Urban Water Supply

Engineering
(WSEE 3111)

for 3rd years wsee students

Bezu.A(MSc) 2023E./2024
CHAPTER THREE

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 Rain water…
• Advantages of rainwater collection:
– Quality of RW is high
– Independent
– Local materials can be used for collection
– No energy costs
– Easy to maintain
– Time saving and convenient
• Disadvantages
– High initial cost (i.e. for a family)
– Quantity of water is dependent on the roof area and rainy
seasons
– Flat taste
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River one eg. of surface source water

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Hydrologic Cycle

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Well one eg. Ground surface water source

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Both Surface and Ground water

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Factors Governing the Selection of
particular Sources of Water
• The Quantity of Available Water.
• The Quality of available water
• Distance of the source of supply
• General Topography of the intervening area
• Elevation of the source of supply

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 2.1 Ground Water Hydraulics
 Groundwater takes 0.62% of the total water in the
hydrosphere
 0.31% of the total water in the hydrosphere has depth less
than 800m
 sand, gravel, and sandstones good aquifers
 Aquifer is a water-bearing formation that is saturated and
that transmits large quantities of water.
 Clay’s ability to transmit water is very poor due to the very
small particle sizes (< 0.0004 mm).

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 WATER WELL
an artificial hole or pit made in the ground for
the purpose of tapping water.
Wells are the most common means of accessing
groundwater.
 Parts of a Well
 Steel or plastic pipe installed to keep borehole
• Well casing wall from collapsing

• Grout  Houses submersible pump or turbine bowls &

drop pipe
• Well screen
• Gravel Packing
 GROUT GROUT
Impermeable cement or
bentonite clay slurry
placed in annular space
between borehole and
casing to:
• prevent well
contamination
• maintain separation of
aquifers
 Well Terms
 Hydraulic characteristics of a well that are important
during well operation are as follows:
 Static water level
 Pumping water level
 Drawdown
 Cone of depression
 Zone of influence
 Residual drawdown
 Well yield
 Specific capacity
 Static water level
The static water level in a well is the level of the
water surface in the well when no water is being
taken from the aquifer.
 It is normally measured as the depth from the
ground surface to the water surface
This is an important measurement because it is the
basis for monitoring changes in the water table.
In some areas, the water table is just below the
ground surface.
Static water level:
The static water level is the distance from the land
surface (or the measuring point) to the water in the well
under non-pumping (static) conditions.
 Pumping water level
When water is pumped out of a well, the water level
usually drops below the level in the surrounding
aquifer and eventually stabilizes at a lower level
called the pumping level.
The water intake or submerged pump must be
located below this level.
It is also preferred to limit the pumping rate so that
this level is above the screened portion of the well.
 Pumping water level:
The pumping water level is the distance from the land
surface (or measuring point) to the water in the well
while it is pumping. The time that the pumping water
level was measured is usually recorded also.
 Drawdown
The drop in water level between the static water
level and the pumping water level is called the
drawdown of the well.

ho
h
 Cone of depression
 In unconfined aquifers, water flows from all
directions toward the well during pumping.
 The free water surface in the aquifer then takes the
shape of an inverted cone or curved funnel called
the cone of depression.
 Well yield
Well yield is the rate of water withdrawal that a well
can supply over a long period of time.

When more water is taken from an aquifer than

is replaced by recharge, the draw-down gradually
reaches greater depths and the safe well yield is
reduced.

 Under prolonged pumping, the drawdown can get

so low that the pump begins to suck air, which will
damage it.
 Specific capacity
One of the most important concepts in well
operation and testing is specific capacity, which
is a measure of well yield per unit of drawdown.
It can be calculated as follows:
specific capacity = well yield /drawdown
For example, if the well yield is 757 L/min and the
drawdown is measured 7.6 m, the specific capacity
is
specific capacity = 757/7.6 = 100 l/min/m
 Aquifer Parameters
1. Porosity
The porosity of a given sample of aquifer is given by:
n = Vv/V
where,
Vv- volume of pore space
V- volume of the sample
 Aquifer Parameters
2. Specific yield (Sy)
• The amount of water that can be extracted by the force of
gravity from a unit volume of aquifer material.
3. Specific Retention (Sr)
The ratio of the volume of water retained in the material to the
total volume of the material.
n = Sy + Sr
 Aquifer Parameters
4. Permeability (K)
It is a measure of its capacity to transmit water through its
interstices
Ground water is transmitted through aquifers at very small
velocities ranging from 1 to 500m/year
5. Transmissivity
It is the product of permeability and thickness of aquifer
T=kb
 Groundwater Movement
Water naturally moves downhill (downgradient)
toward the lowest point.
 Darcy´s Law
The movement of groundwater is governed by Darcy´s
Law
Q = KiA i=ΔH/L
Discharge was directly proportional to the head loss
(ΔH) and the area of cross-section (A) of the soil
and
Inversely proportional to the length of the soil
sample.
 Groundwater Flow
 Confined aquifer – recharged by two sources of equal
head

 The hydraulic head is everywhere the same; no gradient

in h – NO FLOW!
 Groundwater Well Hydraulics
There are two types of well hydraulics
1) steady-state flow, and
2) unsteady-state flow

• Steady state flow:

 The water level in the pumped well and in the
surrounding piezometers does not change with time.
 It occurs, when the pumped aquifer is recharged by
an outside sources, which may be rainfall, leakage
through aquitards from overlying and/or underlying
unpumped aquifer.

• Unsteady-state flow:
– It occurs from the moment pumping starts until
steady-state condition is reached.
Thiem’s formula for Unconfined Aquifer
 Cont…
From Darcy’s law
 Cont…

Q  k
h
2
2 h 1
2

 r2 
ln 
 r 
 1 
 Cont…
• If no observation wells are constructed all the
assumptions in Theim’s hold true, but the difference
between the limits of r1 and r2, in this case are rw and R

Q  k
d 2
h 2
w 
R 
ln  
 rw 
No observation well unconfined Aquifer
Thiem´s formula for confined well
aquifer
 Cont….

Q  2k H
h2  h1 
 r2 
ln 
r 

 1 

Q  2k H
s1  s2 
 r2 
ln 
r 

 1 
 Cont….
• If no observation wells are constructed all the
assumptions in Theim’s hold true, but the
difference between the limits of r1 and r2, in this
case are rw and R

2kH (D  hw)
Q , but D  hw  s
ln rR
w
Q  2kHs
ln rR
w
No observation well Confined Aquifer
 Example 3.1
A pumping test was made in a medium sand and
gravel to a depth of 15m where a bed of clay was
encountered. The normal ground water level was at the
surface. Observation holes were located at distance of
3 m and 7.5 m from the pumped well. At a discharge
of 3.6 liters/sec from the pumping well, a steady state
was attained in about 25 hrs. The drawdown at 3m was
1.65 m and at 7.5 m was 0.36 m. Compute the
coefficient of permeability of the soil.
 Solution
Q = 3.6 l/sec = 0.0036 m3/sec
r1 = 3 m ; S1= 1.65 m ; h1=15-1.65 = 13.35 m
r2 = 7.5 m ; S2= 0.36 m ; h2=15- 0.36 = 14.64 m
Using Thiems formula for unconfined aquifer
 Example 3.2
A 30 cm well penetrates 25m below the static water
table. After 24 hrs of pumping @ 0.09 m3/sec, the
water table in a test well at 90 m lowered by 0.53 m,
and in a well 30 m away the drawdown is 1.11m.
1) What is the transmissibility of the aquifer?
2) Also determine the drawdown in the main well?
 Solution
• Since the well penetrates 25 m below static water
table, it is evidently is the case of an unconfined
aquifer.
r1 = 30 m ; S1= 1.11 m ; h1=25-1.11 = 23.89 m
r2 = 90 m ; S2= 0.53 m ; h2=25- 0.53 = 24.47m
1)
 Cont..
2) To determine the drawdown in the main well
 Example 3.3
A 10cm diameter well penetrates an 8m thick water
bearing stratum underlain and overlain by impermeable
beds. The well was operated with a constant discharge rate
of 100 l/min. for 12hrs. The steady state drawdown were
found to be 3m and 0.05m at a distance of 10m and 50m
respectively from the center of the well. Calculate the
transmissibility and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer
Solution:
Given: r1=10m, r2=50m, Q=100lt./min., H=8m, s1=3m and
s2=0.05m

Q  2kH
 s1  s2 
 2T
 s1  s2 
 T  0.00868 m 2 / min and K  0.000108 m / min
 r2   r2 
ln   ln  
 r1   r1 
 Assignment 4
1. 60 cm diameter well is being pumped at a rate
of 1360 liter/minute. Measurement in a nearby
test well were made at the same time as follows.
At a distance of 6m from the well being pumped,
the drawdown was 6m, and at 15 m the
drawdown was 1.5 m. The bottom of the well is
90 m below the ground water table.
1) Find the coefficient of permeability
2) The drawdown in the well during pumping
3) What is the specific capacity of the well
2. The following observations were recorded during a pumping out
test on a tube well penetrating fully in an unconfined aquifer:
 Well diameter: 25 cm
 Discharge from the well: 300 m3/hour
 R.L. of original water surface, before pumping started = 122.0 m
 R.L. of water level in the well at constant pumping = 111.1 m
 R.L. of water level in the observation well = 121.3 m
 R.L. of impervious layer = 92.0 m
 Radial distance of observation well from the tube well = 50 m
• Determine:
• A) The field permeability coefficient of the free aquifer, and
• B) Radius of zero drawdown
 Cont,,,
3. A tube well penetrates fully an 8 m thick water bearing stratum (confined) of
medium sand having coefficient of permeability of 0.004 m/sec. The well radius is 15
cm and is to be worked under a drawdown of 3 m at the well face. Calculate the
discharge from the well. What will be percentage increase in the discharge if the radius
of the well is doubled? Take radius of zero drawdown equal to 400 m in each case.
4. Design a tube well for the following data:
• (i) Yield required = 0.2 cumec
• (ii) Thickness of confined aquifer = 40 m
• (iii) Radius of circle of influence = 300 m
• (iv) Permeability of coefficient = 80 m/day
• (v) Drawdown = 6 m
 Springs
Spring water is a groundwater that
outcrops from ground due to impervious
base that prevents percolation.

Mostly found from sand or gravel aquifers

• Gravity springs
– GW flows over an impervious stratum onto the ground
surface
– The yield varies with the position of the water table
– May dry up during or immediately after a dry season

Gravity overflow spring Gravity depression spring

• Artesian springs
– High quality water due to confinement
– High discharge due to high pressure in the confinement
– Yield is likely uniform and nearly constant over the
seasons of the year

Artesian depression spring Artesian fissure spring

 Infiltration gallery
Horizontal wells that collect water over
practically their entire lengths.
Simple means of obtaining naturally filtered
water
 Recharge of aquifers
• Replenishment (filling) of aquifers is known as
recharge
– Unconfined aquifers are recharged by
precipitation percolating down from the land’s
surface
– Confined aquifers are generally recharged
where the aquifer materials are exposed at the
land’s surface -called an outcrop.
Recharge of aquifers
 Recharge of aquifers
• When surface water loses water to the adjacent
aquifer, the stream is called a losing stream.
• water flows from the ground water to the stream,
it is called a gaining stream.
Groundwat
er table

Aquifer
Impervious layer
 Infiltration gallery

• Horizontal wells that collect water over

practically their entire lengths.
• Simple means of obtaining naturally filtered
water

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 Infiltration gallery

• Horizontal wells that collect water over

practically their entire lengths.
• Simple means of obtaining naturally filtered
water

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  Source selection
• Surface water sources
– Safe water yield during the drought years
– Urbanization and land development in the
watershed
– Proposed impoundments on tributaries
– Water quality
– Assessment of reliability
– Requirements for construction of water supply
system components
– Economics of the project
– Environmental impacts of the project
– Water rights
 Source selection…….
• Ground water sources
– Aquifer characteristics (depth, geology,
– Safe aquifer yield
– Permissible drawdown
– Water quality
– Source of contamination(gasoline, oil, chemicals)
– Saltwater intrusion(areas near to seas or oceans)
– Type and extent of recharge area
– Rate of recharge
– Water rights
 Assignment 2
1.Compute the discharge of a tube well of diameter40cm. The thickness
of aquifer layer is 10m and the drawdown is 5m. Radius of circle of
influence is 150m and permeability as 30m3 per unit area per day.
2. The diameter of a tube well is 25cm and it is constructed in an aquifer
of thickness 15m. The influence radius of the well is 112.5m. If the
permeability of the soil per unit area per day is 30m3. Calculate the
drawdown when yield of the well is 200m3 per day?
3. 600m3/day of water is to be obtained from a proposed infiltration
gallery, which is placed at 6m depth from sub-surface water table. The
coefficient of permeability of the soil aquifer is 100m/day. Find the
length of the gallery if the drawdown in the gallery on pumping is not to
exceed 4m. The radius of influence may be assumed to be 100m.

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