The artificial recharge of groundwater: A solution by successive variations of steady states

The artificial recharge of groundwater aims at the modification of water quality, an increase of groundwater resources, and the optimization of the exploitation and recovery of contaminated aquifers. The purpose of this work is to develop a new mathematical model for the problem of an artificial recharge well, using the method of successive variations of steady states. Applying this method, one arrives at an expression of time as a double integral. This integral contains the time-dependent radius of the recharge boundary and the piezometric head of the well, calculated with the finite-element method. The new model is simple and useful, and can be applied to many practical problems, using the designed dimensionless graphs.Notations A area of the finite element (m²) - c the Euler constant (0.5772156649...) - e index of the finite element - E _i the exponential integral function - F _j nodal values of the functionF - h piezometric head, (m) - h ₀ piezometric head at timet=0 (m) - h _w piezometric head on the well contour (m) - i, j, k nodal indices of the finite element - K hydraulic contactivity (ms^–1) - N _i interpolation function - Q discharge (m³ s^–1) - r cylindrical coordinate (m) - r ₀ the action radius of the well (m) - r _w the radius of the well (m) - S the effective porosity - t the time (s) - T the transmissivity of the aquifer (m²s^–1) - V the stored water volume (m³) - x, y, dummy variables