BASIC SUBSURFACE FLOW

(STEADY STATE CONDITION)

GROUP 5
 GROUNDWATER, SOIL
SUBSURFACE LAYERS/ZONES
 GROUNDWATER

• It is stored in the pores present in

the geological formations such as
soil, rock, sand, etc.
• It is water that exists beneath
the earth's surface in underground
streams and aquifers.
VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GROUNDWATER
ZONE OF AERATION: consists of interstices occupied
partially by water and partially by air
• Soil water zone
– extending from ground surface down through the
major root zone
• Vadose zone
– extending from lower edge of soil water zone to
the upper limit of capillary zone
• Capillary zone
– extending from the water table up to the limit
of capillary rise
VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GROUNDWATER
ZONE OF SATURATION: all interstices are filled with
water under hydrostatic pressure.
WHAT IS AQUIFER AND
AQUIFER SYSTEM?
 AQUIFER AND
AQUIFER SYSTEM

• AQUIFERS
– Is a body of porous rock or sediment saturated with
groundwater. Groundwater enters an aquifer as precipitation
seeps through the soil.

• AQUIFER SYSTEMS
– A collection of aquifers and aquitards, which together
constitute the environment of groundwater - communicating
vessels, that are filled or can be filled with water.
4 TYPES OF AQUIFER SYSTEMS
• AQUIFER
– is a formation that contains sufficient permeable material
to yield significant quantities of water to wells and
springs.
• AQUITARD
– Poorly permeable underground layer that limits the flow
of groundwater from one aquifer to another.
• AQUICLUDE
– is a geological formation which is impermeable to the
flow of water.
• AQUIFUGE
– is an absolutely impermeable unit that will not transmit
any water
TWO CLASSIFICATIONS OF AQUIFERS
1. CONFINED AQUIFER
– is an aquifer below the land surface that is
saturated with water.

2. UNCONFINED AQUIFER
– a body of water formed from groundwater, rain
water runoff and streams with its water table, or
the upper surface, open to the atmosphere
LAW OF DARCY
 LAW OF DARCY
• Darcy’s law is the equation that defines the ability of a fluid to
flow through a porous media such as rock. It relies on the
principle that the amount of flow between two points is directly
proportional to the difference in pressure between the points and
the ability of the media through which it is flowing to impede the
flow.
 LAW OF DARCY
• Darcy's law is named after Henry Darcy, a 19th century French
engineer who developed an underground pressurized pipe system
to deliver water around the city of Dijon. The system, which also
provided water to the famous Dijon fountains, revolutionized city
water and sewage systems. The system required no pumps and
was driven purely by gravity. During the process of developing
the new system, Darcy conducted a series of experiments where
he tried to move water solely using gravity.
 LAW OF DARCY
It is expressed as:
α
Which can be written as a derivative:

Q – is the total discharge rate ()

K – is the hydraulic conductivity
i - is the hydraulic gradient

Take Note: Darcy’s Law is valid for laminar flow only. It does not
apply to turbulent flow.
 LAW OF DARCY
• HYDRAULIC GRADIENT
– Is the slope of the water level

• HYDRAULIC FLUX
or
Where:
- hydraulic flux ()
– discharge ()
– area ()
 LAW OF DARCY
• GROUNDWATER VELOCITY
– Before calculating the groundwater velocity, we need first to
know the porosity of transfer expressed as

• TRANSMISSIVITY
– The volume of water that would flow through the entire
thickness of the aquifer.
GROUNDWATER FLOW IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
GROUNDWATER FLOW IN CONFINED
AQUIFER
Confined aquifers are permeable rock units that are
usually deeper under the ground than unconfined
aquifers. They are overlain by relatively
impermeable rock or clay that limits groundwater
movement into, or out of, the confined aquifer.
GROUNDWATER FLOW IN CONFINED
AQUIFER
EXAMPLE PROBLEM

A confined aquifer is 33m thick and km wide. Two

observation are located 1.2 km apart in the direction
of flow. The head in well 1 is 97.5 m and in well 2 it
is 89.0m. The hydraulic conductivity is 1.2 m/d.
What is the total daily of water through the aquifer?

Q= Kb(dh/dl)*width
.
GROUND WATER FLOW IN
UNCONFINED AQUIFER
 UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS

• An unconfined Aquifer is a permeable underground formation

having a surface at atmospheric pressure
• Pumping water from unconfined aquifers can produce
considerable drops in the water table, particularly in areas near
the well. The zone of depression refers to the depression of the
water table near pumped wells. The velocity of flow into the well
increases as the slope of the water table toward the well
increases.
 UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS

Figure 1. Ground water flow between two water bodies: Unconfined Aquifer
 UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS

Assuming that the aquifer is Where:

sufficiently wide so that the flow is
only in the x direction, the
discharge per unit width q is
obtained from Darcy's Law as
follows:
q = Discharge per unit width
w = Wide
A = Total cross-sectional area of soil
mass
V = Discharge velocity
h = constant head
Q = Well discharge rate
K = Darcy’s coefficient of
permeability
i = Hydraulic gradient
 UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS

At the point where x = 0,

Integration yield,
 EXAMPLE
PROBLEM

Consider the case where measurements of h0 and h1 of 9 and 6 ft,

respectively, are made when the two water bodies are 1500 ft apart.
A laboratory test of soil samples indicates that K is 0.0027 ft/sec.
Find the steady-state flow rate. q = -4.05 x 10 -5 ans.
 INTRODUCTION TO STEADY
GROUNDWATER FLOW TO WELLS
BEFORE PUMPING, WATER LEVEL OR
HEAD AT WELL

Stands at a height theoretically equal to the static water

level or pre-pumping level.

• Confined Aquifers:
Head at well = Piezometric or potentiometric surface

• Unconfined Aquifers:
Head at well = Water table
BEFORE PUMPING, WATER LEVEL OR
HEAD AT WELL
WHEN PUMPING STARTS:

• Water level in well lowers as water is removed from

the aquifer surrounding the well.

• Water level in the well at any instant during pumping

is known as Pumping Water Level.

• The difference between the static water level (hw)

and the pumping water level is called Drawdown (sw)
WHEN PUMPING STARTS:
CONE OF DEPRESSION
• The rate of pumping (Q) from an aquifer significantly
affects the hydraulic gradient () in the aquifer. The
faster the well is pumped, the steeper the hydraulic
gradient will be in the vicinity of the well.

• A drawdown curve at a given time shows the

variation of drawdown with distance from the
pumping well. In three dimensions, the drawdown
curve takes the shape of an inverted cone centered on
the pumping well, which is known as cone of
depression.
 CONE OF DEPRESSION
• The outer limit of the cone of
depression defines the area of
influence of the well.

• The boundary of the area of

influence is called circle of
influence and the radius of the
circle of influence is called
radius of influence.
Notes: Thus, the radius of influence (R0) is the distance from a pumping
well to the edge of the cone of depression where drawdown is zero.
STEADY FLOW TO FULLY
PENETRATING WELLS:
1. The aquifer is bounded on the bottom by a confining
layer.
2. The groundwater level of the aquifer is horizontal
and not changing with time prior to the start of
pumping.
3. All changes in the position of the groundwater level
are due to the effect of the pumping well alone.
4. All geologic formations are horizontal and of infinite
horizontal extent.
5. The aquifer is homogeneous and isotropic.
STEADY FLOW TO FULLY
PENETRATING WELLS:
6. All flow is radial towards the well.
7. Groundwater flow is horizontal.
8. Darcy’s law is valid.
9. The pumping well and the observation wells are
fully penetrating.
10. The pumping well has an infinitesimal diameter
(i.e., negligible storage) and is 100% efficient (i.e., no
well losses).
11. Groundwater has a constant density and viscosity.
12. Flow to wells is radially symmetric
STEADY-STATE CONDITION
As more and more groundwater is pumped through the
well, the more water comes from aquifer storage. As a
result, the radius of influence increases until when the rate
of pumping (discharge) becomes equal to the rate of flow
into the well from the area around the well. At this instant
of time, a steady flow condition exists in the aquifer and
the cone of depression gets stabilized (i.e., it does not
change with pumping time).
STEADY-STATE CONDITION
Notes: This equilibrium condition changes when the
pumping rate is increased or decreased. Note that under
steady-state conditions, the entire pumped water is
assumed to be coming from external sources beyond the
radius of influence. In contrast, under unsteady-state
(transient-flow) conditions, either entire pumped water is
assumed to be coming from the aquifer storage within the
radius of influence or the pumped water is assumed to be
coming partly from the aquifer storage within the radius
of influence and partly from external sources beyond the
radius of influence depending on field conditions.
 Steady Radial Flow in Confined Aquifers
Under equilibrium (steady-state) conditions, the rate of
pumping (Q) is equal to the rate that the aquifer transmits
water to the well. This problem was first solved by G.
Thiem in 1906, which is presented below.
Derivation of Theim Equation from Darcy’s
Law
From the Darcy’s law, the flow of water through a
circular section of the aquifer towards the pumping
well is given as:
 Derivation of Theim Equation from Darcy’s
Law
Since A is the lateral area of the imaginary cylinder
at the confined aquifer surrounding the well.

Q = constant rate of pumping from the well

r = radial distance from the circular section to the
pumping well
b = thickness of the confined aquifer
K = hydraulic conductivity of the confined aquifer
= hydraulic gradient
Derivation of Theim Equation from Darcy’s
Law
Since transmissivity (T) is the product of aquifer
thickness (b) and hydraulic conductivity (K)
[]

By Separation of Variables
Derivation of Theim Equation from Darcy’s
Law
 Derivation of Theim Equation from Darcy’s
Law
Let’s consider that two observation wells are installed in the
aquifer at distances r1 and r2 from the pumping well,
respectively with hydraulic heads h1 and h2

Integrate the differential Equation using the following boundary

conditions:
 Derivation of Theim Equation from Darcy’s
Law
In practice, instead of the hydraulic head (h), drawdown (s) is
measured, and hence after expressing h1 and h2 as drawdowns

Where, s1 and s2 are steady drawdowns in the two observation

wells located respectively at r1 and r2 distances from the
pumping well.
 Summary of Formulas for Steady Radial
Flow to Confined Aquifers
Theim Equation or Equilibrium equation for confined aquifers:

 Transmissivity:

Hydraulic Conductivity:
Application of Thiem Equation
Finally, it is worth mentioning that drawdown changes
gradually with time and equilibrium (steady-state)
condition rarely exists under real field conditions.
Therefore, when the difference in drawdowns (s1-s2)
becomes essentially constant while both values are still
increasing, it is assumed to be quasi-steady- state
condition. Thus, the Thiem equation generally gives good
results after only a few days of pumping.
Illustrative Problem 1:
Given:
1-m diameter well
Q = 113 m3/hr
b = 30 m
h0 = 40 m
Two observation wells,
1. r1 = 15 m ; h1 = 38.2 m
2. r2 = 50 m ; h2 = 39.5 m
Find the Head (hw) and drawdown (sw) in the well:
Ans: hw = 34.5 m ; sw = 5.5 m
Illustrative Problem 2:
A well is constructed to pump water from a confined
aquifer. Two observation wells, MW1 and MW2, are
constructed at distances of 100 m and 1000 m,
respectively. Water is pumped from the pumping well at a
rate of 0.2 m3/min. At steady state, drawdown s is
observed as 2 m in MW2 and 8 m in MW1. Note that
drawdown is greater (8 m) for well MW1 located closest
to the pumping well. Determine the hydraulic
conductivity K and transmissivity T if the aquifer is 20 m
thick.
Illustrative Problem 3:
A confined aquifer is 200 ft thick. In an experiment to
determine its permeability, water is pumped from a well at
a rate of 50 gpm. The water table at a radius of 100 ft is
observed to be at a depth of 40 ft and at a radius of 200 ft
it is 30 ft. The permeability is most nearly:
Ans : 106 ft2/day
STEADY RADIAL FLOW IN
UNCONFINED AQUIFER
ASSUMPTIONS:
• THE AQUIFER IS UNCONFINED AND
UNDERLAIN BY A HORIZONTAL AQUICLUDE

• THE WELL IS PUMPED AT A CONSTANT RATE

• EQUILIBRIUM HAS BEEN REACHED, THERE IS

NO FURTHER CHANGE IN DRAWDOWN WITH
TIME
ASSUMPTIONS:
• THE FIGURE SHOWS A WELL COMPLETELY
PENETRATING AN UNCONFINED AQUIFER.
ASSUMPTIONS:
• THE WELL DISCHARGE IS GIVEN AS

WHERE,
Q = CONSTANT RATE OF PUMPING
r = RADIAL DISTANCE FROM THE CIRCULAR SECTION TO
THE PUMPING WELL
h = SATURATED THICKNESS OF THE UNCONFINED AQUIFER,
K = HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY OF THE UNCONFINED
AQUIFER
dh/dr = HYDRAULIC GRADIENT.
 ASSUMPTIONS:
• THE PREVIOUS EQUATION WHEN INTEGRATED
BETWEEN THE LIMITS H=HW AT R=RW AND H=H0 AT
R=R0 YIELDS

• CONVERTING HEADS AND RADII TO TWO OBSERVATION

WELLS THE ABOVE EQUATION BECOMES
 SAMPLE PROBLEM
• A WELL 0.5m IN DIAMETER PENETRATES 33m BELOW THE
STATIC WATER TABLE. AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF
PUMPING AT A RATE OF 80m3/hr, THE DRAWDOWN IN
WELLS 18 AND 45m FROM THE PUMPED WELL WERE
FOUND TO BE 1.8 AND 1.1m RESPECTIVELY. WHAT IS THE
TRANSMISSIVITY OF THE AQUIFER? Ans. 12.7 m/day
TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER
IN CONFINED AQUIFER
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
• Travel time of Groundwater is define as a time
intervals between recharge and discharge points.

• Travel time is used in several applications such as

designing exploitation and monitoring system,
identifying areas affected by contaminant
migration and assessing the potential for natural
attenuation of pollutants.
TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
• The Formula for the Travel Time:

Where:
T = Time Travelled
DT = Distance Travelled
Vs = Seepage Velocity
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
• Darcys Law:

Where:
k = Hydraulic Conductivity
i = = Hydraulic Gradient
A = Cross-Sectional area of the Confined Aquifer
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
• Darcys Velocity:
VD
• Seepage Velocity:
Vs
• Void Ratio :
n
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 1
A confined aquifer has a source of recharge, the
piezometric head in the two wells 1000m apart is
55m and 50m respectively, from a common datum.
The average width of the aquifer is 5km. The
hydraulic conductivity for the aquifer is 50m/day,
and the porosity is 0.20.
a) Determine the rate of the flow through the
aquifer (Ans: 1.25 m/day)
b) Time travelled from the head of the aquifer to a
point 4km downstream.(Ans: 3200 days)
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUND WATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2
Two Channels are 2000ft apart. The water of two
channels are 120ft and 110ft, respectively. A pervious
formation averaging 30ft thick with hydraulic
conductivity of 0.25ft/hr and porosity of n=0.25.
Determine the flow rate of seepage from the river to
the channel and the time travelled from the head of
the aquifer to 5ft downstream (ANS: 0.12 ft/day ; 42
days)
THANK YOU!
GROUP 5
Victorio, Prince Arvic
Aquino, John Lemuel
Garcia, Jeremay
Halili, Alliah
Illumin, Jessa mae
Rodriguez, Kryza Dale
Santos, Jeremay
Vinluan, Jericho