GROUNDWATER FLOW IN

UNCONFINED AQUIFER
 WHAT IS UNCONFINED AQUIFER?
• Where groundwater is in direct contact with the atmosphere through the open pore
spaces of the overlying soil or rock, then the aquifer is said to be unconfined. The
upper groundwater surface in an unconfined aquifer is called the water table. The
depth to the water table varies according to factors such as the topography, geology,
season and tidal effects, and the quantities of water being pumped from the aquifer.

• Unconfined aquifers are usually recharged by rain or stream water infiltrating

directly through the overlying soil. Typical examples of unconfined aquifers include
many areas of coastal sands and alluvial deposits in river valleys.
• An aquifer in an unconfined state has entirely different storage properties than
an aquifer in the confined or artesian state.

• For a groundwater reservoir to be classified as unconfined, it must be shown that

it is not confined by impermeable material (relatively speaking) and, furthermore,
its water table cannot be confined from the effects of atmospheric
pressure. Horizontal permeability in sedimentary rocks and sediments is
commonly greater than the permeability at right angles to the bedding planes in
these materials. Thus, it is common to have a reduction in vertical permeability
above an aquifer creating a degree of confinement, which in most areas varies
widely from place to place above the water table of the groundwater, reservoir,
caused to some degree by the weight of the atmosphere. Water in unconfined
aquifers is subject to losses due to plant uptake and evaporation.
 WATER MOVEMENTS IN AN AQUIFER
• Water movement in aquifers is highly dependent of the permeability of the aquifer material.
Permeable material contains interconnected cracks or spaces that are both numerous enough and
large enough to allow water to move freely. In some permeable materials groundwater may move
several meters in a day; in other places, it moves only a few centimeters in a century. Groundwater
moves very slowly through relatively impermeable materials such as clay and shale.
• After entering an aquifer, water moves slowly toward lower lying places and eventually is
discharged from the aquifer from springs, seeps into streams, or is withdrawn from the ground by
wells. Groundwater in aquifers between layers of poorly permeable rock, such as clay or shale,
may be confined under pressure. If such a confined aquifer is tapped by a well, water will rise
above the top of the aquifer and may even flow from the well onto the land surface. Water
confined in this way is said to be under artesian pressure, and the aquifer is called an artesian
aquifer.