Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Results of borehole geophysical logging and hydraulic tests conducted in Area D supply wells, former U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, Warminster, Pennsylvania

January 1, 1998

Borehole geophysical logging, aquifer tests, and aquifer-isolation (packer) tests were conducted in four supply wells at the former U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) in Warminster, PA, to identify the depth and yield of water-bearing zones, occurrence of borehole flow, and effect of pumping on nearby wells. The study was conducted as part of an ongoing evaluation of ground-water contamination at the NAWC. Caliper, natural-gamma, single-point resistance, fluid resistivity, and fluid temperature logs and borehole television surveys were run in the supply wells, which range in depth from 242 to 560 ft (feet). Acoustic borehole televiewer and borehole deviation logs were run in two of the wells. The direction and rate of borehole-fluid movement under non-pumping conditions were measured with a high-resolution heatpulse flowmeter. The logs were used to locate water-bearing fractures, determine probable zones of vertical borehole-fluid movement, and determine the depth to set packers. An aquifer test was conducted in each well to determine open-hole specific capacity and the effect of pumping the open borehole on water levels in nearby wells. Specific capacities ranged from 0.21 to 1.7 (gal/min)/ft (gallons per minute per foot) of drawdown. Aquifer-isolation tests were conducted in each well to determine depth-discrete specific capacities and to determine the effect of pumping an individual fracture or fracture zone on water levels in nearby wells. Specific capacities of individual fractures and fracture zones ranged from 0 to 2.3 (gal/min)/ft. Most fractures identified as water-producing or water-receiving zones by borehole geophysical methods produced water when isolated and pumped. All hydrologically active fractures below 250 ft below land surface were identified as water-receiving zones and produced little water when isolated and pumped. In the two wells greater then 540 ft deep, downward borehole flow to the deep water-receiving fractures is caused by a large difference in head (as much as greater then 49 ft) between water-bearing fractured in the upper and lower part of the borehole. Vertical distribution of specific capacity between land surface and 250 ft below land surface is not related to depth.

Publication Year 1998
Title Results of borehole geophysical logging and hydraulic tests conducted in Area D supply wells, former U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, Warminster, Pennsylvania
DOI 10.3133/wri984129
Authors Ronald A. Sloto, Kevin E. Grazul
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series Number 98-4129
Index ID wri984129
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Pennsylvania Water Science Center