Ground Water

Hydrology
PREPARED BY: NEHA RAJUT
Groundwater is the water that occurs in a saturated zone of variable thickness and depth below the earth’s surface. It is
therefore the water beneath the earth’s surface from which wells, springs, and groundwater run-off are supplied.

TYPES OF GROUNDWATER

Meteoric - found in circulatory system of hydrologic cycle

Connate - fossil interstitial water out of contact with the atmosphere for appreciable length of time.

Juvenile - originates from volcanic emanations

Metamorphic - associated with heat, pressure and re-crystallization that created metamorphic rocks
WATER WELLS

A water well is a hole or shaft, usually vertical, excavated in the earth for bringing groundwater to the surface. Many
methods exist for constructing wells; selection of a particular method depends on the purpose of the well, the quantity
of water required, depth to groundwater, geologic conditions and economic factors.
AQUIFERS

The term aquifer is traceable to its Latin origin:

aqui from aqua meaning water
fer from ferre meaning to bear.
An aquifer is a geologic formation, or a group of formations, which contains water and permits significant amount of
water to move through it under ordinary field conditions.

Other terms used are groundwater reservoir (or basin) and water bearing zone (or formation).

Aquifers are generally extensive and may be overlain or underlain by a confining bed. A confining bed may be an
aquiclude, aquifuge or aquitard.

Aquiclude: A relatively impermeable material that does not yield appreciable quantitaties of water to wells i.e. may
contain water but is incapable of transmitting significant quantities of water under ordinary field conditions e.g. clay,
shale.

Aquifuge: A geologic formation neither containing nor transmitting water e.g. fresh granite, basalt.

Aquitard: A poorly permeable geologic formation that transmits water at a very low rate compared to an aquifer e.g.
sandy clay. However, it may transmit appreciable water to or from adjacent aquifers where sufficiently thick and may
constitute an important groundwater storage zone.
AQUIFER CLASSIFICATION

Aquifers may be classed as confined, unconfined or leaky, which can be taken as a combination of the unconfined and
confined.

Confined Aquifer (Pressure or piezometric aquifers)

A confined aquifer is confined above and below by an impervious (may contain water but can’t transmit it) layer under
pressure greater than the atmospheric.
Therefore, in a well penetrating such an aquifer, the water level rises above the bottom of the top confining bed.
The water in a confined aquifer is called confined or artesian water.
Artesian water flows freely without pumping and the well producing such water is called an artesian or a free flowing well.
An example of artesians well near Mariental, Namibia yields approx 300 kl/day and the one near Uitenhage yields approx
120kl/day.
Unconfined Aquifer (Phreatic, Water table)

An unconfined aquifer is one in which a water table (phreatic surface) serves as its upper boundary. A phreatic aquifer is
directly recharged from the ground surface above it.

The water level in well taping an unconfined aquifer and the water table in the aquifer are the same. Therefore, contour
maps and profiles of the water table can be prepared from the elevations of water in wells that tap the aquifer to
determine the quantities of water available, their distribution and movement.
Leaky Aquifer (Semi-confined)

A leaky aquifer is underlain or overlain by semi-pervious strata. Pumping from a well in a leaky aquifer removes water in
two ways: by horizontal flow within the aquifer and by vertical leakage or seepage through the semi-confining layer into
the aquifer. Aquifers that are completely confined or unconfined occur less frequently than leaky aquifers.

Perched Aquifers

Perched aquifers, are special kinds of phreatic aquifers occurring whenever an impervious (or semi-pervious) layer of
limited extent is located between the water table of a phreatic aquifer and the ground surface, thereby making a
groundwater body, separated from the main groundwater body, to be formed. Sometimes, these aquifers exist only during a
relatively short part of each year as they drain to the underlying phreatic aquifer. Therefore wells taping such aquifers
yield only temporary or small quantities of water.
Porosity

The spaces where groundwater occupies are known as voids, interstices, pores or pore spaces. They are fundamentally
important to the study of groundwater because they serve as water conduits. Their nature is dependent on their geology.
Porosity is a measure by the ration of the contained voids in a solid mass to its total volume. θ = Vv/V where θ is the
porosity, Vv is the volume of voids and V is the total volume.
Specific Yield

This is the volume of water, expressed as a percentage of the total volume of the saturated aquifer that can be drained by
gravity. The volume retained (by molecular and surface tension forces) against the force of gravity, expressed as a
percentage of the total volume of the saturated aquifer, is called the specific retention. Porosity = Specific yield + Specific
retention.

The term Specific Retention, Sr, describes the fractional volume left behind after gravity drains a porous material and
is the ratio of the volume retained, VR, and the total sample volume, VT
 Transmissbility (T)

T=Kb where K is the hydraulic conductivity and b, the thickness of the aquifer.

T defines the rate at which water of prevailing kinematic viscosity is transmitted through a unit width of the aquifer
under a unit hydraulic gradient.

Storage Coefficient

Defines the volume of water that an aquifer releases from or takes into storage per unit surface area of aquifer per unit
change in the component of head normal to that surface. It is a dimensionless quantity involving a volume of water per
volume of aquifer.

Hydraulic Conductivity (K)

K is the specific discharge (v) per unit hydraulic gradient (dh/dl) at a specified temperature and expresses the ease with
which fluid is transported through a porous matrix.

K = v/(dh/dl) where v=Q/A

Darcy’s Law

By conducting a number of experiments under varying

conditions, Darcy discovered a mathematical relationship
that indicated the steady-state flow rate through the
circular sand filter, Q, was: directly proportional to the
cross sectional area of the filter, A; directly proportional to
the difference in hydraulic head (elevation of water in the
piezometers measured from a datum) on each side of the
filter, Δh; and inversely proportional to the length of the
filter material, ΔL. The elevation of the water level in the
piezometers is referred to a hydraulic head.
where:
(14)

3
Q = volumetric flow rate (L /T)
Δh = difference in hydraulic head between two measuring points, h2 – h1, where h2 is head at a location beyond the location
of h1 in the direction of flow (L)
ΔL = length along flow path between locations where hydraulic heads are measured (L)
A = cross-sectional area perpendicular to the direction of flow (L2)
Darcy’s law is the fundamental equation used to describe the flow of fluid through porous media, including groundwater.

3
Q = volumetric flow rate (L /T)
K = hydraulic conductivity, is the proportionality constant reflecting the ease with which water flows
through a material (L/T)
Δh = difference in hydraulic head between two measuring points (L)
ΔL = length along the flow path between locations where hydraulic heads are measured (L)
= gradient of hydraulic head (dimensionless)
A = cross-sectional area of flow perpendicular to the direction of flow (L2)
Example 1:

In a certain Place of Madhya Pradesh, the average thickness of the aquifer of the confined aquifer is 20 m and extends
over an area of 720 km2 . The piezometric surface fluctuates annually from 22 to 15 m above the top of aquifer. What
ground water can be expected annually, if a storage coefficient is 0.00072? Assuming, an average well yield of 25 m3/hr
and about 150 days of pumping in a year, how many wells can be drilled in the area?

Solution:

Volume of ground water = Area * Change in piezometric surface * storage coefficient = 720 * 106 * (22-15) * 0.00072 =
= 3.62 * 106 m3

Average well yield = 25 m3/hr

Pumping = 150 days,

Annual pumping volume = 25 m3/hr *150 days* 24 hr = 90000 m3

No of Wells required = 3.62 * 106 m3 / 90000 m3

= 40.22 = 40 Nos.
Example 2:

In a field test, a time of 6 hr was required for a tracer to travel between two observation wells 42 m apart. If the
difference in water table elevations in these wells are 0.85 m and porosity of the aquifer is 20%, then find the coefficient
of permeability of the aquifer in mm/sec.

Solution:

Actual velocity = Seepage velocity / Porosity

Actual velocity of water = travel distance/travel time = 42/6*60*60 = 1.94 * 10-3 m/s = 1.94 mm/sec

Seepage velocity by Darcy’s Law = Ki = porosity * Actual velocity of water

Ki = 0.2 * 1.94 = 0.388 mm/sec

Hydraulic gradient (i) = 0.85/42 = 0.0202

Coefficient of permeability = K = 0.388 / 0.0202 = 19.25 mm/sec

Steady State Flow to Wells in Confined Aquifer
Figure shows a well of radius r fully penetrating a confined aquifer. Let b be the thickness of the aquifer measured
between the top and bottom impervious strata, and H be the height of the initial piezometric surface measured above the
impermeable strata at the bottom.

When the well is pumped at a constant rate Q for a long time so that the water level in the well has been stabilized then
the drawdown curve as shown in Fig. is developed. At this stage let h be the depth of water in the well measured above
the impermeable strata at the bottom. Further let R be the radius of influence.
Let (x, y) be the coordinates of any point P on the drawdown curve with respect to origin O at the centre of the well at its
bottom, if a vertical cylindrical surface passing through point P and surrounding the well located at its centre is
considered then the area of the portion of the cylindrical surface which is lying within the aquifer is equal to (2πxb).

Further if (dy/dx) is the hydraulic gradient at P, then from Darcy’s law the rate of flow of water through this portion of
the cylindrical surface is equal to [k(dy/dx)2πxb] which by continuity is also equal to the well discharge
As shown in Figure let there be two observation wells at radial distances r1 and r2 and the depth of water in them be
h1 and h2 respectively. Integrating Eq. (i) between the limits, at x = r1, y = h1 at the observation well No. 1 and at x
= r2, y = h2 at the observation well No. 2, the following equation may be obtained which does not involve R
Example 3:

A 30 cm well fully penetrates a confined aquifer 30 m deep. After a long period of pumping at a rate of 1200 lpm, the
drawdown in the wells at 20 and 45m from the pumping well are found to be 2.2 and 1.8 m, respectively. Determine the
transmissibility of the aquifer. What is the drawdown in the pumped well?
r1 = 20 m, r2 = 45 m, s1 = 2.2, s2 = 1.8 , Q = 1200 lpm = 1.2 m3/sec
T = kb, Put T instead of kb in above equation,

T = 0.388 m3/min = 559 m2/day

Now replace s1 with sw and r1 with rw in above equation, assume rw = 0.15

Sw = 4.62 m
Example 4:

A 30 cm diameter well completely penetrates a confined aquifer of permeability 45 m/day. The length of strainers is 20
m. Under steady state of pumping, the drawdown at the well was found to be 3 m and the radius of influence was 300 m.
Calculate the discharge.
Example 5:

An unconfined aquifer has a thickness of 30 m. A fully penetrating 20 cm diameter well in this aquifer is pumped at a rate
of 35 lit/sec. The drawdown measured in two observation wells located at a distance of 10 m and 100 m from the
pumping well are 7.5 m and 0.5 m respectively. Determine the hydraulic conductivity and transmissibility of the aquifer.