INTRODUCTION TO GROUND

AQUIFER
 Lesson Outcomes
Student should be able to: CO3-PO1
• Describe the hydrological cycle
• Define the groundwater
• Define the zone of aeration, zone of saturation,
aquifer, aquiclude, and water table
• Explain the role played by groundwater in the
hydrologic cycle and the percentage of total fresh
water that is represented by groundwater
• Define the porosity and permeability, and the
materials that are likely to be porous and/or
permeable as opposed to those that are not
 INTRODUCTION
• Water is one of the most commonplace compounds
on earth.
• The largest proportion is in the oceans which roughly
holds 1370 millions km3 of salt water.
• The largest fresh water stored is in the glaciers and
icecaps which is about 30 millions km3.
• Rivers, lakes, soils and the atmosphere contributes
200, 000 km3 of freshwater which is less than 1
fiftieth of 1 % of the worlds total water supply.
Schematic Representation of The Hydrologic Cycle
Fig. 12-3, p. 274
Fig 6.2: The Hydrologic Cycle
• Groundwater is one of the fundamental of the earth materials
and the process of groundwater flow is one of the principal
geologic process operating within the earth.
• Particularly in parts of the developing world, groundwater is
probably the best solution (if not the only) for drinking water
supply and irrigation.
• In the last 30 or so years the specialist area of hydrogeology
has advanced by developing methods and techniques of
sedimentology, structural geology, hydraulics, civil
engineering and drilling technology.
• Mass transport consist of surface flow, evapotranspiration,
vadose flow/infiltration, groundwater flow and atmospheric
transport.
• Storage of water include atmospheric, river/streams, lake,
ocean, groundwater and ice.
 Table 6.1: Estimation of the World’s Water

Reproduced by M. I. L’vovich (1979) World Water Resource

Distribution of groundwater

Figure 17.2
 GROUNDWATER OCCURENCE

POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY

• The size of the void and degree of interconnection determine which
deposits function as reservoirs and conduits.
• In any materials, the ratio of void space to total volume of the
sample is known as porosity, n and the voids may either primary or
secondary in origin which is elaborated below:
i) primary – grain interstices (pores) were present at the
original time of deposition of the rock.
ii) secondary – is the product of subsequent fracture (faults
and joints) or solution (fissures and caverns) which may be
reduced by cementation.
Fig. 13-2, p. 297
Types of Voids
(a) Well-sorted sedimentary deposits
having high porosity.
(b) Poorly-sorted sedimentary deposits
having low porosity.
(c) Well-sorted sedimentary deposits
consisting of pebbles that are
porous, therefore has a very high
porosity.
(d) Well-sorted sedimentary deposits
whose porosity has diminished by
the deposition of mineral matter in
the interstices.
(e) Rock rendered porous by solution.
(f) Rock rendered porous by fracturing.
• The porosity of a deposit provides no indication of the amount of
water obtained and the capacity of material to yield water is of
much importance than the capacity to hold water.
• Though water fills completely in the interconnected voids, not all
water can be removed by drainage or pumping.
• Some water is held against gravity by molecular attraction and the
ratio of the volume of this water to the total water content is the
specific retention, ss.
• In complementary manner the ratio of drained water to total water
is the specific yield, Sy and the void space from which such water is
removed represents the effective porosity of the material.
• Therefore permeability, k (Intrinsic/specific) is a measure of the
ability of geologic material to transmit water under a pressure
gradient and depends on:
i) Texture of the material.
ii) Lithology of the material being considered.
• Example in a clastic deposit, permeability is a function of the size,
sorting, shape and packing of the constituent geometry of the
linked void spaces.
• In a consolidated, well cemented rock, on the other hand, the size,
shape and degree of communication of fissures or other open
channels are of most significance where clay, gravel and chalk may
have a total porosity of about 40 % but it is low due to small pore
spaces offering great resistance to the flow of water.
• Conversely, the permeability of a well-sorted gravel is high due to
large pore spaces and water could move easily through them. The
range of permeabilities are given below in Table 1.0
Table 1.0:Range of Values of Hydraulic Conductivity and
Permeability
• 1 Darcy (= 0.987e10-8 cm2) is the permeability that permits a flow of
1 ml of fluid of 1 centipoise viscosity completely filling the pores of
the medium to flow in 1 sec. through a cross sectional area of 1 cm2
under a gradient of 1 atm.
• In groundwater usage, the variation of viscosity is usually so small
as to make a distinction between field permeability/hydraulic
conductivity, K and intrinsic permeability, k.
• The specific retention, ss is given by:

• The relationship between Shydraulic

s = g ( +conductivity
n) and intrinsic
permeability is given by:

K = kg
  is the density.
where  is the dynamic viscosity and
Folds, Fault and Joints

• Any tectonic processes that result in a change of attitude in strata

from their initial presumed horizontal position are of fundamental
importance in hydrogeology.
• The processes range in scale from minor tilting to complex folding,
with fracturing common to all but the least warped strata. The two
chief effects of folding:
i) The distribution of compression and tension so that the
resultant fracture pattern provides local differences in the
permeability of the strata.
ii) The formation of types of structures that provide
favourable hydrogeological conditions.
• Joints or fault occur in all types of consolidated strata. Joints
generally occur as intersecting sets of systems and invariably result
in an increase of the permeability of the strata.
• Faults affect the water-bearing properties of an aquifer in a
number of ways, thus influencing the groundwater movement.
• This also increases the permeability of the aquifer by the
development of zone of local fracture.
• Faulting can lead to juxtaposition at the fault zone of permeable
and impermeable strata.
• Fault planes may also serve as a line of weakness along which
groundwater can rise (either mineralised or thermal).
Zones of Aeration and Saturation

• In the normal sequence of the hydrological cycle, that part of

precipitation which is not evaporated or does not flow away as
surface run-off, penetrates into the ground to become sub-surface
water known as infiltration and is restricted to the zone of
aeration, which is the part of the ground in which the voids are
usually not wholly filled with water.
• The thickness of this zone may range from less than a metre to
exceptionally, more than 100 metres.
• The lower limit of the zone of aeration is the level below which all
the void spaces are commonly fully occupied by water, known as
groundwater.
• The upper limit of this is called the water-table and below is the
zone of saturation.
• The movement of water in the zone of saturation is governed by
hydrostatic pressure and may be from any direction, with a lateral
component often the most important.
Fig. 13-3, p. 298
Fig. 13-4, p. 299
Fig. 13-5, p. 299
Fig. 13-6, p. 300
Fig. 13-7, p. 302
Confined (Artesian) and Unconfined Aquifers

• Generally, aquifers are geological formations that contain sufficient

saturated permeability material to yield significant quantities of
water to well and springs.
• Where it is unconfined, the water table normally takes the form of
a subdued replica of the topographic surface, rising beneath hills
and falling towards valley bottoms where natural stream water
levels approximate to the groundwater levels.
• An aquifer is said to be ‘artesian’ or confined where it is overlain by
an impervious horizon so that when pierced by a well, the
groundwater is under sufficient pressure to raise it above the base
of the confining bed to height dependent on the pressure head.
• Piezometric (phreatic) surface is applicable to both pressure
surface and water table.
Confined and Unconfined Aquifers
 Artesian well resulting
from an inclined aquifer

Figure 17.15
• Aquifer has high permeability and high porosity where
K > 10-6 m/s e.g. sands, sandstone, dolomite/limestone, fractured
rocks.
• Aquitard is where some water passes through which is due to
fractures, heterogeneity or intermediate permeability e.g. high clay
soils, sparsely fractured rocks, anisotropic rocks.
• Aquiclude is where no water passes through with K < 10-9 m/s e.g.
clay soils, unfractured low porosity rocks, highly anisotropic rocks.
• Transmissivity, T is the rate at which water is transmitted through a
unit width of an aquifer under a unit hydraulic gradient and for a
confined aquifer with a thickness b is given by:
T = Kb
• Storativity, S is a volume of water that an aquifer releases from
storage/unit surface area/unit decline in component of hydraulic
head normal to the surface given by:

S = ssb
Fig 6.6: Aquifer Definitions with Sample K values
Groundwater Fluctuation

• Water levels fluctuate commonly under both confined and

unconfined conditions, the causes which give rise to such
fluctuations are not always identical and may be natural or artificial.
• The most significant fluctuations in an unconfined aquifer are those
resulting from seasonal infiltration where the effects of pumping on
changes of groundwater levels may be important locally.
• Under confined conditions, the effect of transpiration and where
adjacent river and sea may respond to changes in river stage and
tidal level can cause minor fluctuations.
• Similarly, wells in confined conditions exhibit fluctuations that are
related to loading such as brought by atmospheric pressure, tides,
earthquakes and landslips.
• The most significant cause of piezometric surface fluctuations from
the point of view of water supply and resources is that part of
precipitation reaches the zone of saturation.
• Variations in the amount of effective rainfall, evaporation and
runoff provide irregular and intermittent changes to the zone of
saturation and result in an undulating and fluctuating water table.
• The magnitude of the fluctuations is a function of the permeability
and the specific yield of the aquifer and the volume of effective
infiltration.
 GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT
Principles of Groundwater Flow

• In 1856, Henry Darcy experimentally demonstrated using a vertical

percolation of water discharging at an atmospheric pressure
through a horizontal bed of filter sand, that the velocity of flow in a
small pipes was directly proportional to the hydraulic gradient and
that discharge varies with changes in temperature.
• Darcy’s Law states that the rate of flow through a porous media as
exemplified by ideal aquifers is directly proportional to the head
loss and inversely proportional to the length of the flow path
expressed as:
V = Ch or V = Ci
l
Hydraulic gradient

Figure 17.6
 where : V is the velocity of flow in m/s
C is the coefficient dependent on the nature of
aquifer in m/s
h is the head loss in m
l is the length of flow path in m
i is the hydraulic gradient also referred to as h/l

• The law is valid only for laminar flow and the limits applicability
depend on a number of factors among which the ratio of inertial to
viscous forces (Reynolds Number) is the most important.
• As a generalisation, pores and interstitial voids give rise to
intergranular flow while groundwater movement through joints,
fault and solution voids may be described as fissure flow.
• As water flows through voids, the average void velocity is given by
the modified Darcy’s Law which is:
V=Q or V = CiA
A
where Q is the discharge in m3/s
A is the cross sectional area of the aquifer in m2

Experimental Set Up by Henry

Darcy (1856) in Dison, France.
Aquifer Properties

• A list of some relevant aquifer properties with an indication of their

symbols and dimensions is given in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Aquifer Properties

 GROUNDWATER CHEMISTRY
• Groundwater is never found in the chemically pure form of H2O because
prior to becoming groundwater, it has been involved in chemical
reactions with the materials comprising the atmosphere and zone of
aeration.
• As a result of contact with a variety of gases in the air and a variety of
minerals beneath the surface, water is complex dilute solution by the
time it reaches the zone of saturation.
• The dominant factor governing the change is the rate of groundwater
movement.
• Chemical processes that are responsible for the actual changes are:
i) Solution
ii) Precipitation
iii) Reduction
iv) Concentration
v) Absorption
vi) Ion exchange
Effects of Chemical Composition

• The constituents of groundwater derived directly from solution of

minerals in rocks are the cations and silica, while most of the anions
are derived from other sources.
• The selection of lining materials, pipe work or amount of open-area
available for flow will be influenced by the corrosive or encrusting
nature respectively of the groundwater.
• A pH value of 7.0 denotes a neutral reaction where lesser values
will result in acidic water which tends to be corrosive and pH higher
than 7.0 will be alkaline and tends to be encrusting.
• Alkalinity is a property determined by the amount of carbonate
and bicarbonate.
• Hardness is the property of water dominantly due to the presence
of calcium and magnesium compounds.
• Hardness determinations are commonly reported as total hardness:
1. Comprising carbonate (temporary) hardness.
2. Comprising non-carbonate (permanent) hardness.

Trilinear Diagram

Ca
l
+C

+
Fresh Groundwater

Mg
4
SO

Saline Mg SO4
Na

3
CO
+

+H
K

3
CO

Ca Cl
Na CO3 +
+ K HCO3
Salinity

• An arbitrary boundary between fresh water and saline water could

be drawn at a dissolved solids content of 1000 mg/l which is
equivalent to a specific conductance of 1400 mhos at 25oC.
• World Health Organisation (WHO) regards 1500 mg/l of total
dissolved solids (TDS) as the ‘maximum allowable’, nevertheless,
water up to 3000 mg/l has to be used for drinking water in some
parts of the Middle East.
• Groundwater can become saline in a number of ways:
i) Evaporation from shallow water-tables in arid regions can
produce an excessive build up of salt.
ii) Accumulation of salts in groundwater associated with
coastal areas may be accentuated by precipitation from on-shore
winds.
 iii) Mixing with natural waters having a high salinity content
such as connate water or brines.
iv) Contamination directly or indirectly by activities such as
faulty well construction, overpumping and inadequate control of
disposal waste products.
• One of the more common problems associated with saline water is
that produced along coastlines or in small islands by the migration
of sea water in response to abstraction from the aquifer.
• Under natural conditions, there is a state of dynamic equilibrium
and the ‘interface’ between water of differing density is in reality a
transition zone of mixed water.
• The principle in determining the amount of fresh water discharging
from the aquifer to the sea is given by:

q = 0.013 (Kho2)
L
where: q is the fresh water flow per unit width in m3/s
K is the hydraulic conductivity in m/s
ho is the piezometric head in m
L is the landward extent of saline water
penetration in m

Saline Water Wedge

 GROUNDWATER EXPLORATION

Purpose and Approach

• The purpose of exploration is to enable the hydrogeological

conditions to be investigated in as detail a fashion as is necessary to
meet the requirement of the project.
• The following stages are planned before data collection and
interpretation is conducted are:
i) Desk study – collation and analyses of existing data.
ii) Feasibility study – Collection and analyses of additional
data.
iii) Pilot study – site investigation and subsequent action.
iv) Development.
Field Reconnaissance

1. Topography – A base map showing topographic features and

elevation contours relative to some datum is a necessary prerequisite
to field reconnaissance.
2. Geology – Photo geological interpretation and field control allow
preparation of a geological map that is representative of surface
conditions.
3. Hydrogeology – A 3-dimensional representation of the sub-surface
hydro geological regime would be greatly assisted by field
measurement and determination of the following:
i) Precipitation and evaporation.
ii) Location, elevation and discharge of springs and
seepages.
iii) Stream discharges.
iv) Evidence of saline and alkaline soils.
v) Distribution of vegetation types.
vi) Location of wells and measurement of water levels
and abstraction.
Groundwater Exploration Techniques

• Geological exploration which consist of:

i) Regional geology maps.
ii) Local geology maps/field mapping.
iii) Geomorphology/Topography.
iv) Air photos/satellite imagery.
v) Hydrology and hydro geological data.
• Geophysical exploration which consist of:
i) Seismic.
ii) Electrical resistivity.
iii) Electromagnetic methods.
iv) Gravity.
v) Drilling.
vi) Borehole logging.
 Types of Geological Exploration

Field Mapping
Geological Maps Geomorphology

Hydrogeological Data Aerial Photographs

 Types of Geophysical Exploration

Seismic Methods Electrical Resistivity

Gravity Methods
Electromagnetic Methods

Drilling Borehole Logging

 GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS AS AQUIFERS
Sedimentary Strata

• Arenaceous rocks – the classification of materials into consolidated

and unconsolidated due to high permeability and excellent storage
potential e.g. loose dune sand, gravels and alluvium are
unconsolidated materials whereas sandstone and conglomerates
are consolidated (cemented) materials.
• Carbonate rocks – the chemical composition makes it amenable to
solution by groundwater that are not fully saturated with calcium
carbonate e.g. limestones due to its fissured nature, dolostones
which contain decomposed portions with absence of extensive
water table and chalk provides excellent aquifers and good storage
potential if less clay content.
• Argillaceous rocks – are relatively impermeable, therefore
functions as aquicludes e.g. fine-grained clays, marls, shales and
mudstones.

Igneous Rocks

• Plutonic rocks are generally not good aquifers e.g. granites,

granodiorites, diorites and gabbros.
• Extrusive igneous rocks are commonly represented by those of
volcanic origin and show considerable variation in aquifer potential.
• Intrusive igneous rocks can be restricted to sills and dykes where
injection into impermeable formations could be concentrated by
groundwater.
Metamorphic Rocks

• Gneisses are not good aquifers.

• Schists and slates resembles shale in their water-bearing properties
and may be aquicludes when their planes of schistosity or of
cleavage are horizontal.
• The weathered zones, particularly if the dip is high, may be tapped
for water supplies down to the limit of decomposition.
Fig 6.12: Aquifer Examples
Fig 6.13: Aquifer Examples
 GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION
• Water wells usually have the form of vertical bores or shafts,
though they may have more of a horizontal nature where special
circumstances require infiltration galleries or collector wells.
• Wells are defined as holes specifically constructed for the purpose
of intercepting groundwater, therefore it includes shafts and
boreholes (tube wells), as well as combinations of both and various
modifications.
• Many methods of well construction are available such as shallow
well (< 30 m) are commonly dug, augered or jetted, while deeper
wells (> 30 m) are nearly always drilled.
• Alternatively, drilling techniques are the percussion and rotary
methods, each being particularly suited for drilling in certain
geological and climatic conditions.
Types of Well
Well Construction

• In principle, the percussion or cable tool method uses chisel-edge

bit and a lift-and-drop motion to cut into the rock by impact.
• A string of tools provides weight at the end of the drilling cable and
when it is drilled above the water-table, some drilling medium
(water/mud) needs to be added to reduce the friction on the bit
and provide a slurry for the drilling cuttings.
• Casing will be necessary where there is a tendency of the borehole
sides to collapse which is either temporary or permanent.
• In any event, some 15 m of casing is desirable and it is mandatory in
some countries which is combined with cement grouting to prevent
contamination from the surface or near-surface water.
• Rotary method of drilling is a faster procedure whereby continuous rotary
action is imparted to a hollow bit and connected drill rods.
• A continuous flow of drilling fluid is maintained to clean the face ahead of
the bit and lift the rock cuttings to the surface.
• Casing is unnecessary during drilling as it forms a mud cake on the wall of
the well thereby preventing collapse as well as limiting loss of fluid.
• The composition of the drilling mud will depend on a number of
requirements, in many circumstances bentonite clay is used, with or
without additives and in the UK, it is necessary to circulate plain water
and allow dispersion of natural clay material from the drilling mud.
• There are several circulation procedures, namely:
i) Normal circulation – the mud is passed through at appropriate
viscosity.
ii) Reverse circulation – the drilling water under high head flows
down and it is discharged in a tank before recirculating down the
borehole.
Two Different Methods of Drilling
In-situ Testing Methods

• There are several testing techniques for determining permeability

in situ, which include:
1. Single and double packer – using falling head, constant
head and recovery methods.
2. Large scale pumping tests – single well applying
performance/yield test which is based on stepped drawdown.
3. Large scale pumping tests – aquifer test using a pumped
well and observation wells based on constant discharge of
more than 10 days.
4. Transient tests – which include drill stem test, slug test,
pulse/sinusoidal test, packer injection and packer pumping.
 In-situ Techniques for the Determination of
Groundwater
Instrumentation Set
Up

Double Packer Test

Pumping Test
Aquifer Test