The drag of the excess charge in an electrical double layer at the solid fluid interface due to water flow induces the streaming current, i.e., the streaming potential (SP). Here we introduce a sandbox experiment to study this hydroelectric coupling in case of a tracer test. An acrylic tank was filled up with homogeneous sand as a sand aquifer, and the upstream and downstream reservoirs were connected to the sand aquifer to control the hydraulic gradient. Under a steady-state water flow condition, a tracer test was performed in the sandbox with the help of peristaltic pump, and tracer samples were collected from the same interval of five screened wells in the sandbox. During the tracer test, SP signals resulting from the distribution of 20 nonpolarizable electrodes were measured at the top of the tank by a multichannel meter. The results showed that there were changes in the observed SP after injection of tracer, which indicated that the SP was likely to be related to the solute transport.

Keywords: Streaming potential (SP);Solute transport;Tracer test;Sandbox;