 1992, Awan 1990). Properly designed and operated skimmingwells may offer an economical and sound alternative over conventional deep wells, where native saline groundwater exists at about 30 m below ground-surface (Chandio and Chandio, 1992). However, very few researchers in Pakistan have studied the upconing-phenomena beneath a

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Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011

skimming well, and only limited information is available in this regard (Sufi, 1999). The present research study is aimed at analyzing the groundwater-flow and solute-transport phenomena under a skimming well, and evaluating the impact of operational strategies on quality of pumped water and upconing of underlying brackish water. The research outcome will be helpful to formulate guidelines for sustainable development of fresh groundwater in the areas where a shallow layer of fresh water overlies the native brackish groundwater. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS The theoretical considerations regarding fresh-water skimming can be divided into two categories i.e. Immiscible and Miscible Theory. The first formulation is less rigorous and less realistic, assuming the application of DF assumptions, and existence of sharp interface having abrupt transition from a relatively fresh to highly saline water. The second formulation is more realistic but, at same time, more complicated assuming change in salinity from salt water to fresh water under the hydrodynamic dispersion, and existence of the transition-zone of relatively large thickness between the fresh and salt water. The transition zone is characterized by a gradual change in the concentration of water from that of fresh water to lower saline water. Both these formulations are, however, important and are discussed in some detail in the following sections. Physics of groundwater flow and solutetransport mechanisms Groundwater flow is described by Darcys law, which states that flow-rate is proportional to the hydraulic gradient, where the constant of proportionality is hydraulic conductivity describing the hydraulic properties of the medium. The hydraulic conductivity varies in space in a manner that, to large degree, is tied up with the spatial variation of the geological properties. Darcys law is a well-proven relationship, which has frequently been used for quantitative assessments of groundwater flow. Mathematically, it can be formulated in a tensor notation as:

xi

K j h + q = S s h ; i,j = 1,2,3(1) x j t

where q is specific discharge (LT-1), Kij is hydraulic conductivity (LT-1), h is hydraulic head (L), xi is space coordinate (L). Combination of Darcys flow-equation with continuity-equation, which represents the conservation of fluid mass, yields the following partial differential equation describing the threedimensional movement of groundwater through porous media:

h h h + Kz Kx + Ky + qs z x x y y z
= Ss h t

....(2)

where Kx , Ky , Kz are the values of hydraulic conductivity along x, y, z coordinates, which are assumed to be parallel to the major axes of hydraulic conductivity (LT-1); qs is the fluid sink/source term or volumetric rate, at which water is added or removed from the system per unit volume of aquifer; Ss is the specific storage or volume of water released from storage in a unit volume of aquifer per unit decline in head. While flow of groundwater is governed by Darcys law, the transport of solute in a groundwater-system is controlled by many factors. The most important mechanisms affecting the transport of solute in a porous medium are: advection or convection, hydrodynamic dispersion, and various chemical reactions and decay phenomena, which may be regarded as source-sink phenomena for the solute. All these phenomena cause changes in the concentration of solute in the flowing fluid. In general, variations in solute-concentration cause changes in liquids density and viscosity. These, in turn, affect the flow regime (i.e. velocity-distribution) that depends on these properties. The partial differential equation describing the threedimensional transport of contaminants in groundwater (Javendal et al., 1984) is written as follows:

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

N C C Dij (vi C ) + q s C s + Rk = t xi xi xi k =1

(3)

where, C = t = xi = Dij = vi = qs = Cs = = Rk =

concentration of contaminants dissolved in groundwater, M/L3 time, T distance along respective cartesian-coordinate axis, L hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient, L2/T seepage or linear pore-velocity, L/T volumetric water-flux per unit aquifer volume sources (+) & sinks (-), T-1 concentration of the sources or sinks, M/L3 porosity of the porous medium, dimensionless chemical reaction sink/source term, representing the rate of change in solute mass of a particular species, due to N chemical reactions. blind pipe and strainers are 10.2 and 20.4 cm, respectively. Both the bores are connected with centrifugal pump, driven by 15 HP diesel engine. The data-requirements of PMWIN are categorized into time-constant and time-variant data. Time-constant data include aquifer geometry (areal and vertical distribution of subsurface strata, aquifer-thickness, etc) and hydraulic parameters (hydraulic conductivities, effective porosity, specific yield, specific storage, etc). Time-variant data are recharge, pumping, evapotranspiration, groundwater levels, groundwater quality, etc. Time-constant data was taken from previous studies, such as Lower Indus Reports, ACE 1997, ACE 2001, while timevariant data for this skimming well was collected by Drainage and Reclamation Institute of Pakistan, Tando Jam.

METHODOLOGY Data collection: The skimming well selected for this study is located at Haroon Farm near Gambat railway station, district Khairpur, and is part of Khairpur SCARP area. During the past few years, the area has been plagued by waterlogging and salinity problems as the watertable generally fluctuates between 0.5 and 1.0 m. The occurrence of highly saline groundwater at depths ranging from 25 to 35 m has restricted the installation of large-capacity tubewells. The skimming-well consists of two strainers, each bored at 12.2 m apart and discharging 0.4265 cfs. Specification and borehole lithology, along with profilic distribution of salinity, is described Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The penetration of both the bores was 19.82 m, with 10.67 m strainer surrounded by coconut fiber. The internal diameter of the

Table-1: Specification of piezometers and boreholes dimensions. Piezometer No. PZ1 PZ2 PZ3 PZ4 Bore-1 Bore-2 Distance From the Centre of Well (m) 9 26 77 168 0 0 Diameter (cm) 3.18 3.18 3.18 3.18 10.2 10.2 Blind Pipe (m) 3.04 3.04 3.04 3.04 9.15 9.15 Strainer (m) 1.52 1.52 1.52 1.52 10.67 10.67 Total Length (m) 4.56 4.56 4.56 4.56 19.82 19.82

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Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011

Table-2:

Soil lithology and salinity distribution in both the boreholes of the skimming well at Haroon farm, Khairpur. Bore-1 Soil Texture Salinity (ppm) 896 960 1088 1152 1024 1152 1024 Soil Texture silty clay loam fine sand very fine sand very fine sand Medium sand coarse sand coarse sand silty loam very fine sand medium sand coarse sand coarse sand coarse sand coarse sand Bore-2 Salinity (ppm) 768 838 960 1280 1152 1152 1216 1152 1568 3410 8064

Depth (m) 03 36 69 9 12 12 15 15 18 18 21 21 24 24 27 27 30 60

Model formulation: Numerical modeling is commonly used for simulating the complex groundwater systems, possessing non-linear features, that may not be solved through analytical approaches. It permits prediction of the response of an aquifer to applied stresses and evaluates alternative suggestions for its use. Of the number of groundwater-models available, the PMWIN (Chiang and Kinzelbach, 1996), which is a complete simulation system for modeling groundwater-flow, with MODFLOW (Harbaugh and McDonald, 1988, 1996), and solute-transport processes with MT3D (Zheng, 1996), was selected for this study. Using these models, different scenarios can be developed and run to study fluctuations of water-table and upconing phenomenon in fresh and saline groundwater systems. The important steps for model-formulation are: spatial and vertical discretization of the gridsystem; setting up initial and boundary conditions; temporal discretization; specifying aquifer-parameters; and assigning external stress packages, like wells, rivers, recharges, evapotranspiration, advection, dispersion, etc. The mesh was generated in a non-uniform manner, the mesh spacing being smaller near the

well and larger away from the well at a constant ratio of 1.4. Moreover, the grid spacing was kept small enough to avoid any artificial oscillation and numerical dispersion. The grid size varied from 3.05 m to 11.72 m. The total grid domain (417.55 m 417.55 m) was divided into 59 columns and 59 rows. The generated model gridsystem is shown in Figure 1, while Table-3 describes spatial discretization of the model grid. The aquifer was discretized into 8 layers (Table-4) on the basis of soil-texture, salinitydistribution, length of blind pipe and well-screen, expected drawdown and ease in simulation, to achieve the planned objectives. The average water-table elevation within the model domain, prior to pumping was 119.136 m. This head was specified as the initial hydraulic heads, throughout the domain. The spatial and vertical distribution of initial concentration was estimated from the bore log of the well and piezometers installed around it. The heads and concentrations specified as the starting values, at the boundaries, were set to be constant, i.e. did not change with time, throughout the simulation period. A no-flow boundary was used at the base of the system, representing the assumed zero movement of water into or out of the relatively

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

Constant head and constant concentration boundary

Figure 1. Spatial discretization of the grid system

Table-3: Spatial discretization of the grid system S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 Total No. of Columns 7 10 16 14 12 59 No. of Rows 7 10 16 14 12 59 Grid Size (m x m) 3.05 x 3.05 4.27 x 4.27 5.98 x 5.98 8.37 x 8.37 11.72 x 11.72 417.55 x 417.55

Table-4: Vertical discretization of model domain

Layer No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Layer Thickness (m) 9.15 5.335 5.335 8.18 5 7 20 60 Cumulative Thickness (m) 9.15 14.485 19.82 28 33 40 60 120 Top Elevation Layer (m) 120 110.85 105.515 100.18 92 87 80 60 Bottom Elevation Layer (m) 110.85 105.515 100.18 92 87 80 60 0 Concentration (ppm) 1000 1100 1230 1400 2000 3500 7000 10000

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Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011

impermeable bedrock. In case of transport-model, a constant concentration-boundary was assigned at the lowest layer. The skimming-well was hydraulically simulated as a well pumping from an infinite aquifer, where head and solute concentration in the cells beyond the radius of influence will remain constant and equal to the initially determined values. The temporal discretization include the timeunit and the number of stress-periods, time steps and transport steps in each time step or stress period. In MODFLOW, the simulation-time can be divided into stress periods i.e., the timeintervals during which all external excitations or stresses are constant which, in turn, may be divided into time-steps. In MT3D model, each time step is further divided into smaller timeincrements, called transport-steps, because the

length of a time step used for a head solution may be too large for a transport-solution. The study used different scenarios and simulation-time, number of stress-periods; and the number of timesteps in each stress-period varied for each scenario. The length of transport-step in each simulation, however, was set to be calculated automatically by the model itself. Site-specific data, regarding aquifer parameters, is not available. However, as per elaborated pumping tests performed around the study area during the regional groundwater investigations (during the Lower Indus Project), some estimates are available. These were refined during model calibration and verification. The final values used for this study are summarized in Table-5.

Table-5: Parameter values used for simulation S. No. Parameter Value 119.136 m. As per bore log (Table 4) 20.16 m/d 6.72 m/d 3 13 % 7 % 110-5 361 mm/year 550 ppm As per users manual 8m 0.33 0.1 0.00139

1 Initial Watertable Elevation 2 Initial Concentration 3 Horizontal Hydraulic Conductivity(Kh ) 4 Vertical Hydraulic Conductivity (Kv ) 5 Anisotropy Ratio (Kh / Kv ) 6 Effective Porosity () 7 Specific Yield (Sy) 8 Specific Storage (Ss) 9 Recharge 10 Concentration of Recharge Flux 11 Advective parameters for particle placement/ movement 12 Longitudinal Dispersivity 13 Ratio of horizontal transverse dispersivity to longitudinal dispersivity 14 Ratio of vertical transverse dispersivity to longitudinal dispersivity 15 Effective molecular diffusion coefficient 18

Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

There are two well-points acting as doublebore skimming-well for this particular study. The bores are located 12.2 m apart. The length of blind pipe for both the bores is 9.15 m, which is represented by top model layer (layer-1). The length of screen for both the well-points is 10.67 m, which is divided into two model layers (layers-2 and 3). The designed discharge for each bore-point is 43.5 m3/hr (0.4265 cfs). MODFLOW assumes uniform distribution of water entering into the well-screen throughout its length, which is not realistic as, in actual field conditions, more water enters into the well-screen from the top and gradually decreases towards the bottom. Li (1954) and Soliman (1965) analyzed the flow to a well and showed that the entrancevelocity in the upper 10 % of the well-screen was 70 times that in the lower 10% in an ideal aquifer. If the open area of the screen is constant throughout, we can approximate the distribution of flow rate into the screen. Based on Li and Solimans statement, it was found that about 77% of the water enters from the upper half of the well-screen (layer-2) and the remaining 23% from the lower half of the screen (layer-3). This distribution of water-entry to the screen was used to determine the quality of pumped water. Model calibration and verification: Calibration is an inverse modeling process, in which certain model input-parameters are adjusted until modeloutput parameters/dependent variables match the field-observed values to an acceptable degree. The data regarding watertable elevations,

pumped-water salinity, and profilic distribution of groundwater-quality were used to calibrate both the flow (MODFLOW) and transport (MT3D) models. Simple manual trial-and-error method was used to sequentially calibrate both the models, against the data observed after 15.67 hrs. of continuous well-operation, because at this stage the well-drawdown tends to achieve steadystate condition. Model verification is a process in which the calibrated model is shown to be capable of reproducing a set of field-observations independent of that used in model calibration. The calibrated models were verified against the observed data at different pumping-periods (10.92, 13.67 and 17.67 hrs.) through an interactive procedure of sequential calibration and recalibration, until the models were capable of reproducing all the data-sets used for model verification, including the one used for model calibration. Besides graphical comparison of observed and simulated values, some statistical measures of goodness-of-fit were also used for qualititative comparison and assessment of the model calibration. Figures 2 (c-f) and 3 present comparison of observed and simulated hydraulic heads and pumped-water salinities at different pumping periods, while Table 6 shows statistical analysis of model calibration and verification. There is good agreement between the observed and simulated values, and so the models are capable of reproducing the field observations at any specified time.

Table-6: Statistical analysis of model calibration and verification.

Simulation Time (hrs) Liner Correlation Coefficient (r) Root Mean Squared Residual Errors (RMS) Maximum Error (ME) Modeling Efficiency (EF)

MODFLOW for Hydraulic Heads 10.92 13.67 15.67 17.67 0.522064534 0.5322365 0.522615471 0.513007667 0.042077524 0.033377298 0.044022472 0.055299168 7.92E-08 9.04E-11 1.63E-07 2.09E-06 0.98307 0.989561 0.981527 0.970306

MT3D for Pumped Water Salinity 1.0 - 17.67 0.99313918 6.091711582 4.96 0.962462

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Calibration (15.67 hrs)

119.4
119.4

Verification (10.92 hrs) Piezometric head (m)

119.2 119 118.8 118.6 118.4 118.2 118 0 50 100 150 Observed Simulated

Piezometric head (m)

119.2 119 118.8 118.6 118.4 118.2 118 0 50 100 150 200 Initial Obseved Simulated

200

Distance from centre of wells (m)

Distance from centre of wells (m)

c.

Hydraulic heads after 15.67 hrs of operation

Verification (13.67 hrs)

d. Hydraulic heads after 10.92 hrs of operation

Verification (17.67 hrs)

Piezometric Head (m) .

119.4 119.2 119 118.8 118.6 118.4 118.2 118 0 50 100 150 200 Observed Simulated

Piezom etric head (m )

119.4 119.2 119 118.8 118.6 118.4 118.2 118 0 50 100 150 200 Observed Simulated

Distance from Well (m)

Distance from centre of wells (m)

e. Hydraulic heads after 10.92 hrs of operation

f.

Hydraulic heads after 17.67 hrs of operation

Figure 2 Observed and simulated hydraulic heads at various pumping times.

Calibration and verification Pumped water salinity (ppm)

1280 1250 1220 1190 1160 1130 1100 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Pumping time (hrs.) Observed Simulated

Figure 3. Observed and simulated pumped water salinities at various pumping times

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION It is imperative to maintain the original dynamic equilibrium between the layers of fresh and brackish water, if groundwater is to be developed on sustainable basis. Thus, there is an important need to investigate the mechanics of solute-transport in response of fresh groundwater withdrawal. For this purpose, an effort has been made to replicate the actual field-conditions of pumpage by the numerical model, so that one may have a close look at the flow and solutetransport phenomena under a skimming well. Model simulations were performed for three different scenarios. The 1st scenario represents an ideal situation where the well is operated intermittently and exact time of its operation and closure is specified. The total simulation-time is divided into 60 stress-periods, each representing the time in which the well was either on or off. The main problem associated with this type of scenario is small simulation period, as PMWIN can simulate a maximum of 80 stress-periods while in actual

field-conditions the majority of wells are operated on daily basis (operated for some time and closed for rest of the day). In this way, the maximum simulation-time can be only 40 days. Anyway, to get an idea of the situation, simulation time of scenario-1 was kept 30 days, having 60 stressperiods. The simulation time of scenario-2 was also kept 30 days, but the entire time was considered single-stress period, in which the well was operated continuously at a reduced discharge i.e. designed well-discharge was multiplied with the well-operational factor. The total volume of pumped water for both the scenarios, however, is the same. Although, this scenario is not realistic, but it does provide an opportunity to simulate the models for a desirable time-period. This scenario was designed just to compare its outcome with the previous one. Figure 4 depicts the pumping schedule and well discharge for both the scenarios, while pumped-water quality is presented in Figure 5.

Scenario-1 2000 1600 1200 800 400 0 0 5 10 15

Scenario-2

Well Discharge (m3/day)

20

25

30

Pumping Duration (days)

Figure 4. Graphical representation of well discharge for scenarios - 1 & 2

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Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011

Scenario-1 1500 Pumped Water Quality (ppm) 1400 1300 1200 1100 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Scenario-2

20

22

24

26

28

30

Pumping Duration (days)

Figure 5. Graphical representation of pumped-water quality for scenarios - 1 & 2

The pumped water quality for both the scenarios clearly indicates insignificant difference between their outcomes. This insignificant difference encouraged us to design and adopt 3rd scenario, by combining the 1st and 2nd scenarios. This scenario can employ longer simulation period and very closely matches the actual fieldconditions, where temporal variation of pumping is quite high, which is mainly dependent on availability of canal water, crop waterrequirements and climatic conditions. The total simulation time of 565 days is divided into 10
Well Discharge 600 Well Discharge (m3/day) 500 400 300 200 100 0 0 100 200 300

stress-periods. An increased well-operation factor is assigned for periods during which canal water supplies are very low and the demand is high. The well is kept closed for periods during which either there was no crop in the field or, because of heavy rainfall in monsoon season, crops do not require supplemental irrigation. The pumping schedule, well-discharge and quality of pumped water for 3rd scenario are presented in the Figure 6, whereas temporal variability in the aquifer salinity at different observation-depths is presented in Figure 7.
Pumped Water Quality 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 400 500 600 Pumped Water Quality (ppm)

Pumping Duration (days)

Figure 6. Temporal variation of well discharge and pumped-water quality for scenario-3

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

6500 Salinity rise (ppm) 5500 4500 3500 2500 1500 500 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Pumping Duration (days)

Obsevation depth from ground surface 4.575 m 11.82 m 17.15 m 23.91 m 30.5 m

Figure 7. Temporal variation of aquifer salinity at different observation depths

Figures 5, 6, and 7 further indicate that, for shallow fresh-water layer, the salinity rise is a linear function of operational time. The rise in salinity is more pronounced for higher welldischarge or greater well-operational factor. The results also indicated that the design of the selected skimming-well is faulty for the given aquifer properties and profilic distribution of the salinity within the aquifer. Zuberi and McWhorter (1973) suggested that, for aquifer properties in Pakistan, the discharge of individual skimming well should be in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 cfs, whereas the discharge of the selected skimming wells was 0.853 cfs, which seems too high. Moreover, there is very little available freshwater cushion below the well-screen. The optimum well-penetration ratio of the site under study was found to be 23 %, against the present penetration of 33%. It can also be observed from Figure 7 that, despite the fact that penetration of well-screen started from the depth of 9.15 m to 19.82 m from the ground surface, the salinity of the upper fresh layer above 9.15 m depth was increased, whereas, it is quite clear that flow in that portion is radially downward. Moreover, surface recharge also occurs in that layer, so the question is what prompted the salinity to increase there. Salinity rise in the top layer above well-screen may be attributed to the process of molecular diffusion and transverse dispersivity, which generally propagate in the direction orthogonal to the flow.

Effect of drawdown: The drawdown for different discharges is shown in Figure 8, which indicated that, for each well discharge, there existed a limit on drawdown at which the discharge and recharge balanced each other and ultimately steady-state condition was achieved. Figure 9 shows the spatial extent of upconing at various observation depths after 335 days of simulation. It can be observed from this figure that the radius of influence of the saline-water mound at all observation depths is about 150 m, which is roughly half of the radius of influence of the cone of depression. Therefore, it can be approximated that if the well is to be replaced by another well, due to salinity rise under the well, then the new well must be 300 to 500 m away from the previous one. But, unlike the steady-state condition of drawdown, the quality of pumped water continued to deteriorate and also the rise of saltwater mound, which kept rising on with pumping time. It is commonly believed that smaller upcoming occurs for smaller drawdowns and that, to limit the upconing, it is essential to limit the drawdown. Nevertheless, it is not directly proportional to the drawdown. In fact, drawdown itself is a dependent variable and is the function of well-discharge and certain aquifer properties, and can be limited by decreasing the welldischarge; whereas upconing is related with many factors, including those which affect drawdown. Therefore, relating it with drawdown or any other factor alone is not correct.

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119.20 Watertable Elevation (m) 119.15 119.10 119.05 119.00 118.95 118.90 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 Distance from Well (m)
Figure 8. Cone of depression for different well-discharges after 335 days of simulation
After 335 days of simulation 15000 12500 10000 7500 5000 2500 0 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 Distance from the centre of wells (m) upconing cone of dipression 119.2 119.0 118.8 118.6 118.4 118.2 118.0 300 Hydraulic head (m) Observation depth from ground surface 4.575 m 11.82 m 17.15 m 23.91 m 30.5 m

well Q = 522 m3/d well Q =348.7 m3/d well Q = 261 m3/d Well is closed

Bower (1978) declared that, if the groundwater withdrawal from the coastal aquifer exceeds the safe yield and the water-levels decline, the salt-water would rise 40 m for every meter of drop in the watertable. However, during this pumping-scenario, the maximum drawdown only 0.22 m occurred against the discharge of 522 m3/d, but the fresh and salt water interface was raised by 19.18 m in 335 days of well operation, which is 87 times greater than the drawdown. The starting salinity-level of the fresh and saline

EC (ppm)

Figure 9. Rise of salt water mound at various observation-depths, after 335 days of pumping

interface is considered to be 3,500 ppm. The large difference between Bowers statement and the simulated results of this scenario can be attributed to the fact that his statement is primarily based on the Ghyben-Herzberg relation, which does not take into account the vertical component of groundwater-flow; hence, it underestimates the extent of upconing. Furthermore, the small difference between the salinities of fresh and saline waters of the aquifer under study, viz-a-viz seawater, also causes the saline water to move

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

more quickly. It reveals that in the aquifers where salinity-difference of fresh and saline waters is small, upconing not only occurs at a rapid rate, but also to a greater height. Effect of discharge reduction: Obviously, the higher discharges induce greater upconing. Therefore, if the well discharge is low, right from the beginning of pumping, then the rise of interface will be slower. What of the situations where rise of interface has already taken place due to higher well-discharge: can any reduction in well-discharge suppress the upcoming? This question is answered in the following paragraphs. At the initial stage of pumping, much of the water contribution is from top of the screen. As the pumping continues, the area and depth of the propagation of streamlines are increased. At the interface, the streamlines tend to flow tangentially to the top of interface. All other streamlines, which originate below these ones, will bring salt water to the well, thereby deteriorating the quality of pumped water and cause rising of salt-water mound. Now if the salt water has already intruded into the fresh-water zone, reduction in well discharge will neither ensure salt-free water supply nor can any fall in the raised mound of salt water be observed. Figs. 7 and 8 confirm such a statement. These figures showed that, even when the well-discharge was halved from 522 m3/d to 261 m3/d, no improvement in pumped water quality and recession of salt-water cone could be observed; instead they kept on rising. This is because, even though the discharge was reduced, the flow towards the well continued through the same streamlines but at a sluggish rate. The streamlines, which originated from salt-water zone, will vanish eventually only when the well is stopped and groundwater is fully recovered, but the position of interface would be higher than the initial one. Therefore, when the well is started next time, it might have less available thickness of fresh water below the well-screen and chances of upconing will be greater. Effect of intermittent pumping: Generally speaking, when a partially penetrating well continuously discharges water from an unconfined aquifer, in which fresh water is underlain by salt water and is separated by a welldefined interface located within the reach of

streamlines (generated due to pumping of well from the fresh water zone), then ultimately a time must come when the salt-water of interface will enter the well-screen, causing deterioration of pumped water quality. It is commonly believed and also has been witnessed during the field studies (Saeed, et al., 2002 and Ashraf, et al., 2001) that intermittent pumping may control the upward movement of fresh and salt-water interface. The well discharge and operational factor, however, must be low enough, not allowing the streamlines to reach the interface. During the periods of well-closure, the generated streamlines will tend to stabilize but the time required for their complete stabilization may be quite long. At complete stabilization of streamlines, the well may be turned on again for a certain safe period, at which regenerated streamlines are not allowed to reach the interface. This safe period of pumping depends on welldischarge and operational factor, aquifer characteristics, fluid properties and fresh-water cushion below the well-screen. There is need to determine this safe pumping period for a given set of conditions, but this might be a very difficult task, and some-times not practicable. McWhorter (1980) recommended a minimum of 5 times the length of pumping-period as the rest period for the well between the two pumping periods. The well under study was operated intermittently at varying operation-factors and was closed for sufficiently long time, during and after the pumping, to observe the rates of rise and recession of the salt-water cone. The quality of pumped water deteriorated linearly as the pumping continued. During the periods of wellclosure, the cone remained more or less stagnant. Again from the Figures 4.8 and 4.9, one can easily judge that the impact of well-closure on well-water quality and fall of salt-water cone is negligible, which is totally in contrast with the actual field conditions. This is well supported by the fact that, like many other wells in the Region, this well too discharges an acceptable quality of groundwater for some time and is closed for a sufficient time to allow the fresh groundwater to regain its original position, through surface as well as lateral recharge. Moreover, Hafeez et al., 1986 conducted field studies at Mona project, Bhalwal, to determine the rates of rise and fall of

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Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011

the salt-water cone beneath a skimming well. They witnessed the rise of cone by 30 feet in 15 days of continuous operation at 0.5 cfs discharge, whereas, the recession of cone was much slower than its rise: it took 164 days to fall only twothird (20 ft) of rise. They also showed that about half of the rise could be made to recede by stopping the well for a period equal to twice the operation time. The negligible effect of well-closure on fall of the salt-water mound, indicated by the model results, is clearly because the MT3D model does not consider the density of water, which creates a downward potential during well-closure, thereby forcing the cone to recede. The effect of density will be large if the salinity difference between fresh and saline water is greater. It is therefore believed that the MT3D model might overestimate rise of cone and can not properly simulate the intermittent pumping of well. Nevertheless, the model is a valuable tool for simulating the sources or sinks, which are usually continuous in nature. Suggested modification: The results of the previous scenarios led to the conclusion that the MT3D model could not accurately simulate the intermittent pumping, whereas its role in abstraction of fresh groundwater, while keeping the rising of underlying salt-water well under control, can not be overlooked. . Therefore, it was strongly felt that there is need to introduce some modification so that the model is able to simulate more accurately the well that is not continuously operating. The idea was primary based on the theory described by Sehni (1973) that the two fluids (fresh and saline water) are miscible and in reality, at their contact, they tend to mix with each other by molecular diffusion and macroscopic dispersion. Thus, they are not separated by an oil-water type interface; they do not constitute distinct fluid phases, and there is no pressure discontinuity where they are encountered. Since it is assumed that no pressure discontinuity exist across the interface, the pressure at any point within the aquifer can be taken as constant: P1 = P2 = P3 = = Pn 1gh1 = 2gh2 = 3gh3 = . = nghn

The model domain of this study was divided into eight layers, each having different salinity. The above equation can be reduced as, 1h1= 2h2 = -------------------- = 8h8 If h1 is considered as the watertable elevation in the top layer, which is known, then the hydraulic heads in the lower layers can be approximated by putting the value of density of water in each layer in the above equation. Rubin and Pinder (1977) assumed a linear relationship between salinity and specific weight as follows; = f (1 + c) where, c is salinity, and is coefficient relating changes in density to concentration. Sufi (1999) determined the densities of saline waters of varying concentrations. From these known values of densities, the density of fresh water and were calculated as 1.00166845 gm/cm3 and 0.000000785 respectively. Putting these values in the above equation, one can calculate the density of any specified concentration. The corrected head (h*) becomes as h* = h/, where h is the head computed by MODFLOW. The MODFLOW and MT3D programs are operated in sequence. The MODFLOW generates head-distribution for all cells for all time-steps. The MT3D program subsequently uses these head-distributions to generate time-variant flowvelocity field and then determines the solute movement, due to advection and dispersion. It is required that MODFLOW and MT3D should be made to execute recursively over small timeincrements. At each time-increment (including initial condition), the hydraulic head potential be adjusted according to the salt-contents in each cell, as per above equation. This will cause the hydraulic gradient of cells in lower saline-water layers to be smaller than for upper fresh-water layers. The solution then should proceed with time, solving head and salinity equations recursively. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS The following conclusions have been drawn from the results of this modeling study, conducted to analyze the solute transport phenomenon under

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Numerical Analysis of Groundwater-Flow and Solute-Transport under Skimming Well

skimming wells, installed in the shallow fresh groundwater areas: 1. In case, the saline water mound has already risen, any reduction in welldischarge would neither decrease salinity of pumped water nor suppress upconing, but would reduce their rate of rise. 2. In the areas having moderate values of aquifer parameters and fresh-water thickness less than 30 m, the development of fresh groundwater through skimming wells is not sustainable. It is only the matter of time up to which the well will discharge good quality groundwater. 3. The optimum well-penetration ratio of the site under study was found to be 23 % against the present penetration of 33 %. Thus, closing the lower 3 to 5 m length of screen and reducing well discharge by 40 to 50 % can ensure acceptable pumped water-quality on sustainable basis. 4. MODFLOW/MT3D predicted gradual rise in pumped-water salinity and upconing of underlying saline water, for all pumping scenarios. It erroneously provides no decline in fresh-saline water interface after well closure. 5. The MT3D model does not properly simulate skimming wells, mainly due to the reason that it does not take into account the density difference between fresh and saline groundwater. For evaluating skimming wells, MODFLOW and MT3D programs need to be made to run, recursively, over small time-steps when potentials computed for various cells are corrected to account for calculated salinity levels. In view of the above discussion, the following are recommended: 1. A thorough understanding of the hydrological properties of the aquifer at the specific location, where the skimming well facility is contemplated, must be achieved before the design and installation of skimming well; 2. In shallow fresh groundwater areas, the wellpenetration ratio should not be greater than

20 per cent, to avoid any upconing. Moreover, the well should be operated at a reasonably low discharge and operational factor. The low discharges from these wells can be effectively utilized for irrigation, through pressurized irrigation systems. REFERENCES
ACE & Halcrow, 2001. Exploitation and Regulation of Fresh Groundwater. Draft Final Report. Sector Policy Studies (Packages) under NDP. ACE,1997. Hydrological and Groundwater Mathematical Model Studies, Second SCARP Transition, North Rohri Pilot Project completion report. Ashraf, M., M. Aslam, M. M. Saeed, M. S. Shafique, 2001. Effect of Intermitted Pumping on the Water Quality of Multi Strainer Skimming Wells. Proceedings 2nd National Seminar on Drainage in Pakistan held in University of Agriculture, Faisalabad from April 18-19, 2001. pp. 200-210. Awan, N.M., 1991. Salt Water Intrusion, Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering, Engineering University, Lahore Bouwer, H., 1978. Groundwater Hydrology. McGraw-Hill Book Company Chandio, B.A. and A.S. Chandio, 1992. Modeling Skimming Well for Irrigation and Drainage, Proceedings of 5th International Drainage Workshop, ICID-IWASRI, Lahore, Pakistan, Vol. 2, p. Chiang, W.H. and W. Kinzelbach, 1996. Processing Modflow for Windows. A Simualtion System for Modeling Groundwater Flow and Pollution. C. Vision Pvt Ltd 185 Ehzabeth St. Site 320 Sydney NSW 2000, Australia. Hafeez, A., Z.A. Piracha, and A. Nazir, 1986. Multistrainer Tubewells for Skimming Top Layer of Fresh Water Underlain by Saline Water in the Aquifer, Mona Reclamation Experimental Project, WAPDA. Hunting Technical Services Ltd. and Sir M. MacDonald and Partners (HTS/MMP), 1965. Lower Indus Report, Physical Resources Groundwater, Vol. 6, Supplement 6.1 6.7. West Pakistan, WAPDA. Kemper, W. D., M. Jehangir, and D.B. McWhorter, 1976. Skimming Well Report, Planning and Investigation Publication, WAPDA, Pakistan. Li, W.H., 1954. Interaction Between Well and Aquifer. Proceedings of the ASCE, Vol. 80, separate No. 578.

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Science, Technology & Development Vol. 30, No. 1 (January-March) 2011 McWhorter, D.B., 1975. Upconing of Salt Water Fresh Water Interface Beneath a Pumping Well. Journal of Groundwater, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 354-359. Mirbahar, M.B., A.M. Sipraw, and A.M. Rais, 1997. Performance Evaluation of Skimming Wells for Irrigation and Drainage. Proceedings of the National Congress on Impact of Drainage on Environment: Problems and Solutions, August 1012, 1997, MUET, Jamshoro, Pakistan. Prphdpulos, S.S. and Associates. 1996. MT3D Users Guide. Saeed, M. M., M. Bruen and M.N. Asghar, 2002. A Review of Modeling Approaches to Simulate Upconing Under Skimming Wells-NDRDIC Hydrology, An International Journal, Vol. 33, No. 2/3, pp. 165-188. Saeed, M.M., M. Ashraf and M. Buren, 2002. Diagnostic Analysis of Farmers Skimming Well Techniques in the Indus Basin of Pakistan. Irrigation and Drainage Systems. An International Journal, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Vol. 16,No. 2, pp. 139-160. Sehni, B.N. 1972. Saltwater Coning Beneath Freshwater Wells, Water Management Technical Report No. 18, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA, p. 168. Soliman, M.I., 1965. Boundary Flow Considerations in the Design of Wells. Proceedings of the ASCE Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division, Vol. 91, No. IR-1, pp. 159-177. Sufi, A.B., 1999. Development of Skimming Well Technology for Sustainable Irrigation and Drainage, Ph.D. Thesis submitted to CEWRE, UET, Lahore. Sufi, A.B., M. Latif, and G.V. Skogerboe, 1998. Simulating Skimming Well Techniques for Sustainable Exploitation of Groundwater. Irrigation and Drainage Systems, 12: 203-226. Zheng, C. and G.D. Bennett, 1995. Applied Contaminant Transport Modeling, Theory and Practice. Zuberi, F. A. and D.B. McWhorter, 1973. Practical Skimming Well Design. Water Management Technical Report No. 27, Water Management Research Project, CSU, Fort Collins, Colorado. Zuberi, F.A. and A.B. Sufi, 1992. State of Art of Groundwater Exploration, Exploitation, Management and Legislation, Paper Presented in Expert Group Meeting of ECO on Groundwater Exploitation, Islamabad, Pakistan.

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