Tank-tests of a Prototype Electromagnetic Groundwater Flowmeter

Nutrients leaching through groundwater are one contributor to waterway contamination. Guiding land use decisions to reduce the impact on water resources requires accurate knowledge of the flow of groundwater. Currently, measurements from monitored wells are used to tune models of this flow. However, there are few wells available and so the data is sparse. An electromagnetic flowmeter has been proposed to simplify the measurement of groundwater flow and provide data to generate more robust models. Although based on a sensing technique that has been widely used for measurement of flow in pipes, the slow movement of groundwater results in small signals subject to significant interference. This paper presents some initial laboratory results from a prototype electromagnetic flowmeter showing that there is a tradeoff between noise and self-interference reduction.