Department of Civil Engineering

CHAPTER FOUR: FLOW OF WATER IN SOIL

4.1. INTRODUCTION
Water flows through interconnected pores/voids between solid particles.

Some Definitions
a) Capillarity is upward movement of water through soil. It is greater in finer soils
than in coarser soils. Water rises higher in clay soil than in sand or gravel because
for a given volume, finer soil has greater surface area and water rises due to an
upward force produced by water molecules being attracted to soil particle
surfaces.
b) Permeability (ability to permeate) is the ability of a soil medium to permit the flow
of water through the interconnecting voids. Permeability is affected by porosity.
Soils with larger pore spaces between particles allow more water to flow through
than soils with smaller pore spaces between particles. Therefore gravel is more
permeable than sand which is more permeable than clay.
c) Seepage is flow of water in a soil mass. It takes place when there is difference in
water levels between two points. As water affects soil behavior, it is necessary to
estimate the amount of seepage. In this effort, permeability is an important
parameter.

Ground Water Table

Rain water percolates downwards into the voids in soil and there’s a depth up to
which all pores are filled with water. This is called ground water table. Below water
table soil is assumed fully saturated. Water table is dependent on climate as well as
excavations and construction operations.

Water Pressure
The water within the voids of a soil mass is known as pore water.
In a saturation zone under water table, water flows due to hydrostatic (equilibrium,
confined…) pressure changes. Hydrostatic pressure changes in proportion to depth
measured from the surface. Total hydraulic head is described by Bernoulli’s principle.
Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician. He published a book “Hydrodynamics”
in 1738 in which he stated what came to be known as Bernoulli’s principle:

“An increase in the speed of a fluid occurs with a simultaneous

decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid’s potential energy.”
 Department of Civil Engineering

It has found wide application - water flow channels, aviation… and soil mechanics!
The above principle can be restated thus:

“For steady flow of non-viscous incompressible fluid, the total head at a point can be
expressed as summation of three independent components - pressure head, elevation
head and velocity head.”

Why non-viscous and incompressible? Remember from fluid mechanics, that viscosity
and density of the fluid permeating through a medium have significant influence on
measured permeability. We would therefore describe absolute permeability.
For water, density (1g/cm3) is fairly constant while “dynamic” viscosity is 1.002mPas
at average temperatures in common flow situations.
In academic research, these two characteristics are considered and NOT IGNORED.
Head = hydraulic head = height (principles of fluid dynamics)
Bernoulli’s principle is represented in an equation:

𝑣 𝑢
ℎ= + +𝑧
2𝑔 𝛾

Where v is flow velocity (within the region of flow); u is pore pressure; z is elevation
head above a chosen datum; and γw is unit weight of water.
In water flow through soil, seepage velocities are normally very small, close to zero
and become even smaller where squared. Therefore velocity head can be ignored.
Then,
𝑢
ℎ= +𝑧
𝛾