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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Use of geographic information system to assess groundwater monitoring well integrity in a large well network at the Savannah River Site

Conference ·
OSTI ID:553760
 [1];
  1. Westinghouse Savannah River Company, AIKEN, SC (United States)
Groundwater samples taken from wells that lack well construction integrity may produce unreliable data. One of the principal well construction integrity issues is whether the well filter-pack zone breaches an overlying or underlying confining unit. Examining well geophysical logs and related well data to identify wells with screen and filter-pack zones that may breach a confining unit is a time- intensive process. GIS, therefore, was utilized as an inexpensive screening tool to determine which wells at the Savannah River Site`s administrative and technical area potentially penetrate into or breach confining units. Three dimensional gridded surfaces representing the interfaces of aquifer and confining units were used in conjunction with well construction data obtained from a relational database in a GIS application written to locate well screen and filter-pack zone top and bottom elevations within the vertical hydrostratigraphy. The application then was used to identify wells with screen and filter-pack zones that potentially breach a confining unit. Use of these software tools enabled the efficient identification of 66 monitoring wells that may breach a confining unit within the Savannah River Site`s technical and administrative area. Geophysical logs from these wells will be examined to determine whether they should be removed from service.
Research Organization:
Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-96SR18500
OSTI ID:
553760
Report Number(s):
WSRC-MS--97-0378; CONF-970761--2; ON: DE97060109
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English