Stochastic Analysis of the Drawdown Time of Infiltration Basins in the Presence of Heterogeneous Soils

The drawdown time is important for the design and assessment of infiltration basins. This paper investigates its dependence on soil heterogeneity, and simple analytical solutions for the mean and the variance are given. The solutions are tested through Monte Carlo simulations in various realistic scenarios, using a modified Green Ampt model for layered soils and a model based on the integration of the 1‐D Richards equation. The impact of the employed approximations is assessed, and the leading role of the spatial distribution of the saturated hydraulic conductivity is emphasized. The effects of other relevant design and natural factors, including the initial water level and water content distribution, are also investigated. Infiltration basins are receiving an increasing interest in water resources management as an alternative to surface water storage in the managed aquifer recharge and as a green infrastructure at the urban scale. One of the main parameters in the design of the infiltration basins is the drawdown time, that is, the time needed to empty the basin after it has been filled with water, for instance, after a flood event or by a managed treatment plant outlet. This work provides simple analytical solutions for the evaluation along a stochastic approach of the drawdown time, accounting for the soil heterogeneity and leading to a probabilistic design of the infiltration structure. The time needed to empty infiltration basins, or drawdown time τ, is an important quantity for their design and assessmentThis work proposes analytical solutions for the mean and variance of τconsidering the soil heterogeneitySolutions have been tested through a set of Monte Carlo numerical simulations, showing that the probability density function is lognormal and investigating the effects of design and natural factors The time needed to empty infiltration basins, or drawdown time τ, is an important quantity for their design and assessment This work proposes analytical solutions for the mean and variance of τconsidering the soil heterogeneity Solutions have been tested through a set of Monte Carlo numerical simulations, showing that the probability density function is lognormal and investigating the effects of design and natural factors