The influence of anisotropy on capture zone analysis

Approximately 50,000 gallons of various grades of gasoline and aviation fuel were leaked into silty clay overburden overlying phyllite of the Wissahickon Formation. Pumping tests and measurements of water table recovery from recovery and production wells suggested that elliptical cones of depression were caused by anisotropic groundwater flow in steeply dipping fractures trending between N60 degree E and N75 degree E which were formed by weathered metamorphic foliation. Fracture trace analysis, outcrop measurements, borehole camera surveys, straddle packer testing, and test excavations supported this conceptual model for hydraulic conductivity. Using both quantitative and semi-quantitative methods, the magnitude of anisotropy was calculated from both pumping tests and water table recovery data. Calculated anisotropies showed variations related to the particular method of analysis. Simulations of capture zones using numerical techniques indicated that anisotropic conditions had produced actual capture zones influenced by groundwater flow not orthogonal to equipotential lines. Capture zone shapes were significantly distorted along the primary axis of anisotropy within the range of variation in anisotropy (n) measured by the different analysis methods. Using the mean value of anisotropy from this site (n = 14), actual recovery well capture areas were subsequently corrected for anisotropic effects. The use of capture areas corrected for the mean value of anisotropy enabled more effective placement of subsequent recovery wells. The relatively consistent foliation of rocks in the Wissahickon Formation suggested that capture zone correction should be considered when developing recovery strategies in aquifer systems where anisotropic conditions are likely