An alternative approach to conventional seepage meters: Buoy-type seepage meter

Bong-Joo Lee; Ji-Hoon Lee; Dong-Hun Kim

doi:10.1002/lom3.10246

Variable Seepage Meter Efficiency in High-Permeability Settings

Water ◽

10.3390/w12113267 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 3267

Author(s):

Donald O. Rosenberry ◽

José Manuel Nieto López ◽

Richard M. T. Webb ◽

Sascha Müller

Keyword(s):

Numerical Modeling ◽

Hydraulic Conductivity ◽

Coarse Sand ◽

High Permeability ◽

Bypass Flow ◽

Seepage Velocity ◽

Permeable Sediments ◽

Seepage Meters ◽

Seepage Meter ◽

Flow Through

The efficiency of seepage meters, long considered a fixed property associated with the meter design, is not constant in highly permeable sediments. Instead, efficiency varies substantially with seepage bag fullness, duration of bag attachment, depth of meter insertion into the sediments, and seepage velocity. Tests conducted in a seepage test tank filled with isotropic sand with a hydraulic conductivity of about 60 m/d indicate that seepage meter efficiency varies widely and decreases unpredictably when the volume of the seepage bag is greater than about 65 to 70 percent full or less than about 15 to 20 percent full. Seepage generally decreases with duration of bag attachment even when operated in the mid-range of bag fullness. Stopping flow through the seepage meter during bag attachment or removal also results in a decrease in meter efficiency. Numerical modeling indicates efficiency is inversely related to hydraulic conductivity in highly permeable sediments. An efficiency close to 1 for a meter installed in sediment with a hydraulic conductivity of 1 m/d decreases to about 60 and then 10 percent when hydraulic conductivity is increased to 10 and 100 m/d, respectively. These large efficiency reductions apply only to high-permeability settings, such as wave- or tidally washed coarse sand or gravel, or fluvial settings with an actively mobile sand or gravel bed, where low resistance to flow through the porous media allows bypass flow around the seepage cylinder to readily occur. In more typical settings, much greater resistance to bypass flow suppresses small changes in meter resistance during inflation or deflation of seepage bags.

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Use of seepage meters in a groundwater – lake interaction study in a fractured rock basin — a case study

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.1139/l88-130 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 15 (6) ◽

pp. 984-989 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

M. P. Attanayake ◽

D. H. Waller

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variations ◽

Fractured Rock ◽

Water Levels ◽

Interaction Study ◽

Groundwater Levels ◽

Seepage Meters ◽

Seepage Meter ◽

Seepage Measurements ◽

Chloride Concentrations

Applications of seepage meters in lakes with slight bottom sediments in fractured rock basins have not been reported. A study of the hydrogeology of Long Lake, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, used seepage meters in this situation. Fifteen meters were installed in the 1.7 km2 lake — seven in a line extending from the shore, the remaining eight on the lake periphery. Seepage measurements were made monthly over 1 year. Groundwater levels were measured in boreholes in the fractured granite of the watershed. A positive inflow of groundwater to the lake occurred through the year, seepage flux at the shoreline meters varied from 0.15 to 0.78 mL∙m−2∙s−1, with no consistent seasonal variations. Seepage decreased exponentially with offshore distance. A linear relationship was evident between water levels in a borehole near the shore and rate of seepage at the closest meter. Chloride applied to this borehole was reflected in elevated chloride concentrations in seepage collected by the meter. Key words: seepage meter, groundwater – lake system, fractured rock tracers.

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Identification of Groundwater Discharge Zones in a Reach of Hillman Creek in Southern Ontario

Water Quality Research Journal ◽

10.2166/wqrj.1978.010 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 121-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

David Robert Lee ◽

H.B.N. Hynes

Keyword(s):

Groundwater Discharge ◽

Specific Conductance ◽

Agricultural Watershed ◽

Discharge Zone ◽

Seepage Rate ◽

Small Stream ◽

Paired Samples ◽

Seepage Meters ◽

Seepage Meter ◽

Chemical Inputs

Abstract Several new techniques were used to identify zones of groundwater and contaminant inflow to the headwaters area of a small stream draining an agricultural watershed in southwestern Ontario. Along a 3 km length of stream, seepage meters were used to measure and collect seepage flux and mini-piezometers were used to measure piezometric head relative to the stream and to collect pore water 0.6 m below the streambed. Measurement of seepage flux at 43 locations along a 3 km segment of Hillman Creek showed that most of the study section was a groundwater discharge zone. Spatial differences in seepage flux ranged from less than 0.001 to nearly 9 cm m s 1. During the growing season there was a marked diurnal change in seepage rate at several locations and this was also reflected by a corresponding change in stream discharge. Paired samples, one from a piezometer 0.6 m below streambed and one from the adjacent seepage meter, were significantly correlated (P < 0.01) with respect to specific conductance, chloride and inorganic carbon concentration. This suggested that in many instances site-specific estimates of chemical inputs from groundwater to surface water can be estimated quickly without the necessity of allowing natural groundwater flow to flush out the water initially trapped within the seepage container. Seepage meters can be used to measure seepage flux and the small piezometers can be used to obtain samples. The concentrations of non-conservative solutes (organic carbon, nitrate + nitrite nitrogen, and phospate) in seepage meter samples were not significantly correlated with the concentrations in corresponding mini-piezometer samples.

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Delineating a road-salt plume in lakebed sediments using electrical resistivity, piezometers, and seepage meters at Mirror Lake, New Hampshire, U.S.A

Geophysics ◽

10.1190/1.3467505 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 75 (4) ◽

pp. WA75-WA83 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Laura Toran ◽

Melanie Johnson ◽

Jonathan Nyquist ◽

Donald Rosenberry

Keyword(s):

Electrical Resistivity ◽

New Hampshire ◽

Chloride Concentration ◽

Road Salt ◽

Small Stream ◽

Inlet Stream ◽

Seepage Meters ◽

Mirror Lake ◽

Seepage Meter

Electrical-resistivity surveys, seepage meter measurements, and drive-point piezometers have been used to characterize chloride-enriched groundwater in lakebed sediments of Mirror Lake, New Hampshire, U.S.A. A combination of bottom-cable and floating-cable electrical-resistivity surveys identified a conductive zone [Formula: see text] overlying resistive bedrock [Formula: see text] beneath the lake. Shallow pore-water samples from piezometers in lakebed sediments have chloride concentrations of [Formula: see text], and lake water has a chloride concentration of [Formula: see text]. The extent of the plume was estimated and mapped using resistivity and water-sample data. The plume ([Formula: see text] wide and at least [Formula: see text] thick) extends nearly the full length and width of a small inlet, overlying the top of a basin formed by the bedrock. It would not have been possible to mapthe plume’s shape without the resistivity surveys because wells provided only limited coverage. Seepage meters were installed approximately [Formula: see text] from the mouth of a small stream discharging at the head of the inlet in an area where the resistivity data indicated lake sediments are thin. These meters recorded in-seepage of chloride-enriched groundwater at rates similar to those observed closer to shore, which was unexpected because seepage usually declines away from shore. Although the concentration of road salt in the northeast inlet stream is declining, the plume map and seepage data indicate the groundwater contribution of road salt to the lake is not declining. The findings demonstrate the benefit of combining geophysical and hydrologic data to characterize discharge of a plume beneath Mirror Lake. The extent of the plume in groundwater beneath the lake and stream indicate there will likely be a long-term source of chloride to the lake from groundwater.

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Multi-scale evaluations of submarine groundwater discharge

Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences ◽

10.5194/piahs-365-66-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 365 ◽

pp. 66-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. Taniguchi ◽

M. Ono ◽

M. Takahashi

Keyword(s):

Submarine Groundwater Discharge ◽

Groundwater Discharge ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Sea Level Changes ◽

Point Scale ◽

Multi Scale ◽

Seepage Meters ◽

Seepage Meter ◽

Submarine Groundwater ◽

Made In

Abstract. Multi-scale evaluations of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) have been made in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island, Japan, by using seepage meters for point scale, 222Rn tracer for point and coastal scales, and a numerical groundwater model (SEAWAT) for coastal and basin scales. Daily basis temporal changes in SGD are evaluated by continuous seepage meter and 222Rn mooring measurements, and depend on sea level changes. Spatial evaluations of SGD were also made by 222Rn along the coast in July 2010 and November 2011. The area with larger 222Rn concentration during both seasons agreed well with the area with larger SGD calculated by 3D groundwater numerical simulations.

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