A new method to characterize hydraulic short-circuits in defective borehole seals

A new approach has been developed to detect, characterize, and quantify hydraulic short-circuits in boreholes with faulty seals. The methodology, applicable to an aquifer-aquitard-aquifer system, involves a series of successive, constant-rate pumping tests in the lower aquifer while determining the leakage rate with a simultaneous nonreactive tracer test. During each pumping step, the tracer is injected under constant concentration and constant hydraulic head from a piezometer in the upper aquifer. If a seal defect exists, the tracer will follow the leak and will be recovered from the pumped water. The theoretical equations relate the leakage rate, the pumping rate, the concentration of the injected tracer, and the recovered concentration. Leakage rates can be determined for any pumping rate. The theory is tested using numerical analysis and a full-scale field test.