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Hydraulic behaviour and regional impact of a horizontal well in a shallow aquifer: example from the Sefton Coast, northwest England (UK)

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Rick Brassington

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Abstract

Horizontal wells can be utilised for groundwaterabstraction in aquifers of limited saturated thickness.One feature that must be considered is the hydraulic headinside the horizontal well, since hydraulic head gradientscan be substantial in long wells with relatively smallcross-sectional areas. Little experimental evidence isavailable concerning horizontal wells, but this reportdescribes field data collected for a 300-m long horizontalwell in northwest England (UK); the well is curved inplan, in a shallow unconfined aquifer. Conceptual andcomputational models are presented; they representregional groundwater flow, convergent groundwater flowstowards and into the well, and also hydraulic conditionswithin the well. Good agreement is achieved between fieldand modelled values for groundwater heads in the aquiferand for hydraulic heads in the well. The computationalmodel is then used to explore the rates of inflow along thewell; the impact on regional groundwater conditions ofabstraction from the well is also examined. Finally, apreliminary comparison is made between vertical wellpoints and horizontal wells in shallow aquifers.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Rushton KR, Brassington FC

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Hydrogeology Journal

Year: 2013

Volume: 21

Issue: 5

Pages: 1117-1128

Print publication date: 01/08/2013

Online publication date: 18/04/2014

Acceptance date: 21/03/2013

ISSN (print): 1431-2174

ISSN (electronic): 1435-0157

Publisher: Springer

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10040-013-0985-0

DOI: 10.1007/s10040-013-0985-0

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