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03 Unconfined Flow
03 Unconfined Flow
Hydrogeology
Module 3
Principles of Groundwater Flow
• Point water Head, Validity of Darcy’s Law
• Diffusion Equation
• Flow in Unconfined Aquifers & Refraction
of Flow lines
• Flownets
h2
y
x=L
x=0
x
Unconfined Aquifer
Water w=Infiltration (inches/year)
Table
h1 Vertical Flux:
Qinfiltration=w dx dy
qin qout
h2
Horizontal Flux dy
dx
Qin
Qout
Unconfined Aquifer Consider unconfined
aquifer with infiltration
Consider change in
storage caused by Quantity change
flow in x-direction
Over distance dx
Contribution
from flow in y-
direction
Unconfined Aquifer
A trick
The steady-
Align water table state behavior
gradient in x-direction of an
unconfined
aquifer
Unconfined Aquifer
Two integrations,
two integration
constants
w=0
x=0 -> h=h1
x=L -> h=h2
h1 flow flow
h2
x=0 L
xw.t.divide
At divide
You can solve for h at water table divide
q’=0
Diffusion Equation for Unconfined
Aquifer
• Valid for
– small draw-down (small ∆h)
– Nearly horizontal water table
b is average thickness of saturated zone
Refraction of Flow Lines