Determination of the Pore Water Velocity Using a Salt Tracer Combined with Self-Potential Measurements

Abstract

The tracer technique is recommended as an effective tool in surveying abnormal seepage through lakes and dams. By injecting a tracer into a known upstream location and monitoring the appearance of the tracer in the downstream leak point, it is possible to determine the direction and the average water velocity of the preferential flow through the dam. The detailed result achieved depends on the number of samples and the sampling locations to analyze tracer concentration over time in the field. This study proposes to use noninvasive self-potential measurements to determine the location and time the salt tracer moves through the seepage zone. The connection between the potential signal according to the propagation of the NaCl salt tracer and the water velocity was demonstrated through an experiment on a sandbox model. Experimental results express a good agreement between the time to reach the maximum value of the potential variation and the salt concentration variation with the time that water comes to monitoring locations. The result indicates an ability to determine the pore water velocity of the seepage zone based on the recording of potential signals produced by a salt tracer movement. The salt tracer test using NaCl combined with self-potential measurements was then applied to survey a leaking earth dam in the Dong Nai river basin (Vietnam).