Groundwater is the water

found underground in the

cracks and spaces in soil,
sand, and rock. It is held in
aquifers—permeable
water-bearing rock and/or
sediment—and can be
extracted through wells or
bubbles up naturally
through a spring or is
discharged into lakes or
streams
An aquifer is a geological formation that is made up of permeable sedimentary
layers that can store or yield large amounts of water
There are two general types of aquifers:
1. Confined aquifers have a layer of impenetrable rock or clay above them.
A confined aquifer happens when water in porous layers is trapped by
layers that are relatively impermeable, like granite. Or dense clay.
Confined layers tend to be under pressure and typically are saturated
throughout.

2. Unconfined aquifers lie below a permeable layer of soil. Unconfined layers

are where ground water is located. This is water right under the soil, the top
of this is considered the water table

DARCY’S LAW
refers to the amount of fluid that flows through a permeable medium or body.
Darcy’s law states that the rate at which a fluid moves through a permeable
medium (like groundwater moving through an aquifer) is directly related to the
difference between vertical elevations at different points in the medium, and
indirectly directly related to the distance between those points in the medium
the flow of fluid between two points is directly related to pressure differences,
distances, and interconnectedness of flows within rocks/sediments.

Darcy’s law equation is expressed as follows:

Q = -kA (Pb – Pa)/μL
Q is the rate at which the liquid flows

k is the instantaneous discharge rate

A is the cross-sectional area of a column

(Pb – Pa) is the pressure drop over a given distance

μ is the fluid’s viscosity

L is the length over which the pressure tends to drop

• Confined aquifer:
A confined aquifer can be characterized by the quantity of groundwater flow
per unit area (q) as follows:

q = Kb dh/dx
K is the hydraulic conductivity

b is the thickness

dh/dx is the hydraulic gradient

X is the direction of the hydraulic gradient

• Unconfined aquifer:
Groundwater discharge per unit of aquifer width (q) can be determined by
Darcy’s law when the aquifer is unconfined:

q = -Kh dh/dx
K is the hydraulic conductivity

h is the saturated thickness

dh/dx is the hydraulic gradient

x is the direction of the hydraulic gradient

NOTE:

Darcy’s law does not apply to all types of soil, but rather to some types only.
These include clay, sandy soil, and silt soil. Darcy’s law does not apply to
permeable surfaces, such as gravel and cobbles.

Neither the saturated nor the unsaturated flow of fluid follows Darcy’s law.

It is only applicable when the flow of fluid is laminar.