Non-Darcian flow to a well in a leaky aquifer using the Forchheimer equation

Non-Darcian flow to a well in a leaky aquifer was investigated using a finite difference method. Flow in the leaky aquifer is assumed to be non-Darcian and horizontal, while flow in the aquitard is assumed to be Darcian and vertical. The Forchheimer equation was employed to describe the non-Darcian flow in the aquifer. The finite difference solution was compared with the solution of Birpinar and Sen (2004). The latter overestimates the drawdown at early times and underestimates the drawdown at late times; also, the impact of beta (D) on the drawdown depends on the value of B (D), where beta (D) is a dimensionless turbulent factor in the Forchheimer equation and B (D) is the dimensionless leakage parameter. The impact of leakage on drawdown is similar to that of Darcian flow. A sensitivity analysis indicated that the drawdown is very sensitive to the change in the dimensionless well radius r (cD) when B (D) is relatively large, while it is sensitive to the change in B (D) when B (D) is relatively small. The numerical solution has been applied to analyze the pumping test data in Chaj-Doab area of Pakistan. Birpinar ME, Sen Z (2004) Forchheimer groundwater flow law type curves for leaky aquifers. J Hydrol Eng 9(1):51-59.