 All water beneath earths surface

 Recharged by infiltration either directly on

the land surface or in the beds of streams,
lakes and oceans.

 Discharged through - evaporation,

transpiration, from springs, seeps on land
surface or beds of surface water bodies,
pumping wells, gravity drains etc.
 Thesubdivision of the science of hydrology
that deals with the occurrence, movement
and quality of water beneath the Earth’s
surface.

 Interdisciplinary
scope involves physical,
chemical, biological and mathematical
sciences.

 Ground water also termed as subsurface

water
 Groundwater is the largest, accessible source of freshwater
on the planet.

 Groundwater is also the largest source of freshwater

available in California.

 California's economy, the seventh largest in the world, relies

heavily on groundwater to meet the needs of cities,
agriculture, industry and other businesses.

 Groundwater also serves as a freshwater savings account

that we rely on during droughts when surface water
supplies are reduced.

 Therefore Groundwater is an important Resource

Zone of Aeration or Vadose Zone
or Unsaturated Zone: Overlies
Phreatic Zone. Pore spaces partly
filled with water. Contains soil
moisture.

Zone of Saturation or Phreatic

Zone or ground water zone:
saturated zone overlying
impermeable bed rock. Water fills
all the available pore spaces
 Zone of aeration or unsaturated zone has three
subzones:-
 Soil water zone - lies close to the ground surface
in the major root band of the vegetation from
which the water is lost to the atmosphere by
evapotranspiration.
 Capillary fringe - water is held by capillary action,
extends from the water table upwards to the
limit of capillary rise.
 Intermediate zone - lies between the soil water
zone and the capillary fringe.
 Free water surface in an unconfined aquifer.

 Water table follows the topography but more gently.

 Intersection of water table and ground surface

produces lakes, streams, spring, wetlands…

 Ground water flows from higher elevation to lower,

from areas of lower use to higher use, from wet areas
to dry areas.
 In1856, Henry Darcy developed the law
relating the velocity of flow in a porous
medium. This law known as Darcy’s Law, can
be expressed as:-
v= ki
where v = apparent velocity of seepage = Q/A
I = hydraulic gradient = -dh/ds
k = coefficient of permeability
So we can write, Q = kiA
Darcy’s law valid: when Re (Reynolds number ->
Inertia force/ viscous force) < 1
 Darcy’s
law: The flow of water through a porous
medium is in the direction of, and at a rate
proportional to, the driving force (i.e. the hydraulic
gradient) and also proportional to the ability of
the conducting medium to transmit the water
(hydraulic conductivity).

Hydraulic Gradient: Slope of the ground

water table

Hydraulic Conductivity K : Rate at

which water moves through the soil. Given in
cm/s, m/s, cm/day, in/hr or any equivalent
units of velocity.
 A saturated, permeable, geologic
unit that can transmit a significant
amount of groundwater under an
ordinary gradient.
 Four types of aquifer
A. Unconfined
B. Confined
C. Artesian
D. Perched
 Aquifer in which water table forms the upper
surface of zone of saturation.
 Open to atmosphere e.g., overlain by permeable
rocks and soils

Unconfined aquifer
open to Earth’s surface
and to infiltration
 When an aquifer is
sandwiched between two
impermeable layers.
 Also known as pressure
aquifer.
• A confined aquifer is
separated from Earth’s
surface by rocks with low
permeability
 Perched water sits above the
main water table.
• Artesian does not have to rise
all the way to the surface
• Artesian has no implication
about water quality or taste
(some artesian wells are salty
water)

Artesian aquifer:
water rises in pipe
(maybe to surface)
 Porosity (n): Those portions of soil, not occupied by solids; Ratio
of volume of pores or interstices to total volume.
 It is expressed as either a decimal fraction or as a percentage.
 Porosity tells us how much water a rock can contain when
saturated.
n=Vv/Vo
where n = porosity, Vv = volume of void space,
Vo = volume of porous medium

 Percolation : rate at which water moves downward through soil.

 Permeability : an expression of movement of water in any

direction. The permeability or hydraulic conductivity of a rock is
a quantitative measure of how fast groundwater can move
through it and is usually expressed in meters or feet per day
 Specific yield (Sy): ratio of volume of water that, after
saturation, can be drained by gravity.

 Storage coefficient (S- storativity): volume of water that an

aquifer releases from or takes into storage per unit surface area
of aquifer per unit change in head normal to that surface.

 Hydraulic conductivity (K): constant that serves as a measure of

the permeability of the porous medium.

 Transmissivity (T): Rate at which water is transmitted though a

unit width of aquifer under unit hydraulic.
 Recharge: Process of replenishment of Ground Water by
infiltration, migration and percolation.

 Aquitard : Rocks of low permeability e.g., a sandy clay unit.

 Aquiclude : Rocks of very low permeability , essentially

impermeable e.g., clay .

 Aquifuge : Geologic formation which is neither porous nor

permeable e.g., massive compact rock without any fractures

 Perched water table: Local aquifer in Vadose Zone.

 Infiltration (I) : Rate at which water enters the soil from the
surface.
 Groundwater can seep to the surface naturally at springs or into
bodies of water. However, most groundwater is obtained from
wells.

 A well is basically a hole in the ground filled with groundwater.

The water in most drinking-water wells is usually extracted by a
pump from a perforated pipe or casing placed in the hole.

 When a well is pumped, the water level in the well begins to

lower as water is removed from storage in the well. The total
head in the well becomes lower than the surrounding aquifer,
causing water to flow from the aquifer into the well.

 This movement of water into the well results in lowering of the

water level around the well.
If the aquifer is homogenous and
isotropic and the water table horizontal
initially, due to the radial flow into the
well through the aquifer the water
table assumes a conical shape called
cone of depression.

The drop in water table elevation at

any point from its previous static level
is called drawdown.

The areal extent of the cone of

depression is called area of influence
and its radial extent is called radius of
influence.
 Well yield isdefined as the amount of water that
can be pumped from a given well per unit of time.
 It is a measure how much water can be withdrawn
from the well over a period of time and measured
in m3/hr or m3/day.
Note: Additional discussion on Aquifer characteristics
Continuation…….
 Ks = Kt x(vt/vs)

Continuation…
Ks = Kt x(vt/vs)
Problem 1:
 Practice Problem 2:
Three wells A, B and C tap the same horizontal aquifer. The distances AB= 1200
m and BC= 1000 m. The well B is exactly south of well A and well C lies to the
west of well B. The following are the ground surface elevation and depth of water
below the ground surface in the three wells. Determine the direction of
groundwater flow in the aquifer in the area ABC of the wells.

Sol: First understand the problem by drawing the layout of the wells as given.

After referring to the figure,

Compute iy,Vy and ix, Vx
Along BA (y direction) and
Along BC ( x direction). [ see
Darcy’s law]
After computing the iy,Vy and ix, Vx in each directions, compute V and
inclination of V to X-axis i.e. ɵ as shown below.

Finally, the direction of groundwater flow is found out to be

N 67˚27΄48.5˝W.
NOTE: This problem is the simple application of Darcy’s law.
PROBLEM PRACTICE

Try to solve it. Hints on the layouts are provided below. It is similar type of
problem as that of problem 1.Here, direction of flow is given and you have to find
elevation of water table at well C.

The elevation of water

table at well C will be
156.459 m. ??
 Confined Groundwater flow:
If the velocities of flow in the Cartesian coordinate directions x,y,z of
the aquifer element, ΔV, are u,v and w respectively, the equation of
continuity for the fluid flow is
This equation is known as Laplace equation and is the fundamental equation
of all potential flow problems.

For confined groundwater ( derivation is not discussed here).

1. Confined groundwater flow between two water bodies

 The steady unconfined groundwater flow with Dupit’s assumptions is
Governed by Laplace equation in

Note: detailed derivation are not discussed here. Only the important
concepts and equations for different cases are presented and discussed.
 One dimensional Dupit’s unconfined flow with recharge

 One dimensional unconfined flow without recharge

The discharge q per unit width of an aquifer (in case of one
dimensional unconfined flow without recharge) is given by
Two parallel rivers A and B are separated by a landmass as shown in figure
below. Estimate the seepage discharge from River A to River B per unit
length of the rivers.

Relevant data which are given need to be used for solving the problem.

-The given system is considered as a composite aquifer with 1 and 2

with a horizontal impervious boundary at the interface.

- Aquifer 1 is an unconfined aquifer with K1= 25m/day

- Aquifer 2 is a confined aquifer with K2= 10 m/day
Using the equation for
confined flow between
two water bodies

Equation for one

dimensional
unconfined flow
without recharge