Transmissivity of Aquifer by Capture Zone Method: An Application in the Sete Lagoas Karst Aquifer, MG, Brazil

Abstract

Transmissivity is an important hydraulic parameter to determine the amount of water passed horizontally across a given saturated thickness of an aquifer. The techniques to quantify this parameter, such as grain size analyses or pumping tests, can have limitations of time/spatial scale, viability, or economically. One technique that can be used, but little adopted, is the capture zone analysis. In this paper, capture zone analytical equations were used to estimate transmissivity values in order to verify the effectiveness of this methodology as alternative in situations where other traditional methods present implementation difficulties. The results were compared with field data estimated by aquifer tests conducted in the same region. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to identify possible discrepancies between the analytical and field data results. The aquifer studied was the Sete Lagoas Karst Aquifer in the urban region of the municipality of Sete Lagoas, Brazil. The method proved to be a viable and economical tool, where the analytical values compared to the aquifer tests showed similarities, being confirmed by a sensitivity analysis. However, a reliable potentiometric surface map, which enables the identification of the parameters for analytical capture zone equations, is needed.

Desafios na gestão das águas subterrâneas no município de Sete Lagoas – MG

“…O abastecimento público conta com diversos poços alocados estrategicamente sobre os domínios hidrogeológicos, administrados pelo Serviço de Abastecimento de Água e Esgoto (SAAE). As taxas de bombeamento atingem os valores mais elevados, superiores a 100 m³/dia nas áreas urbanas, cuja densidade populacional justifica o aumento da demanda (Galvão et al, 2017).…”

“…O aquífero Sete Lagoas possui aproximadamente 75 m de espessura dentro da área urbana, é composto por calcários da Formação Sete Lagoas, que se divide nos membros Pedro Leopoldo (na base) e Lagoa Santa (no topo). O aquífero supracitado apresenta porosidade primária e permeabilidade baixas, porosidade secundária preenchida pelo mineral calcita e porosidade terciária elevada, a partir da qual a maioria das águas subterrâneas do aquífero migram (Galvão et al, 2015& Galvão et al, 2017.…”

Geospatial Analysis of Transmissivity and Uncertainty in a Semi-Arid Karst Region

“…Geostatistical kriging methods have been applied for spatial interpolation of T between available data points of S c at such wells [1,[7][8][9][10]. The typical premise in kriging is that closeby samples are more similar to each other than those further apart (i.e., spatially decreasing correlation as expressed by a variogram).…”

“…Our study area is the Salitre Karst Aquifer (SKA) located in the central region of Bahia, Brazil. It has been the subject of different hydrogeological, hydrochemical, and contamination vulnerability studies over the last 30 years [13][14][15], including preliminary studies correlating hydraulic parameters, such as T and S c [4,9,16]. The SKA is located in a region with stunning landscapes and cultural diversity called Chapada Diamantina, where nature-based tourism is an important economic activity.…”

Analytical Modeling of Well Design in Riverbank Filtration Systems

“…Strack () described the fundamentals of this method that is based on complex analysis. The method was applied in various groundwater modeling studies such as Barry et al (), Asadi‐Aghbolaghi et al () and Galvão et al (). However, these studies concerned about the capture zone delineation, based on pumping rates, groundwater flow, and well location.…”