Groundwater
Prepared by: Engr. Sheena S. Arcega
Groundwater
Water which originates from the infiltration of
fluids through the soil profile and accumulates
below the Earth’s surface in a porous layer.
Is a vital source of water supply, especially in
areas where dry summers or extended droughts
cause streamflow to stop.
Groundwater and soil water together make up
approximately 0.5% of all water in the
hydrosphere.
Groundwater may be found in one continuous
body or in several separate strata.
Sources of Groundwater
The main source of groundwater is
precipitation.
Groundwater typically has the lowest
priority on the water from precipitation.
Other sources of groundwater include water
from deep in the Earth that is carried upward
in intrusive rocks and water trapped in
sedimentary rocks during their formation.
Zone of Underground Water
Three Zones of water beneath the surface:
Vadose Zone/Zone of Aeration/Unsaturated Zone
– aka soil water zone
- rock openings are generally unsaturated
and filled partly with air and water.
Intermediate Zone or Capillary fringe – aka
tension-saturated zone
- some water is dispersed through the soil
and held by capillary forces in the smaller pores
or by molecular attraction around the soil
particles.
Phreatic Zone or Zone of Saturation – region
where the pores of the soil or rocks are
completely filled with water
The Water Table
The boundary between the vadose zone and
phreatic zone is termed as the water table.
It is often described as a subdued replica of
the surface topography.
The water table is the surface of a water body
that is constantly adjusting itself toward an
equilibrium condition.
Flow in large openings is usually turbulent
and adjustments take place fairly rapidly.
Perched Water Table
Local zone of saturation which exists at some
level above the main water table.
Mistaken as the water table but is just above
an impermeable layer.
Aquifers
Geologic formations that contain and transmit
groundwater are known as aquifers.
Classified as either confined or unconfined.
Confined aquifer – aka artesian aquifer, is bounded
above and below by relatively impermeable strata.
- Water pressure is maintained above atmospheric.
Unconfined aquifer – is bounded above solely by the
water table and overlying vadose zone.
- Often the most accessible groundwater resource but are as
well the most vulnerable to contamination.
- Water surface is able to rise and fall.
Other terminologies in groundwater
systems
Aquitard – a confining bed that retards but does
not prevent the flow of water to or from an adjacent
aquifer; a leaky confining bed.
Aquiclude – a hydrologic unit which, although
porous and capable of storing water, does not
transmit it at rates sufficient to furnish an
appreciable supply for a well or spring.
Aquifuge – a hydrologic unit which has no
interconnected openings and hence cannot store or
transmit water.
Factors affecting the flow of Groundwater
Porosity of a soil – amount of water the soil
can hold. The larger the open spaces, the
more porous it is.
Soil permeability – property of the soil to
transmit water and air.
Slope of the water table – the steeper the
water table, the faster the groundwater
movement.
Well Terminologies
Well – deep hole generally cylindrical that is dug
or drilled into the ground to penetrate an aquifer
within the saturated zone.
Drawdown – vertical distance the water
elevation is lowered due to the removal of water.
Cone of depression – a depression of the
potentiometric surface in the shape of an
inverted cone that develops around a well which
is being pumped.
Recharge – addition of new water to the
saturated zone
Spring
A discrete place where groundwater flows
naturally from a rock or the soil onto the land
surface or into a body of surface water.
Formed when the side of a hill, a valley
bottom or other excavation intersects a
flowing body of groundwater at or below the
local water table, below which the subsurface
material is saturated with water.
Result of an aquifer being filled to the point
that the water overflows onto the land
surface.
Thermal Springs
Are ordinary springs except that the water is
warm and in some places hot.
Many thermal springs occur inn regions of
ancient activity and are fed by water heated
by contact with hot rocks far below the
surface.
Example is the bubbling mud springs in
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Geyser
Type of hot spring that periodically erupts
hot water and stream.
Hot spring that explodes into the air as a
geyser (dying volcanoes)
Example is the Old Faithful Geyser.
Streams
Streams are created when excess water from
rain, snowmelt, or near-surface groundwater
accumulates on the ground surface and
begins to run downhill.
Gaining Stream (Effluent Stream) – stream
that receives water from the zone of saturation.
Losing Stream (Influent Stream) – stream
that losses water to the zone of sturation.
Base flow – part of the stream discharge that
is not attributed to direct runoff from
precipitation or melting snow, it is usually
sustained by groundwater discharge.
Effects of Groundwater Action
Caves (caverns) – naturally formed underground
chamber
- Most caves develop when slightly acidic
groundwater dissolves limestone along joints and
bedding planes, opening up cavern systems as
calcite is carried away in a solution
Stalactites – ice like pendants of dripstone
hanging from cave ceilings.
Stalagmites – cone-shaped masses of dripstone
formed on cave floors.
Sinkholes – closed depressions found on
land surfaces underlain by limestone; the
form either by the collapse of a cave roof or b
solution as descending water enlarges a
crack in limestone.
Karst topography – an area with many
sinkholes and with cave systems beneath the
land surface.
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