Ambient Flow Profiling

Overview

Offline wells present their own challenges to successful wellfield management, but can also serve as valuable tools when gathering data for subsurface characterization. In order to measure the ambient flow and chemistry within offline wells, BESST has developed its Ambient Flow Profiling Service to better characterize flow and mass flux under non-pumping conditions. The Ambient Flow Profiling Service utilizes the dye tracer system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey that injects small quantities of diluted rhodamine dye solution into the well. The dye then moves with the hydraulic gradient within the well, and that movement is measured using one or more fiber-optic sensors positioned a known distance from the injection point. The diagnostic data obtained with the Ambient Flow Profiling Service provides insight into potential risks to the water quality of critical assets through the process of vertical and lateral mass transfer within an aquifer.

Objectives

• To determine pathways of water migration into a well.
• To determine mass transfer of contaminants throughout a well.
• To delineate plume migration within a well field.
• To compare zonal contribution under static conditions vs. dynamic conditions.

Combining BESST’s HydroBooster sampling system with the Ambient Flow Profile Service has produced diagnostic data that has revealed opportunities for a variety of different well modifications, including sleeves and packers at precise depths to reduce water treatment costs.