ABSTRACT
Sophisticated methods of pumping-test data analysis can be justified only on the basis of sound data collection. Logic dictates that in a pumping test in a leaky-confined aquifer, some increment of time is necessary for leakage to be induced from the semiconfining layer. Slug tests are particularly suited to determining the approximate aquifer characteristics of the low-permeability materials that are typically dealt with in areas selected for waste disposal. This is because low-permeability materials ensure a relatively slow rate of water-level recovery which facilitates accurate measurement in the well. Slug tests are performed in a single borehole, well, or piezometer, to derive values of permeability. Slug tests do not sample as large a zone of the aquifer as pumping tests. Nevertheless, these tests are widely used because of their relatively low cost and ease of performance. The Hvorslev slug-test method is presented as a convenient method of deriving a field value of permeability in an unconfined aquifer.
