SOUTHERN LEYTE STATE UNIVERSITY

Main Campus, Sogod, Southern Leyte

(GROUND WATER CONDITIONS AND SUPPLY)

By

Bernat, Fatima
Espinosa, Fra Angelica
Juera, Donna Mae
Handayan, Eden

A Summary of the Report for (Engineering Geology) Course (CE 312)

submitted to

ENGR. RAYMART BULAGSAC

Instructor

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Degree of
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

(August 20, 2018)

THE ORIGIN AND OCCURRENCE OF GROUND WATER

Water existing in the voids of the geological stratum below the surface of the earth is called
groundwater. Groundwater is found in pores and fissures of rocks. It is regulated by the quan-
tum and speed of rains, extent of vaporization at the time of rain, temperature, slope of land,
dryness of air, porosity and permeability of rocks, vegetative cover and water absorbing capaci-
ty of the soil.

Origin of Groundwater:
Total water existing on earth is 13, 84,12,0000 cubic kms, out of which 8,00,0042 cubic kms is
groundwater. Apart from this, 61,234 cubic kms is in form of soil moisture. Groundwater and
soil moisture together constitute the sub-surface quantity of water. Groundwater is stored in
different layers of earth by infiltration through pores and fissures of permeable rocks.

Groundwater mainly comes from three sources. They are, First: ‘Meteoric Water’, which is the
main source of groundwater and is received in the form of rain and snow. This water infiltrates
from the surface through fissures, pores and joints of rocks till it is stored on non-permeable
rocks in the form of groundwater; Second: ‘Connate Water’, which exists in pores and cavities of
sedimentary rocks of seas and lakes. It is also called sedimentary water. Thirdly: ‘Magmatic Wa-
ter’ which converts into water after condensation of vapour as a result of volcanic action at the
time of entering hot rocks.

Sources of Groundwater:
Water received on the surface of the earth from different sources becomes groundwater when it
goes underground after information through pores of permeable rocks.

It is found from following sources:

(i) Meteoric Water
(ii) Connate Water
(iii) Magmatic Water

REFERENCES:
http://www.geographynotes.com/essay/groundwater-origin-sources-and-other-
details-with-diagram/620

WATER TABLE OR PHREATIC SURFACE

In response to gravity, water seeps into the ground and moves downward until the rock is no
longer permeable. The subsurface zone in which all openings of the rock are filled with water is
called the zone of saturation. The upper surface of the zone of saturation is called the water ta-
ble. The zone that exists between the water table and the ground surface is called the zone of
aeration. In order to be successful, a well must be drilled into the zone of saturation. The veloci-
ty at which water flows underground depends on the permeability of the rock or how large and
well connected the openings are.

Springs occur where water flows naturally from rock onto the surface of the land. Springs may
seep from places where the water table intersects the land surface. Water may also flow out of
the ground along fractures.

REFERENCES:
https://imnh.iri.isu.edu/digitalatlas/hydr/concepts/gwater/wattable.htm

Aquifers, Aquicludes and Aquitards

An aquifer is the term given to a rock or soil mass that not only contains water but from
which water can be abstracted readily in significant quantities. The ability of an aquifer to
transmit Engineering Geology 152 water is governed by its permeability. Indeed, the permeabil-
ity of an aquifer usually is in excess of 10-5 m s-1.
An aquitard is a formation that transmits water at a very slow rate but that, over a large
area of contact, may permit the passage of large amounts of water between adjacent aquifers
that it separates.
Aquiclude is the geological formation that is impermeable to the flow of water.

It may be considered as closed to water movement even though it may contain large amount of
water due to its high porosity.
Capillary Movement in Soil
Capillary movement in soil refers to the movement of moisture through the minute
pores between the soil particles that act as capillaries. It takes place as a consequence of surface
tension, therefore moisture can rise from the water table. This movement, however, can occur in
any direction, not just vertically upwards. It occurs whenever evaporation takes place from the
surface of the soil, thereby exerting a “surface tension pull” on the moisture, the forces of sur-
face tension increasing as evaporation proceeds. Accordingly, capillary moisture is in hydraulic
continuity with the water table and is raised against the force of gravity. Equilibrium is attained
when the forces of gravity and surface tension are balanced.

REFERENCES:
http://www.civilengineeringterms.com/environmental-engineering-1/aquiclude/
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=fg+bell+engineering+geology+pdf&oq=bell+fg+
&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j69i60j0l3.10629j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Porosity and Permeability

Groundwater is simply water that exists underground. However, there are still lots of miscon-
ceptions about how people envision groundwater. Many envision large underground lakes and
rivers, and while those do exist, they represent an infinitesimally small percentage of all
groundwater. Generally speaking groundwater exists in the pore spaces between grains of soil
and rocks. Imagine a water filled sponge. All of the holes in that sponge are water-filled. By
squeezing that sponge we force the water out, similarly, by pumping an aquifer we force the wa-
ter out of pore spaces.

There are lots of terms in hydrogeology, most of which are very simple, but essential. Here are a
few of the big ones and their meanings.

Porosity

Porosity is an intrinsic property of every material. It refers to the amount of empty space within
a given material. In a soil or rock the porosity (empty space) exists between the grains of miner-
als. In a material like gravel the grains are large and there is lots of empty space between them
since they don’t fit together very well. However, in a material like a gravel, sand and clay mix-
ture the porosity is much less as the smaller grains fill the spaces. The amount of water a mate-
rial can hold is directly related to the porosity since water will try and fill the empty spaces in a
material. We measure porosity by the percentage of empty space that exists within a particular
porous media.

Permeability

Permeability is another intrinsic property of all materials and is closely related to porosity.
Permeability refers to how connected pore spaces are to one another. If the material has high
permeability than pore spaces are connected to one another allowing water to flow from one to
another, however, if there is low permeability then the pore spaces are isolated and water is
trapped within them. For example, in a gravel all of the pores well connected one another allow-
ing water to flow through it, however, in a clay most of the pore spaces are blocked, meaning
water cannot flow through it easily.

REFERENCE:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/geo/chapter/reading-porosity-and-permeability/

FLOW THROUGH SOILS AND ROCKS

Darcy’s Law
Before any mathematical treatment of groundwater flow can be attempted, certain sim-
plifying assumptions have to be made, namely, that the material is isotropic and homogeneous,
that there is no capillary action and that a steady state of flow exists. Since rocks and soils are
anisotropic and heterogeneous, as they may be subject to capillary action and flow through
them is characteristically unsteady, any mathematical assessment of flow must be treated with
caution. The basic law concerned with flow is that enunciated by Darcy (1856), which states
that the rate of flow, v, per unit area is proportional to the gradient of the potential head, i,
measured in the direction of flow, k being the coefficient of permeability:
v = ki
and for a particular rock or soil or part of it of area
Q = vA = Aki
where Q is the quantity in a given time. The ratio of the cross-sectional area of the pore spaces
in a soil to that of the whole soil is given bye/(1 + e), where e is the void ratio. Hence, a truer
velocity of flow, that is, the seepage velocity, vs, is
vs = [(1 + e)/e]ki

 General Equation of Flow

PORE PRESSURE, TOTAL PRESSURE AND EFFECTIVE PRESSURE

TOTAL STRESS

The total vertical stress acting at a point below the ground

surface is due to the weight of everythinglying above: soil,
water, and surface loading. Total stresses are calculated
from the unit weight of the soil.

Unit weight ranges are:

dry soil d 14 - 20 kN/m³ (average 17kN/m³)

saturated soil g 18 - 23 kN/m³ (average 20kN/m³)

water w 9.81 kN/m³ ( 10 kN/m³)

The vertical total stress will change with changes in water level and with excavation. Note that
free water (i.e. water outside the soil) applies a total stress to a soil surface.
The total stress at depth z is the sum of the weights of soil
in each layer thickness above.
Vertical total stress at depth z,

v = 1d1 + 2d2 + 3(z - d1 - d2)

PORE PRESSURE

The water in the pores of a soil is called porewater. The pressure within this porewater is
called pore pressure (u). The magnitude of pore pressure depends on:

 the depth below the water table

 the conditions of seepage flow

Under hydrostatic conditions (no water flow) the pore

pressure at a given point is given by the hydrostatic pres-
sure:

u= w .hw
where
hw = depth below water table or overlying water
surface

EFFECTIVE STRESS

Ground movements and instabilities can be caused by changes in total stress (such as loading
due to foundations or unloading due to excavations), but they can also be caused by changes in
pore pressures (slopes can fail after rainfall increases the pore pressures).

In fact, it is the combined effect of total stress and pore pressure that controls soil behaviour
such as shear strength, compression and distortion. The difference between the total stress and
the pore pressure is called the effective stress:

effective stress = total stress - pore pressure

Note that the prime (dash mark ´ ) indicates effective stress.

Critical Hydraulic Gradient, Quick Conditions and Hydraulic Uplift Phenomena

a. Groundwater Exploration
b. Assessment of Field Permeability
c. Assessment of Flow in the Field ( flow meters, tracers, flow nets,)
d. Groundwater Quality
e. Wells
f. Safe yields
g. Artificial Recharge
h. Groundwater Pollution

REFERENCES:
https://www.finesoftware.eu/help/geo5/en/effective-total-stress-in-a-soil-01/
http://www.learncivilengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Effective-and-
Total-Stress.pdf
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105103097/20