Groundwater Mound due to Constant Recharge from a Strip Basin

Abstract

Numerical and experimental solutions to steady infiltration from a strip basin to a groundwater table of infinite horizontal extent are presented. Because of the unknown location of the phreatic surface, the flow domain is transformed into the complex potential plane using the inverse formulation method where the phreatic surfaces with and without recharge become straight lines. The method of finite differences was used to solve the boundary value problem in the transformed plane. The problem was also investigated experimentally using a sand tank model. For comparison purposes, a one-dimensional analytical solution is also presented. The results were compared with each other. The parameters affecting the seepage rate are investigated and the resulting relationships were presented in dimensionless graphs. It is believed that these graphs may be of use in design problems. The conditions for which the simplified one-dimensional analytical solution agrees well with the results of the sophisticated two-dimensional numerical solution are identified. The shape of the water table in response to recharge depends on the size of the recharging area, the hydraulic and geometric properties of the aquifer, and the recharge rate.