Day 2 in Calgary....

Yesterday evening, Jeff Simpson (right) of Aquatic Life generously invited everyone attending the short course in Calgary to a local pub for refreshment and dinner. We had a great time getting to know people, learning about their work and discussing a wide range of topics. Many thanks to Aquatic Life!

Today we are covering pumping tests in the course. After an introduction to the design and performance of pumping tests by Jim Butler, Chris Neville and I will present some of the finer details of pumping test analysis such as diagnostics methods, single-well tests, step-drawdown tests and recovery tests, analysis of tests in buried channel (strip) aquifers, and new methods for analyzing pumping tests in unconfined aquifers.

In the afternoon, the class will perform computer exercises with AQTESOLV demonstrating the analysis of pumping tests in confined, leaky confined, unconfined and fractured aquifers. This year's course features a new exercise for a pumping test conducted in a buried channel aquifer in Saskatchewan, Canada.

To all of you who joined us in Calgary for this course, we thank you for coming! It's been a pleasure interacting with you over the last two days.

Stampeding into Calgary!

Today marks the beginning of our two-day short course entitled Aquifer Testing for Improved Hydrogeologic Site Characterization Featuring AQTESOLV and the In-Situ Level TROLL at the University of Calgary in Canada. I'm extremely pleased to report that we reached maximum capacity in our first-ever attempt to conduct this course outside the US. Kudos to Aquatic Life and the Midwest Geosciences Group making this groundbreaking course a great success!

I'm joined in this course by two distinguished colleagues, Jim Butler (Kansas Geological Survey) and Chris Neville (S.S. Papadopulos & Associates). Today, we're covering slug tests through a combination of lectures and computer exercises involving AQTESOLV. As I compose this blog entry, Jim is describing the application and advantages of the pneumatic method of initiating slug tests which is still a new technique for many practicing hydrogeologists. In his lectures today, Jim will present many new tidbits of practical advice from his ongoing research that are not included in his book The Design, Performance, and Analysis of Slug Tests (Butler 1998).

In the afternoon, Jeff Simpson from Aquatic Life will demonstrate the application of pressure transducer equipment in the performance of slug tests and stress pitfalls to avoid when conducting these tests. Following Jeff's presentation, I'll lead the class through the hands-on computer analysis of slug tests using AQTESOLV.

It's a great day and great venue here at the University of Calgary. Many thanks to all those who came to attend the course!

AQTESOLV Version 4.5 is Here!

I'm pleased to announce the release of AQTESOLV v4.5, the world's leading software for the analysis of pumping tests, slug tests and constant-head tests since 1989.

AQTESOLV/Pro v4.5 is the first commercially available software for aquifer test analysis to feature a new analytical solution by Tartakovsky and Neuman (2007). Unlike the familiar method by Neuman (1974) for pumping tests in unconfined aquifers, the Tartakovsky-Neuman solution incorporates effects of 3-D saturated/unsaturated flow to account for noninstantaneous drainage at the water table. I've optimized the numerical computations in AQTESOLV to maximize the speed and accuracy of this complicated solution.

Shown at right is a match of drawdown and derivative curves that I obtained with AQTESOLV's implementation of the Tartakovsky and Neuman solution for an observation well monitored during a pumping test on Cape Cod by the USGS (Moench et al. 2001). Note the response at intermediate time which shows gradual rather instantaneous drainage of water.

Also featured in AQTESOLV/Pro v4.5 is a version of the Dougherty and Babu (1984) finite-diameter well solution adapted for the analysis of step-drawdown tests. Unlike traditional methods for analyzing step tests, the Dougherty-Babu step-test solution considers the effect of wellbore storage on early-time drawdown data measured in the pumped well. It also accounts for partial penetration, wellbore skin and turbulent well loss. One of my customers has already applied this solution with excellent results!

AQTESOLV v4.5 comes with interface enhancements and a revised Help system to increase productivity. For more information or to order the software, please visit the AQTESOLV web site or contact me directly!