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At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources
USGS1964

Field measurement of alkalinity and pH

The behavior of electrometric pH equipment under field conditions departs from the behavior predicted from Nernst's law. The response is a linear function of pH, and hence measured pH values may be corrected to true pH if the instrument is calibrated with two reference solutions for each measurement. Alkalinity titrations may also be made in terms of true pH. Standard methods, such as colorimetric titrations, were rejected as unreliable or too cumbersome for rapid field use. The true pH of the end point of the alkalinity titration as a function of temperature, ionic strength, and total alkalinity has been calculated. Total alkalinity in potable waters is the most important factor influencing the end point pH, which varies from 5.38 (0 ? C, 5 ppm (parts per million) HC0a-) to 4.32 (300 ppm HC0a-,35 ? C), for the ranges of variables considered. With proper precautions, the pH may be determined to =i:0.02 pH and the alkalinity to =i:0.6 ppm HCO3- for many naturally occurring bodies of fresh water.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1967

Annual variations in chemical composition of atmospheric precipitation, eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia

A 2-year study of precipitation composition over eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia has been completed. Chemical analyses were made of the major ions in monthly rainfall samples from each of 12 sampling locations. Areal and seasonal distributions were determined for chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfate, and nitrate. Annual changes in loads and in geographical distribution of sulfate and of nitrate are small. Yearly rainfall sulfate loads amount to approximately 7 tons per square mile, whereas deposition of nitrate is about 2 tons per square mile per year in the interior of the network and less near the coast. Areal patterns of chloride content are consistent with the assumption that the ocean is the only major source of rainfall chloride in the area. Chloride loads were 2.1 and 1.8 tons per square mile per year; the difference can be attributed to meteorological conditions. Cation concentrations in network precipitation appear to depend on localized sources, probably soil dust. Annual loads of the major cations are approximately 2 tons per square mile of calcium, 1.8 tons per square mile of sodium, 0.5 ton per square mile of magnesium, and 0.3 ton per square mile of potassium; considerable year-to-year differences were noted in these values. Bicarbonate and hydrogen ion in network rainfall are closely related to the relative concentrations of sulfate and calcium. Apparently, reaction of an acidic sulfur-containing aerosol with an alkaline calcium source is one of the principal controls on precipitation alkalinity and pH. Ions in precipitation contribute substantially to the quality of surface water in the network area. Comparisons between precipitation input and stream export of ions for four North Carolina rivers show that rainfall sulfate is equal to sulfate discharged, whereas nitrate in rain slightly exceeds stream nitrate. Contributions of cations to the streams by way of precipitation range from about 20 percent for potassium to almost 50 percent for calcium. Chloride deposited by precipitation amounts to about one-fourth of the stream load. Additions of manufactured salt may account for much of the remainder of the surface-water load.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1969

Occurrence and distribution of molybdenum in the surface water of Colorado

Molybdenum was detected in 89 percent of the samples collected from all the principal Colorado streams and their chief tributaries and from a few reservoirs and lakes. Amounts detected ranged from 1 to 3,800 micrograms per liter. The greatest amounts of molybdenum detected were in samples from the Colorado River at and below Kremmling, the Dillon Reservoir, the Blue River below Dillon Dam, the Eagle River, and Tenmile Creek.

Colorado↗
USGS1980

The effect of dissolution of volcanic glass on the water chemistry in a tuffaceous aquifer, Rainier Mesa, Nevada

Geochemistry of ground water associated with the Tertiary tuffs within Rainier Mesa, southern Nevada, was investigated to determine the relative importance of glass dissolution in controlling water chemistry. Water samples were obtained both from interstitial pores in core sections and from free-flowing fractures. Cation com- positions showed that calcium and magnesium decreased as a function of depth in the mesa, as sodium increased. The maximum effect occurs within alteration zones containing clinoptilolite and montmorillonite, suggesting these minerals effectively remove bivalent cations from the system. Comparisons are made between compositions of ground waters found within Rainier Mesa that apparently have not reacted with secondary minerals and compositions of waters produced by experimental dissolution of vitric and crystalline tufts which comprise the principal aquifers in the area. The two tuff phases have the same bulk chemistry but produce aqueous solutions of different chemistry. Rapid parabolic dissolution of sodium and silica from, and the retention of, potassium within the vitric phase verify previous predictions concerning water compositions associated with vitric volcanic rocks. Parabolic dissolution of the crystalline phase results in solutions high in calcium and magnesium and low in silica. Extrapolation of the parabolic dissolution mechanism for the vitric tuff to long times successfully reproduces, at com- parable pH, cation ratios existing in Rainier Mesa ground water. Comparison of mass- transfer rates of the vitric and crystalline tuffs indicates that the apparent higher glass-surface to aqueous-volume ratio associated with the vitric rocks may account for dominance of the glass reaction.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1960

Borehole geophysical methods for analyzing specific capacity of multiaquifer wells : ground-water hydraulics

Conventional well-logging techniques, combined with measurements of flow velocity in the borehole, can provide information on the discharge-drawdown characteriBtic8 of the several aquifers penetrated by a well. The information is most conveniently presented in a graph showing aquifer discharges as functions of the water level in the well at a particular time. To determine the discharge-drawdown characteristics, a well is pumped at a steady rate for a certain length of time. While the well is being pumped, measurements are made of drawdown and of the discharge rates of the individual aquifers within the well. Discharge rates and drawdowns ,are usually recorded as functions of time, and their values for any given time during the test are obtained by interpolation. The procedure is repeated for several different rates of total well discharge. The well may be allowed to recover after each step, or discharge may be changed from one rate to another, and changes in discharge and drawdown may be measured by extrapolation. The flow measurements within the well may be made by use of a subsurface flowmeter or by one of several techniques involving the injection of electrolytic or radioactive tracers. The method was tested on a well in Mercer County, Pa., and provided much useful information on aquifer yields, 'thieving,' and hydrostatic heads of the individual zones.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1961

A Simple Method for Determining Specific Yield from Pumping Tests

A simpler solution which greatly reduces the time necessary to compute the specific yield by the pumping-test method of Remson and Lang (1955) is presented. The method consists of computing the volume of dewatered material in the cone of depression and comparing it with the total volume of discharged water. The original method entails the use of a slowly converging series to compute the volume of dewatered material. The solution given herein is derived directly from Darcy's law.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1962

Theory of aquifer tests

The development of water supplies from wells was placed on a rational basis with Darcy's development of the law governing the movement of fluids through sands and with Dupuit's application of that law to the problem of radial flow toward a pumped well. As field experience increased, confidence in the applicability of quantitative methods was gained and interest in developing solutions for more complex hydrologic problems was stimulated. An important milestone was Theis' development in 1935 of a solution for the nonsteady flow of ground water, which enabled hydrologists for the first time to predict future changes in ground-water levels resulting from pumping or recharging of wells. In the quarter century since, quantitative ground-water hydrology has been enlarging so rapidly as to discourage the preparation of comprehensive textbooks. This report surveys developments in fluid mechanics that apply to groundwater hydrology. It emphasizes concepts and principles, and the delineation of limits of applicability of mathematical models for analysis of flow systems in the field. It stresses the importance of the geologic variable and its role in governing the flow regimen. The report discusses the origin, occurrence, and motion of underground water in relation to the development of terminology and analytic expressions for selected flow systems. It describes the underlying assumptions necessary for mathematical treatment of these flow systems, with particular reference to the way in which the assumptions limit the validity of the treatment.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1962

Constant-head pumping test of a multiaquifer well to determine characteristics of individual aquifers

This report describes the theory and field procedures for determining the transmissibility and storage coefficients and the original hydrostatic head of each aquifer penetrated by a multiaquifer well. The procedure involves pumping the well in such a manner that the drawdown of water level is constant while the discharges of the different aquifers are measured by means of borehole flowmeters. The theory is developed by analogy to the heat-flow problem solved by Smith. The internal discharge between aquifers after the well is completed is analyzed as the first step. Pumping at constant, drawdown constitutes the second step. Transmissibility and storage coefficients are determined by a method described by Jacob and Lohman, after the original internal discharge to or from the aquifer has been compensated for in the calculations. The original hydrostatic head of each aquifer is then determined by resubstituting the transmissibility and storage coefficients into the first step of the analysis. The method was tested on a well in Chester County, Pa., but the results were not entirely satisfactory, owing to the lack of sufficiently accurate methods of flow measurement and, probably, to the effects of entrance losses in the well. The determinations of the transmissibility coefficient and static head can be accepted as having order-of-magnitude significance, but the determinations of the storage coefficient, which is highly sensitive to experimental error, must be rejected. It is felt that better results may be achieved in the future, as more reliable devices for metering the flow become available and as more is learned concerning the nature of entrance losses. If accurate data can be obtained, recently developed techniques of digital or analog computation may permit determination of the response of each aquifer in the well to any form of pumping.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1964

Methods of determining permeability, transmissibility and drawdown

If the Theis graphical method is used for determining the hydraulic constants of an aquifer under water-table conditions, the observed drawdowns should be corrected for the decrease in saturated thickness. This is especially true if the drawdown is a large fraction of the original saturated thickness, for then the computed coefficient of permeability is highly inaccurate if based on observed, rather than corrected, water levels. Wenzel's limiting formula, a modification of the Theis graphical method, is useful where u=r2s/4Tt is less than about 0.01. However, a shorter procedure for determination of the coefficient of transmissibility, as well as the coefficient of storage, consists of plotting the values of the corrected drawdowns against the values of the logarithm of r. Wenzel (1942) suggested that observation wells be situated on lines that extend upgradient and downgradient from the pumped well. However, a detailed analysis of aquifer-test results indicates that such a restriction is unnecessary. The gradient method for determining permeability should yield the same results as the Thies method. The former, when applied for a distance within the range of applicability of the latter, is merely a duplication of effort or, at best, a crude check. Because of the limitations of accuracy in plotting, the gradient method is much less satisfactory. That Wenzel (1942) obtained identical results from the two methods is regarded as a coincidence. Failure to take into consideration the fact that the pumped well does not tap the full thickness of the aquifer leads to an apparent coefficient of permeability that is much too low, especially if the aquifer consists of stratified sediments. The average coefficient of permeability computed from uncorrected drawdowns may be only a little more than half of the true value.

Water Supply Paper↗