Researchers and practitioners have come to recognize the limitations of conventional methods for groundwater velocity estimation because, over the past few decades, they observed failures of remediation plans at some sites that resulted from inadequate hydrogeologic investigation. This ignited an interest in alternative methods and technologies for measuring groundwater velocity.
There is now emerging a substantial and growing literature describing alternative methods and technologies for measuring groundwater velocity including use of in-well point velocity probes as pictured below. Some of the methods represent brand new approaches while others are modifications of earlier ideas; some methods have gained increasing attention since their introduction and others have gone dormant.
This book illustrates the reasons for hydrogeologists to consider alternative methods of groundwater velocity measurement, and presents a subset of the technologies that have gained attention through the years. It is hoped that this book will inspire both experienced and upcoming hydrogeologists to explore the insight that the novel velocity measurements can offer to site characterization, and perhaps be inspired to imagine new and better ways to make these measurements.