cmutsvangwa irrigation systems design: dept. of civil and water eng.

, nust, 16/02/2006 15:25:28

GROUNDWATER

Basic concepts and definitions

Strata (aquifer)
It is a water bearing geological formation capable of transmitting water through its pores.

Types of geological formations
unconsolidated -gravels, sand and alluviums (glacial deposits)
consolidated they hold water in their pores and examples include
limestones, sandstones and dolomites

Other formations that are good aquifers
fissured granites
weathered gneisses
vesicular basalt

Aquifuge (aquiclude)
These are geological formations with no interconnected pores. They neither absorb nor
transmit water and examples include basalts and granites (impervious). They may contain
water but the movement is negligible in both directions.

Acquitter
Geological formation of rather impervious nature (semi-pervious), which transmit water at
slow rate (clay lenses inter-bedded with sands). The predominant direction of flow is
vertical.

Aquifer
It is a geological formation which contains water and allows for movement of water under
normal conditions. The vertical flow component is assumed to be negligible compared to
the horizontal flow.

Aquifer types

Confined aquifer
It is bounded above and below by a horizontal impervious formation (aquiclude) and the
piezometric head in the well will be higher than the confining layer (Fig. 1). If a well is
drilled into a confined aquifer (artesian well), water will rise to its initial level at the recharge
source called the piezometric surface. If the piezometric surface is above ground level, the
well is called flowing well (artesian spring), water will flow out like a spring (Fig. 2 and Fig.
3.).

Unconfined aquifer
It is bounded at the top by the phreatic surface and by an impervious layer at the bottom.
The piezometric head is at the same level with the water table (Fig. 2).




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cmutsvangwa irrigation systems design: dept. of civil and water eng., nust, 16/02/2006 15:25:28



Precipitation
(recharge)

Fig. 1 Confined aquifer

Fig.2: Unconfined aquifer


Water level (Piezometric head)
Aquiclude
Aquifer
H
Aquiclude
Precipitation
(Recharge)
Groundwater table (phreatic surface)
H Aquifer
Aquiclude
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cmutsvangwa irrigation systems design: dept. of civil and water eng., nust, 16/02/2006 15:25:28


Fig. 3: Schematic illustration of flowing and non-flowing artesian wells

PROPERTIES OF Aquifers

Hydraulic conductivity
Volume of water that will move through a porous medium in a unit time under a unit
hydraulic gradient through a unit area measured at right angles to the direction of flow

Saturated aquifer thickness (H)
For unconfined aquifer, it is the difference between free water table and the Aquiclude and
therefore is not constant for an unconfined aquifer since the water table position changes
with time (Fig, 1). For a confined aquifer, its the aquifer thickness (Figs 2)

Transmissivity (T=kH)
Rate of flow per unit width through the entire thickness of the aquifer per unit hydraulic
gradient i.e. product of the average hydraulic gradient and the saturated thickness.

Specific yield (S
y
)
The volume of water expressed as a percentage of the total volume of an unconfined
aquifer that will drain by gravity when the water table drops due to pumping or drainage. It
is therefore the water which can be extracted from aquifers for consumption.

Retention (S
r
)
The percentage of water which will not drain due to gravity is called the retention (S
r
) and it
corresponds to the field capacity (water holding capacity of a soil). The field capacity or the
retention id the water which is available to plants.

Flowing artesian well
Precipitation (Recharge)
Piezometric surface
Non flowing artesian well
Confined aquifer
Aquiclude
Ground
Water
table
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cmutsvangwa irrigation systems design: dept. of civil and water eng., nust, 16/02/2006 15:25:28


h A
V
S
w

=

Porosity
The total of specific yield and the specific retention and is a measure of the water bearing
capacity of a formation,

r y
S S n porosity + = =

Where; =volume of water released, m
w
V
2
A =horizontal area of aquifer, m
2
=Piezometric head, m

Isotropic medium
At any point in the direction x-y and z, the hydraulic conductivity is the same.

Anisotropic
At any point the hydraulic conductivity vary depending on the direction in which it is
measured (k is not constant in any direction x-y and x).

References

1. Raghunath H. M., (1991), Hydrology, Wiley Eastern, Bombay.
2. Shaw E. M., (1988), Hydrology in Practice, Van Nostrand Reinhold, Wokingham
3. Viessman J.R., Lewis G. L., and Knapp J.W., (1989), Introduction to hydrology,
Harper Collins, USA
4. Wanielista M., (1990), Hydrology and Water Quality Control, John Wiley, Canada
5. Wilson E.M., (1990), Engineering Hydrology, Macmillan Education, UK



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