GROUND WATER AND HYDRAULICS 17CV742

MODULE- 2
Fundamentals of Ground Water Flow: Aquifer parameters, specific yield and specific
retention, porosity, storage coefficient, derivation of the expression, Darcy’s law,
hydraulic conductivity, coefficient of permeability and intrinsic permeability,
transmissibility, permeability in isotropic, unisotropic layered soils, steady one
dimensional flow: cases with recharge.

The ground water occurs in many types of geological formations which are
known as aquifers and are of most important. An aquifer may be defined as a
formation that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant
quantities of water to wells and springs. Thus an aquifer as the ability to store and
transmit the water.

Aquifer parameters:

The quantity of water stored by the aquifer and the quantity of water
released by the aquifer depends upon the nature and composition of the aquifer
which are quantified through certain parameters like porosity, Specific yield,
Storage coefficient, Permeability and transmissibility, these parameters are called as
aquifer parameters.

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1. SPECIFIC YIELD (Sy):

Specific yield is defined as the ratio expressed as volume of water which after
being saturated can be drained by gravity to its total volume.
The specific yield depends on
1. Grain size
2. Shape and distribution of pores.
3. Compaction of the formation.

(Sy= Wy/ v)
Where,
Wy - volume of water drained

It should be noted that fine grained materials yield little water, where as
coarse grained material permit a substantial release of water and hence serve
as aquifers.

2. SPECIFIC RETENTION (Sr):

Specific retention is defined as the ratio of volume of water it will retain after
saturation against the force of gravity to its own volume.

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(Sr= Wr/ v)

Where,
Wr - volume occupied by retained water.
V- Bulk volume of the soil or rock.

Volume of water is retained by molecular and surface tension forces against the force
of gravity, the specific retention increases with decrease grain size.

3. POROSITY (n):
Porosity is the ratio of the volume of voids or pores in a soil mass to its total
volume.
(n= Vv/ v)
&
Porosity (n) = Specific yield (Sy) + Specific retention (Sr)

1. In sediments the porosity depends on grain size, the shape of the grains, the degree of
sorting and degree of cementation.
2. In rocks the porosity depends upon the extent, spacing and pattern of cracks and
fractures.
3. Well –rounded coarse grained sediments usually have higher porosity than fine

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grained sediments, because the grains don’t fit together well.

Fig.1 Examples of rock interstices and the relation of rock texture to porosity

(A) Well sorted sand having high porosity.

(B) Poorly sorted sand having low porosity.
(C) Well sorted sedimentary deposit consisting of pebbles that are themselves porous, so
very high porosity.
(D) Well sorted sedimentary deposit whose porosity has been diminished by the
deposition of mineral matter in the interstices.
(E) Rock rendered porous by solution.

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(F) Rock rendered porous by fracturing.

STORAGE COEFFICIENT (S):

Storage coefficient of an aquifer is the volume of water discharged from a unit

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prism, i.e., vertical column of aquifer standing on a unit area (1m2) as water level
falls by unit depth (1m).

The storage coefficient is a dimensionless quantity.

 In confined aquifers the value ranges from - 0.00005 to 0.005
 In unconfined aquifers the value ranges from – 0.05 to 0.30
 The storage coefficient can be best determined from,
1. Pumping test of wells.
2. Ground water fluctuation in response to atmospheric pressure.
3. Ocean tide variation.

Storage coefficient is given by Jacob in 1950 as,

S =𝛾𝑤*b (∝ +𝑛β)
Where,
S - Coefficient of storage.
𝛾𝑤 - Unit weight of water (9810 N/m3).
b - Saturated thickness (1mm).
∝ - 1/Es [reciprocal of bulk modulus of elasticity of aquifer.
𝑛 - Porosity of aquifer.

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β - 1/Kw [reciprocal of bulk modulus of elasticity of water.

Kw (2.1GN/m2 = 2.1*10^9 N/m^2)

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Fig.3: Diagrammatic representation of coefficient of storage

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GROUND WATER AND HYDRAULICS 17CV742

Darcy’s law
Experiment demonstrates that the volume of water which passes through a bed of sand
is proportional to the pressure and inversely proportional to the thickness of the bed.

P-H0 - the pressure below the filtering bed

P+H - the atmospheric pressure added to the depth of water
Q = (KS/e) (H+e+Ho).......... Ho =0

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(Pressure below the filtering bed is equal to the weight of the atmosphere)
Where,
K- Coefficient depending on nature of sand
s- Surface area of a filter
e – Thickness of sand bed

Darcy’s law, (Experimental verification)

According to Darcy’s law, for laminar flow condition the velocity of flow ‘V’ is
directly proportional to the hydraulic gradient ‘i’.

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Fig.4: Pressure distribution and head loss in low through a sand column

Water flowing at a rate ‘Q’ through a cylinder of cross section area ‘A’ packed with
sand and having a piezometers distance ‘L’apart.

A datum plane may be expressed by the Bernoulli’s equation, 𝛾

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Where,
P- Pressure
(P1/ 𝛾)+ (V12/2g) +z1 = (P2/ 𝛾)+ (V22/2g) +z2

𝛾 - Specific gravity of water

g- Acceleration due to gravity
v- Velocity of flow
Because of velocity in porous media is low, so velocity is neglected
hL = (P1/ 𝛾) +z1 - (P2/ 𝛾)+z2
Therefore, head loss as potential loss within the cylinder,

Now V∝ 𝑖
We can write Q∝ hL and Q∝ 1/𝐿
Q = - KA (hL/L)
Expressed in general terms

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Q = - KA (dh/dl)
Or
V= Q/A =- K (dh/dl)

K – Hydraulic conductivity
The negative sign indicates that the flow of water is in the direction of decreasing
head.
VALIDITY OF DARCY’S LAW

Darcy’s law is applicable only for laminar flow i.e., Darcy’s law is found
valid for Reynolds number < 1.
Re = ( 𝜌𝑣𝑑/𝜇) < 1
Where,
d = Effective grain size
v= Darcy’s velocity
𝛾 = ( /𝜌) kinematic viscosity

Re = ( 𝑣𝑑/𝛾)

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LIMITATIONS OF DARCY’S LAW

1. According to Darcy’s law the velocity of flow through soil mass is directly
proportional to the hydraulic gradient for laminar flow condition only.

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2. The flow is always laminar in the case of fine grained soils.

3. In case of sand and gravel, the flow will be laminar upto a certain value of velocity
for each deposit.

ASSUMPTIONS OF DARCY’S LAW

1. No change in the volume of voids.

2. The soil is saturated.
3. The quantity of flow should remain the same for steady condition.

4. HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY

In ground water hydrology, where water is the prevailing fluid, hydraulic conductivity
K is employed.
A medium has a unit hydraulic conductivity if it will transmit in unit time a unit
volume of ground water at the prevailing kinematic viscosity through a cross section
of unit area, measured at right angles to the direction of flow, under a unit hydraulic
gradient.
K= -V/ (dh/dL)

Hydraulic conductivity has units of velocity m/day.

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Hydraulic conductivity (k) of a rock or soil depends on,

1.
2.
3.
Porosity
Particle size and distribution
Shape of particles
4. Arrangement of particles

PERMEABILITY: Permeability is the ability of the formation to transmit water

through its pores when subjected to difference in head.

Fig 4: Air bubbles (vesicles) trapped in a former basalt lava flow

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COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY

The coefficient of permeability (K) is the rate of flow per unit cross sectional
area under unit hydraulic gradient (at a specified temperature) and is usually
expressed as m/sec, cm/sec, m/day and lpd/m2 (liters per day/m2).

Factors affecting permeability,

1. size soil particle and shape

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2. structural arrangement of soils and voids ratio etc.,
𝛾𝑤 𝑒3
K= CD2( )( )
𝜇 1+e

Where,
C - Constant.
𝐷 - Effective size of the formation material (aquifer)
e - Voids ratio
𝛾𝑤 - Unit weight of water at the flow temperature.
𝜇 - Viscosity of water at the flow temperature

DETERMINATION OF COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY:

The coefficient of permeability can be determined by following methods,
1) Laboratory methods
a. Constant head permeability test
b. Falling head permeability test
2) Field methods
a. Pumping out tests
b. Pumping in tests

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Laboratory permeability
Constant head permeability test

Fig: 5 Constant head permeameter

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In the laboratory the permeability of relatively coarse grained soils can be
determined by a constant head permeameter (in the given figure) by measuring
the volume of water percolated (V) through the soil sample of cross section area
A and length L in a given time t under a constant head h.
Applying Darcy’s law,
h
V = Qt = KA ( ) t
l

K = QL/Aht
Where,
A- Area of cross section of soil specimen
L- Length of the specimen
h- Constant head
t- Time (t) sec
K- Coefficient of permeability

Falling head permeability test

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VTUPulse.com Fig: 6 Falling head permeameter

In relatively fine grained soils, it is not possible to collect an appreciable

volume of water to be accurately measured; the permeability is determined by a
falling head permeameter, In given figure if (h1) and (h2) are the initial and
final readings respectively in the stand pipe of cross sectional area (a), in a time
(t), above the soil specimen of length (L) and cross section area (A), the
permeability is given by,
aL h1
K = 2.303 ( ) log10 ( )
At h2

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Field methods
Pumping tests of wells
 The most reliable method for estimating aquifer hydraulic conductivity is
by pumping test of wells.
 Based on observation of water level near pumping wells, an integrated K
value over a sizable aquifer section can be obtained.
 Then too, because the aquifer is not disturbed, the reliability of such
determinations is superior to laboratory methods.

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INTRINSIC PERMEABILITY
Permeability is a property of the medium only and is independent of fluid
properties. The properties of ground water included to avoid confusion with
hydraulic conductivity.
The intrinsic permeability may be expressed as,
K𝜇
k= ...................... (1)
𝜌𝑔
Where,
K – Hydraulic conductivity
𝜌 – Fluid density
𝜇 – Dynamic viscosity
g - Acceleration of gravity

Substituting V= Q/A = -k dh/dl in equation (1)

𝜇𝑣
k=− 𝑑ℎ
𝜌𝑔( )
𝑑𝑙
Intrinsic permeability is expressed in m2

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TRANSMISSIBILTY

The term transmissibility is widely employed in ground water hydraulics.

Transmissibility may be defined as the rate at which water of prevailing

kinematic viscosity is transmitted through a unit width of aquifer under a unit
hydraulic gradient.
(T= Kb)
(b = saturated thickness of aquifer)

Confined aquifer

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PERMEABILITY IN ISOTROPIC AND UNISOTROPIC AYERED SOILS

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NOTE:

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