GROUNDWATER

EN-305
Lecture - III
 GROUNDWATER
• The water present beneath the earth’s surface in soil pore
spaces, and in fractures of rock formations.
• Vadose zone: Zone of soil which holds water as well as air. It is
also called the unsaturated zone. Water can’t be pumped
from this zone, but plants can absorb it through roots.
• Saturated zone: When all the air space in soil is filled with
water, it is referred to as saturated zone; and the water in
saturated zone is called groundwater.
• Capillary fringe: The transition zone between vadose and
saturated layer is called the capillary fringe.
• Water Table: The upper boundary of saturated zone.
 AQUIFER
• It is the water-saturated geologic layer that is
permeable to water flow.
• It sits on top of a confining bed of soil
(clay/silt/rock) called the aquiclude/aquitard.
• An aquifer with an unsaturated/vadose zone
over it is called an unconfined aquifer.
• An aquifer sandwitched between two
aquitards is called the confined aquifer.
• Artesian well: A well drilled into the confined
aquifer (may have pressure and the water in
the well may rise above the upper layer of
confined aquifer).
• Flowing artesian well: If the water from an
artesian well rises above the surface of earth
• Piezometric surface: The level to which water
rises in an artesian level.
• Perched water table: Water held on an
impermeable layer above the water table
• The water stored in an aquifer will depend on
its porosity (porosity defines water bearing
capacity of geologic formations) , but not all
the water stored in aquifer can be pumped
out since some of the pores are not
connected; some water is strongly
held/adsorbed by the soil particles.

• The volume of water actually drained from an

unconfined aquifer per unit of area per unit decline
is called the specific yield (Effective Porosity)
 Representative values of
Porosity and Specific yield
Material Porosity (%) Specific Yield (%)
Clay 45 3
Sand 34 25
Gravel 25 22
Gravel and Sand 20 16
Sandstone 15 8
Limestone 5 2
Quartzite 1 0.5
Source: Linsley et al., 1992
 HYDRAULIC GRADIENT
• The slope of water table
 GROUNDWATER FLOW
• Groundwater flow is cross sectional area times
the hydraulic gradient
VALUES OF HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY

Material Conductivity (m/day)

Clay 0.0004
Sand 41
Gravel 4100
Gravel and sand 410
Sandstone 4.1
Limestone 0.041
Quartzite, Granite 0.0004
Source: Linsley et al., 1992
• Homogenous Aquifers: Aquifers having same
hydraulic conductivity throughout

• Heterogenous Aquifers: Differences in hydraulic

conductivity on account of heterogeneity

• Isotropic Aquifers: Same hydraulic conductivity in

all directions

• Anisotropic: Aquifers with varying hydraulic

conductivity in different directions
 Problem
• A confined aquifer 20.0 meters thick
has two monitoring wells placed 500
meters apart along the direction of
groundwater flow. The difference in
water levels of the wells is 2.0 meters.
The hydraulic conductivity is 50
m/day. Estimate the rate of flow per
meter of distance.
 Solution
• As per Darcy’s law: Q = KA(dh/dL)
• Now dh = 2.0 m; dL = 500 m
• Hydraulic gradient = (dh/dL) = (2/500) = 0.004
• K = 50 m/day; A = 1.0 m X 20.0 m = 20.0 m2
• Now Q = 50m/d X 20.0 m2 X 0.004
• = 4.0 m3/day per meter of width