Numerical study identifying the factors causing the significant underestimation of the specific discharge estimated using the modified integral pumping test method in a laboratory experiment

•Wellbore flow modeled as part of aquifer flow•Partial screen accounts for 11% of the MIPT estimation error.•Well screen loss accounts for < 10% of the MIPT estimation error.•Unexplained error attributed to orifice loss•Use depth-integrated head to reduce estimation error associated with screen loss

A three-dimensional finite element model is constructed to simulate the experimental conditions presented in a paper published in this journal [Goltz et al., 2009. Validation of two innovative methods to measure contaminant mass flux in groundwater. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 106 (2009) 51–61] where the modified integral pumping test (MIPT) method was found to significantly underestimate the specific discharge in an artificial aquifer. The numerical model closely replicates the experimental configuration with explicit representation of the pumping well column and skin, allowing for the model to simulate the wellbore flow in the pumping well as an integral part of the porous media flow in the aquifer using the equivalent hydraulic conductivity approach. The equivalent hydraulic conductivity is used to account for head losses due to friction within the wellbore of the pumping well. Applying the MIPT method on the model simulated piezometric heads resulted in a specific discharge that underestimates the true specific discharge in the experimental aquifer by 18.8%, compared with the 57% underestimation of mass flux by the experiment reported by Goltz et al. (2009). Alternative simulation shows that the numerical model is capable of approximately replicating the experiment results when the equivalent hydraulic conductivity is reduced by an order of magnitude, suggesting that the accuracy of the MIPT estimation could be improved by expanding the physical meaning of the equivalent hydraulic conductivity to account for other factors such as orifice losses in addition to frictional losses within the wellbore. Numerical experiments also show that when applying the MIPT method to estimate hydraulic parameters, use of depth-integrated piezometric head instead of the head near the pump intake can reduce the estimation error resulting from well losses, but not the error associated with the well not being fully screened.