Multilevel Slug Tests with Comparisons to Tracer Data

Multilevel slug tests were conducted in a confined, granular aquifer near Mobile, Alabama. Tracer injection and travel time experiments, more direct measurements of transport in the aquifer, were also conducted at the same location. The objective was to compare results of the two field investigations to ascertain the accuracy and utility of slug testing to measure transport properties of the aquifer. Nondimensional hydraulic conductivity profiles inferred from the slug tests and the tracer experiments were similar. The similarity of the profiles supported the utility of multilevel slug testing to characterize the hydraulic conductivity profile in the aquifer. The slug test data collected in three wells were interpreted using a radial flow model (Cooper et al., 1967) and a finite element model which considered both radial and vertical flow (Widdowson et al., 1989, 1990). Hydraulic conductivity values inferred from the measured data considering both radial and vertical flow were approximately two-thirds of the values inferred assuming radial flow.

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