Hydrologic Cycle

1
GROUP
Ground Water
Surface Water

A L AW I , A R U M PAC , C A M B O N G G A , E M N AC E , L A C T UA N
 WATER RESOURCES

RE +Earth’s
SOURCE
Resource = INFINITE
water is too big.
resource on the sea SOURCE
shores.
1
HYDROLOGIC
CYCLE
 Hydrologic Cycle

From the beginning of time when water first appeared, it has been

constant in quantity and continuously in motion. Little has been added

or lost over the years. The same water molecules have been transferred

time and time again from the oceans and the land surface into the

atmosphere by evaporation, dropped on the land as precipitation, and

transferred back to the sea by rivers and groundwater. This endless

circulation is known as the "hydrologic cycle".

EVAPORATION
As water is heated by the sun,
surface molecules become
sufficiently energized to break free
of the attractive force binding them
together, and then evaporate and
rise as invisible vapor in the
atmosphere.
CONDENSATIO
N
As water vapor rises, it cools
and eventually condenses,
usually on tiny particles of dust
in the air.
PRECIPITATIO
N
Water particles fall from the
atmosphere and reach the
ground

There are two sub-processes to

release precipitation;
coalescence process
ice-crystal process
PRECIPITATIO
N
Coalescence Process
As water drops reach a critical
size, the drop is exposed to
gravity and frictional drag.
PRECIPITATIO
N
Ice-crystal Process
It occurs when ice develops in
cold clouds or in cloud
formations high in the
atmosphere where freezing
temperatures occur.
INTERCEPTIO
N
The process of interrupting the
movement of water in the chain
of transportation events leading
to streams.
INFILTRATION
Process involving movement of
water through the boundary area
where the atmosphere interfaces
with the soil.
 Percolation is the movement of
water though the soil, and it's
PERCOLATION layers, by gravity and capillary
forces.
 RUNOFF

Runoff is flow from a drainage

basin or watershed that appears
in surface streams.
TRANSPIRATION
Water inside of plants is
transferred from the plant to the
atmosphere as water vapor
through numerous individual
leave openings.
 There are three basic locations
of water storage that occur in
STORAGE the planetary water cycle.

Water is stored in the atmosphere; on the surface of the earth, in the ground
SUN-POWERED CYCLE
The sun-powered cycle

Heating of the ocean water by the sun is the key process that keeps the hydrologic cycle in motion. Water
evaporates, then falls as precipitation in the form of rain, hail, snow, sleet, drizzle or fog. On its way to Earth
some precipitation may evaporate or, when it falls over land, be intercepted by vegetation before reaching the
ground. The cycle continues in three different ways:
Evaporation/transpiration - On average, as much as 40 percent of precipitation in Canada is evaporated or
transpired.
Percolation  - Water moves downward through cracks and pores in soil and rocks to the water table. Water can
move back up by capillary action or it can move vertically or horizontally under the earth's surface until it re-
enters a surface water system.
Surface runoff - Water runs overland into nearby streams and lakes; the steeper the land and the less porous
the soil, the greater the runoff. Overland flow is particularly visible in urban areas. Rivers join each other and
eventually form one major river that carries all of the sub-basins' runoff into the ocean.
The Water-Climate Relationship
The Water-Climate Relationship

Water plays a basic role in the climate system through the hydrologic cycle, but water is intimately related to
climate in other ways as well. It is obvious, from a water resource perspective, how the climate of a region to a
large extent determines the water supply in that region based on the precipitation available and on the
evaporation loss. Perhaps less obvious is the role of water in climate. Large water bodies, such as the oceans
and the Great Lakes, have a moderating effect on the local climate because they act as a large source and sink
for heat. Regions near these water bodies generally have milder winters and cooler summers than would be
the case if the nearby water body did not exist
How does the ocean affect the climate?

• The ocean plays a major role in the Earth’s climate and weather. It pulls the sun’s energy along certain paths.
For example, the climate on the West Coast of America (where California is) is usually pretty mild, since the
winds are warmed up by the Pacific Ocean.

• The Ocean is able to absorb and store heat that it gets from the sun. The water from the ocean can also
affect the temperature of the atmosphere and its circulation all over the world. 

• Upper 10 feet (3 meters) of the ocean hold the same amount of heat as is in the entire atmosphere. Water
from the ocean is also the source of most of the water in the rain cycle.
2
SURFACE WATER
VS
GROUNDWATER
 SURFACE WATER
Surface water is that part of the water cycle
where liquid water is flowing over the surface
of the earth. Anytime water changes its
location to the surface, it can be classified as
surface water.
 SURFACE WATER AS
RESOURCES

The main uses of surface water include

drinking-water and other public uses, irrigation
uses, and for use by the thermoelectric-power
industry to cool electricity-generating
equipment.
 GROUNDWATER
Groundwater is used for drinking water by
more than 50 percent of the people in the
United States, including almost everyone who
lives in rural areas. The largest use for
groundwater is to irrigate crops.
 Groundwater helps grow our food.
Groundwater is used for irrigation to grow crops.
HOW MUCH DO WE Groundwater is an important component in many
industrial processes.
DEPEND ON Groundwater is a source of recharge for lakes, rivers,
GORUNDWATER? and wetlands.
 SOIL WATER ZONE

• Soil water is held in the pore spaces between particles of soil

• Soil water is the water that is immediately available to plants
• This water can be removed by air drying or by plant
absorption, but cannot be removed by gravity.
• Plants extract this water through their roots until the soil
capillary force (force holding water to the particle) is equal
to the extractive force of the plant root.
 INTERMEDIATE
ZONE
This is the layer that is available next to the soil
water zone. It lies in between the soil water
zone and the capillary zone.
CAPILLARY ZONE

The capillary fringe is the subsurface layer in

which groundwater seeps up from a water
table by capillary action to fill pores. Pores at
the base of the capillary fringe are filled with
water due to tension saturation.
Subsurface flow, in
hydrology, is the
flow of water
beneath earth's
surface as part of
the water cycle. In
the water cycle,
when precipitation
falls on the earth's
land, some of the
water flows on the
surface forming SUBSURFACE
streams and rivers. FLOW
Groundwater is found in two zones. The
unsaturated zone, immediately below the land
surface, contains water and air in the open spaces,
or pores. The saturated zone, a zone in which all
the pores and rock fractures are filled with water,
underlies the unsaturated zone.
The saturated zone is classified into 4 categories:

• Aquifer
• Aquiclude
• Aquifuge
• Aquitard
AQUIFER
An aquifer is a layer of porous substrate that contains and
transmits groundwater. An aquifer is an underground layer
of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated
materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater
can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers may occur at
various depths.
TYPES OF AQUIFER
Unconfined aquifers - are those into which
water seeps from the ground surface directly
above the aquifer.

Confined aquifers - are those in which

an impermeable dirt/rock layer exists that
prevents water from seeping into the aquifer
from the ground surface located directly
above. Instead, water seeps into confined
aquifers from farther away where the
impermeable layer doesn't exist.
ACQUICLUDE
It is a solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an
aquifer. If the impermeable area overlies the aquifer
pressure could cause it to become a confined aquifer. A
solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an aquifer.
It can absorb water but cannot transmit it in significant
amount.
ACQUIFUGE
A bed of low permeability rock which contains no adjacent
to an aquifer; interconnected openings may serve as a
storage or interstices and unit for therefore neither absorbs
groundwater, although it nor transmits water. does not yield
water readily.
ACQUITARD
A bed of low permeability adjacent to an aquifer; may
serve as a storage unit for groundwater, although it does not
yield water readily.
3
Reliability Of
Groundwater and
Surface Water In
Terms Of Quantity
 Reliability Of Groundwater In Terms Of
Quantity
Groundwater supplies drinking water for 51% of the total U.S.
population and 99% of the rural population.
Groundwater helps grow our food. 64% of groundwater is used for
irrigation to grow crops.
Reliability Of Surface Water And Groundwater
In Terms Of Quantity

It contributes 14 percent of the total water

resource potential of the Philippines. Region X
has the lowest potential source of groundwater
compared to its surface water potential, while
Regions I and VII have the highest potential.
Reliability Of Surface Water And Groundwater
In Terms Of Quantity
Groundwater is used for drinking by about 50 percent of
the people in the country, 49 percent of groundwater is
consumed by the domestic sector, and the remaining shared
by agriculture (32 percent), industry (15 percent), and other
sectors (4 percent).
About 60 percent of the groundwater extraction is without
water-right permits, resulting in indiscriminate withdrawal.
A high percentage (86 percent) of piped-water supply
systems uses groundwater as a source.
Reliability Of Surface Water In Terms Of
Quantity
Surface water supplies are not as reliable
as groundwater sources since quantities often
fluctuate widely during the course of a year or even
a week, and water quality is affected by pollution
sources. If a river has an average flow of 10 cubic
feet per second (cfs), this does not mean that a
community using the water supply can depend on
having 10 cfs available at all times.
 Reliability Of Surface Water In Terms Of
Quantity
Surface water accounts for about three quarters
of freshwater supply, but many of the major
rivers and lakes, particularly those passing
through or close to urban centers, are heavily
polluted.
Reliability Of Surface Water In Terms Of
Quantity

Based on an 80% probability for surface

water, the total dependable surface water
supply is 206,230 million m3 /year,
implying a total mean supply of 226,430
million m3 /year.
Agricultural use accounts for 83% to
85% of this amount, the remainder being
shared by the industrial, commercial, and
domestic sectors.