Liu Gaisheng, Knobbe Steven, Reboulet Edward C, Whittemore Donald O, Händel Falk, Butler James J
Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, 1930 Constant Ave, Lawrence, KS, 66047.
Institute for Groundwater Management, Technische Universität Dresden, Bergstraße 66, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Ground Water. 2016 May;54(3):425-33. doi: 10.1111/gwat.12363. Epub 2015 Aug 27.
Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is the artificial recharge and temporary storage of water in an aquifer when water is abundant, and recovery of all or a portion of that water when it is needed. One key limiting factor that still hinders the effectiveness of ASR is the high costs of constructing, maintaining, and operating the artificial recharge systems. Here we investigate a new recharge method for ASR in near-surface unconsolidated aquifers that uses small-diameter, low-cost wells installed with direct-push (DP) technology. The effectiveness of a DP well for ASR recharge is compared with that of a surface infiltration basin at a field site in north-central Kansas. The performance of the surface basin was poor at the site due to the presence of a shallow continuous clay layer, identified with DP profiling methods, that constrained the downward movement of infiltrated water and significantly reduced the basin recharge capacity. The DP well penetrated through this clay layer and was able to recharge water by gravity alone at a much higher rate. Most importantly, the costs of the DP well, including both the construction and land costs, were only a small fraction of those for the infiltration basin. This low-cost approach could significantly expand the applicability of ASR as a water resources management tool to entities with limited fiscal resources, such as many small municipalities and rural communities. The results of this investigation demonstrate the great potential of DP wells as a new recharge option for ASR projects in near-surface unconsolidated aquifers.
含水层储能与回灌（ASR）是指在水资源丰富时将水人工回灌并临时储存在含水层中，在需要时再将全部或部分水回采出来。目前仍阻碍ASR有效性的一个关键限制因素是人工回灌系统的建设、维护和运行成本高昂。在此，我们研究了一种在近地表非固结含水层中进行ASR的新型回灌方法，该方法使用通过直接推压（DP）技术安装的小直径低成本水井。在堪萨斯州中北部的一个实地站点，将一口用于ASR回灌的DP井的有效性与一个地表渗滤池的有效性进行了比较。由于存在一层浅连续粘土层（通过DP剖面法确定），该站点的地表渗滤池性能较差，这层粘土层限制了渗入水的向下移动，并显著降低了渗滤池的回灌能力。DP井穿透了这层粘土层，仅靠重力就能以更高的速率回灌水。最重要的是，DP井的成本，包括建设成本和土地成本，仅为渗滤池成本的一小部分。这种低成本方法可以显著扩大ASR作为一种水资源管理工具对财政资源有限的实体（如许多小城市和农村社区）的适用性。本研究结果表明，DP井作为近地表非固结含水层中ASR项目的一种新型回灌选择具有巨大潜力。
