Flow to vertical and nonvertical wells in leaky aquifers

A solution is obtained for unsteady flow to a continuous point sink in a homogeneous, anisotropic, leaky aquifer. Then superposition is used to distribute sinks with constant strength along straight-line segments to model flow to either partially penetrating vertical wells or nonvertical wells with finite length. The result is shown to duplicate the Hantush solution for flow to a vertical, partially penetrating well in a fully confined aquifer. However, differences occur when the corresponding result for a leaky aquifer is compared with an approximate solution obtained by Hantush, who assumed that inflow leakage is distributed uniformly over the full aquifer thickness. These differences are believed to result from inaccuracies in the Hantush approximation. Additional examples are used to illustrate the method, including flow to a single horizontal well, flow to two horizontal wells crossed at fight angles to each other, and flow to a "blind" well formed by joining inclined and horizontal wells. A particle tracking exercise is carried out to illustrate use of this solution for pump-and-treat groundwater remediation.