DARCY’S LAW

BASIC SUBSURFACE
FLOW
HYDRAULIC POTENTIAL AND FLUID FLUX

GROUNDWATER FLOW

HYDRAULIC GRADIENT
PROBLEM 1

A permeable layer that is underlain by an

impervious layer slope at 5 degrees to the
horizontal and is 4 m thick measured vertically. If
the coefficient of permeability of the permeable
layer k = 0.005 cm/sec, determine (a) hydraulic
gradient, (b) the rate of seepage per meter width
of permeable layer in liters per hour

HYDRAULIC POTENTIAL AND FLUID FLUX

 ARITHMETIC MEAN a) Evaluate the equivalent horizontal coefficient
of permeability of the deposit in cm/sec
b) Obtain the rate of flow per meter of the
deposit, in cubic centimeters per second, if
the hydraulic gradient for the soil formation
is 0.7.
c) Evaluate the discharge of the aquifer in cubic
meters per day

HARMONIC MEAN

PROBLEM 2

An impervious layer underlies 4 layers of

permeable soil. The thickness and the coefficient
of permeability of each layer, from top to bottom,
are:
PROBLEM 3

A canal is cut into soil with a stratigraphy.

Assuming flow takes place laterally and vertically
through the sides of the canal and vertically
below the canal, determine the equivalent
hydraulic conductivity in the horizontal and
vertical directions. The vertical and horizontal
hydraulic conductivities for each layer are
assumed to be the same. Calculate the ratio of the
equivalent horizontal hydraulic conductivity to
the equivalent vertical hydraulic conductivity for
flow through the sides of the canal.

SPECIFIC STORAGE

(a) Determine the equivalent hydraulic

conductivity in the horizontal directions

(b) Determine the equivalent hydraulic

conductivity in the vertical directions

(c) Calculate the ratio of the equivalent

horizontal hydraulic conductivity to the
equivalent vertical hydraulic conductivity for
flow through the sides of the canal.

(d) Determine the equivalent hydraulic

conductivity in the vertical directions below the
bottom of the canal
 PROBLEM 5

During a falling head permeability test, the head

fall from 80 cm to 65 cm in 1 minute and 23
seconds. the specimen was 5 cm in diameter and
had a length of 100 mm. The diameter of the
standpipe was 0.8 cm. Temperature during the
test is 90oC. Compute the coefficient of
permeability of the soil at 20oC in cm/sec.

PROBLEM 4

A coarse sand sample is 15 cm in diameter. It is

placed in the constant permeameter. Water
passes through the sample water with a constant
head of 40 cm, and after 6 seconds, 40 grams of
water has been collected. What is the coefficient
of permeability of the sand in cm/sec if it has a
length of 116 cm?
PROBLEM 6

A permeability test was run on a compacted

sample of dirty sand gravel. The sample was 200
mm long and the diameter of the mold is 200
mm. In 98 seconds, the mass of water collected
under a constant head of 45 cm was 407 g. What
is the discharge velocity in cm/sec?