GROUND WATER HYDROLOGY

UNIT 1

Introduction: Importance, vertical distribution of subsurface water, occurrence

in different
types of rocks and soils, definitions-aquifers, aquifuge, aquitard, aquiclude,
confined and
Unconfined aquifers.

Ground water
Ground water is the water present beneath the Earth’s surface in soil pore
spaces and in the fractures of rock formation.

Ground water hydrology:

Ground water hydrology may be defined as the science of occurrence,
distribution and movement of water below the surface of earth.

Global water distribution:

97.2% Water is found in the oceans (salt water)
2.8% as fresh water.
Out of this 2.8%, about 2.2 % available as surface water.
Even out of 2.2%, 2.15% is fresh water in glaciers.
0.62% as ground water.

Importance of ground water:

Ground water, which is aquifers below the surface of Earth, is one of the Nation’s
most important resources.
Ground water is an important source of water supply throughout the world, its use
in irrigation, industries, municipalities and rural homes continues to increase.
As the water infiltrates through various strata of soil, sand and gravel found
underground filter out most disease-causing organisms and harmful chemicals. This
is why ground water can be considered as clean water source.
Ground water avoids the water scarcity for drinking in arid and semiarid region.
At present nearly 1/5th of all the water used in the world is obtained from
ground water resources.
Agriculture is the greatest user of ground water accounting for 80% of all
consumption.
Vertical distribution of subsurface water:

Water in subsurface may be divided into 2 major zones:

1) Water stored in the unsaturated zone also known as vadose zone or zone
of aeration.
2) Water stored in the saturated zone or ground water or gravitational
moisture.
Zone of aeration:
In this zone there is a free exchange of air and moisture (found b/w ground
surface and water table)
Divided into 3 belts,
1. Soil water.
2. Intermediate zone (Vadose).
3. Capillary water.
Soil water zone:
Water in the soil water zone exists at less than saturation except temporarily when
excessive water reaches the ground surface as from rainfall or irrigation. The zone
extents from the ground surface down the major root zone.
Intermediate zone:
Intermediate zone vadose zone extends from the lower edge of soil water
zone to the upper limit of capillary zone. Non moving vadose water is held in
place by hygroscopic and capillary forces, temporary excesses of water migrate
as gravitational water.

Capillary water:
Below the hygroscopic layer is the capillary fringe held in the pores by
force of surface tension or capillarity. Plants receive water and most of nutrients
from this fringe.

Saturated zone:
After saturation, the excess water drains through the soil under the force
of gravity and builds up the ground water table. Occasionally a body of ground
water will be found above a bed of impervious material.

OCCURRENCE IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROCKS AND SOILS

The various types of rocks posses’ variable water bearing properties, depending
on permeability and porosity.

1. Igneous rocks:
Intrusive Igneous rocks:
These are generally very compact and dense and hence these are non porous
they are barren of ground water under normal condition .As a result they have
negligible porosity and permeability.
Weathering and fracturing decreases with depth (greater than 80 to 100m) and
disappears, no ground water can be expected in such rocks at great depths.
E.g. Granite, dolerite, syenite etc. ..

Extrusive Igneous rocks:

These rocks are generally rich in cavities and contraction cracks and as such
may become permeable and source of underground water.
E.g. Volcanic rocks, basalt etc...

2.SEDIMENTARY ROCKS:
Among sedimentary rocks gravel posses the highest water retaining as well as
water yielding capacities.
In general next to gravel, the other sedimentary rocks in their successive order
of decreasing capacity are loose sand, sand stone, lime stone etc...
SANDSTONE:
Water bearing capacity depends much upon their texture and nature of
cementing material, coarse grained sandstone may be good aquifer, fine grained
sandstone may prove to be the poorest aquifers.
LIMESTONES:
The dense and fine grained limestone, they have no primary porosity, but
solution cavities and channels are common in them which sometimes make
these rocks highly porous.

3. METAMORPHIC ROCKS:
Foliated and/or lineation, if present and well developed, may contribute some
porosity to metamorphic rocks. But as such rocks are formed under great
pressure. Primary porosity cannot be expected to be much .Among the foliated
form of metamorphic rocks; gneisses are less porous than schist.
Among the non foliated rocks, quartzite has very little porosity by virtue of
their compactness and granulose texture.

SOILS
1. Clay:
Clay and coarser material mixed with clay are generally porous, but there
are so small that they may be regarded as relatively impermeable. Clayey
soils can provide small domestic water supplies from shallow, large
diameter wells.
2. Alluvial deposits
Water courses consist of the alluvium that forms and underlines stream
channel, as well as forming the flood plain. Wells located in highly
permeable strata bordering streams produce large quantity of water.

GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS OF AQUIFERS

Aquifers:
Aquifers may be defined as a formation of permeable material which is capable
to yield appreciable quantity of ground water under the force of gravity.
(Highly porous and highly permeable)
E.g. Unconsolidated deposits of sand and gravel form good aquifers.
Aquiclude:
A geological formation which can absorb water but cannot transmit significant
amount of water called aquicludes.
(Essentially impermeable)
E.g. Clay
Aquifuge:
A geological formation with inter connected pores and hence neither absorb nor
transmit water called aquifuge.
(Neither porous nor permeable)
E.g. Granite, basalt, rhyolite etc...

Aquitard:
A geological formation through which only seepage is possible, yield
insignificant.
(Partly permeable)
E.g. Sandy clay

TYPES OF AQUIFERS
Aquifers vary in depth, lateral extent and thickness: but in general aquifers fall
into one of the two categories i.e. unconfined and confined aquifers.

1. UNCONFINED AQUIFERS:
Unconfined aquifers are also called non artesian aquifers and are the top
most water bearing strata having no confined impermeable over burden layer
over them.
The ordinary gravity well of 2 to 5 m diameter, which are excavated through
such top most aquifers, are known as unconfined wells. The water level in water
table as shown in figure. Such wells therefore also known as water table wells
or gravity wells.
2. CONFINED AQUIFERS:
When aquifers are ceased on its upper and under surface by impervious
rocks formation (aquiclude) and in this the catchment area at higher level for
the creation of sufficient hydraulic head. It is called confined aquifers or
artesian aquifers.
A well excavated through an aquifers yield water that often flows out
automatically, under the hydrostatic pressure.
There are at least four geological requirements which are essential to be fulfilled
for the development of artesian conditions in a given region they are:
Aquifers enclosed b/w two impervious beds.
Exposure of the rim of the aquifer in the upper reaches of catchment area,
so as to enable the aquifer to receive constant recharge for the successful
supply.
Adequate rainfall in the catchment.
No other means for the escape or leakage of water except the proposal
well such as spring.

Different types of water on the basis of availability :

1) Vadose water
Vadose water is subsurface water between the land surface and the
saturated below the water table. The vadose (or unsaturated) zone includes
soil water, which is immediately available to the biosphere.
Fig: Vadose water

2) JUVENILE WATER OR MAGMATIC WATER

JUVENILE WATER is the water that exists within, and in equilibrium with
a magma or water rich volatile fluids that are derived from magma.
This magmatic water is released to the atmosphere during a volcanic
eruption Magmatic water may also be released as hydrothermal fluids during
the late stages of magmatic crystallization or solidification within the earth
crust.
The crystallization of Hydroxyl bearing amphibole and mica minerals acts to
contain part of the magmatic water within a solidified igneous rock Ultimate
source of this magmatic water includes water and hydrous minerals in rocks
melted during subduction as well as primordial water brought up the deep
mantle.
3) Connate water
Connate water occurs as a film of water around each grain of sand in granular
reservoir rock and is held in place by capillary attraction.
Because most petroleum was initially formed from matter settling to the ocean floor,
some salt water remains in the rock pores. This water is called connate water.
Connate water is water which is trapped in rock pores.

4) Meteoric water
Meteoric water is the water derived from precipitation (snow and rain). This
includes water from lakes, rivers, and ice melts, which all originate from
precipitation indirectly.

Fundamentals of Ground Water Flow

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.

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.

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

4. STORAGE COEFFICIENT (S):

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

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
2. structural arrangement of soils and voids ratio etc.,
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

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

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’.

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
(P1/ 𝛾)+ (V1²/2g) +z1 = (P2/ 𝛾)+ (V2²/2g) +z2

Where,
P- Pressure
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)

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.