Natural Potential Anomalies as a Quantitative Index of the Rate of Seepage From Water Reservoirs*

Abstract

Water seepage from reservoirs causes appreciable anomalies of natural electric fields. The possibility of mapping leakage places by means of the SP method has been discussed by the authors in an earlier report. Further work has shown that detailed measurements of the natural electric field allow to determine the seepage rates from individual areas of a water reservoir in relative units. If data on the total discharge from a water reservoir are available, the conventional seepage units can be converted into absolute ones. Using this technique on a water reservoir in Armenia has permitted to control the change of the leakage rate as hydroinsulation operations were in progress. It has been established that as a result of shielding the bottom with clay material leakage from the central part of the reservoir has stopped. On the other hand, construction of cement seepage-proof protection has had so far no appreciable positive effect.In an earlier report (Ogilvy et al., rg68), a possibility of using geophysical methods for mapping leakage places in water reservoirs has been discussed.The data obtained from these studies, however, are often not sufficient to conduct seepage control measures. Experts engaged in such investigations are interested in finding the distribution of seepage rates over the area of a reservoir and their change in time. Having obtained these data, they can not only select the places subject to hydroinsulation, but also evaluate the efficiency of different types of insulation. Long-term observations of seepage rates also allow to ascertain the natural redistribution of bottom sediments, sedimentation and, in particular, clogging of permeable areas.A possibility of determining seepage rates using records of natural electric potentials of seepage is evident from Helmholtz's equation:where q, p, E: are electric resistivity, dielectric permeability and water viscosity, *

Streaming potentials of granular media: Influence of the Dukhin and Reynolds numbers

“…leakage in agreement with field observations [e.g., Bogoslovsky and Ogilvy, 1970;Sheffer, 2002;Sheffer andHowie, 2001, 2003]. The magnitude of this anomaly at the entrance of the pipe is equal to four millivolts.…”

Evaluation of the streaming potential effect of piping phenomena using a finite cylinder model

“…In a piping process, an interpreted value of M can indicate a stage that is now reached. This kind of reasoning was employed by Bogoslovsky and Ogilvy (1970) to determine and ponder seepage rates at the bottom of a lake.…”

Feasibility of Streaming Potential Signal on Estimation of Solute Transport Characteristics

“…It consists of monitoring electrical field existing at the ground surface of the earth where the SP signals provide the evidence of polarization mechanisms existing in the grounds. The use of the SP in different aspect of geology has been developed for the last two decades and these methods have been used for a variety of geophysical applications to detect and monitor water flow (e.g., Blake and Clarke, 1999) and leakage zones of dam (e.g., Bogoslovsky and Ogilvy, 1970;Titov et al, 2000). The SP was also used to detect the ore bodies and contaminant plumes that are rich in organic matter associated with the electro redox effect (e.g., Arora et al, 2007;Jardani et al, 2008).…”