Analysis of Steady‐State Salt‐Water Upconing with Application at Truro Well Field, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Salt‐water upconing describes the phenomenon where salt water is transported vertically upward under a well in response to pumpage in a fresh‐water aquifer underlain by salt water. Sharp interface methods have been used successfully to describe the physics of upconing. A finite‐element model is developed to simulate a sharp interface for determination of the steady‐state position of the interface and maximum permissible well discharges. The model developed is compared to previous published electric‐analog model results of Bennett and others (1968). Both methods are applied to a test case at Truro, Massachusetts, where maximum permissible discharges are determined by the finite‐element model to range from 0.47 to 1.05 cubic feet per second for the Test Site No. 4 location.