GROUND WATER AND

HYDRAULICS

ASHA G
SYLLABUS
CONT..
Introduction
 A major component of precipitation that falls
on the earth surface eventually enters into
the ground by the process of infiltration.
 The infiltrated water is stored in the pores of
the underground soil strata. The water which
is stored in the pores of the soil strata is
known as groundwater.
 Porosity is defined as the ratio of volume of
voids to the total volume of the soil matrix.
The porosity is expressed as,
Hydrological cycle

Fig.1 Hydro-geological cycle

Vertical Distribution of GW
 Meinzer (1923), the groundwater has
been divided mainly in two groups:
interstitial water and internal water.
 The degree of saturation for the soil
below the water table is equal to
1, i.e. the soil is fully saturated.
 soil above the water table, the degree
of saturation of the soil is varying
between 0 and 1
 the degree of saturation will never be 0
due of the presence of hygroscopic
water.
 CONT..

The depth of the capillary fringe can be

approximated as (Mavis and Tsui 1939)

Polubarinova - Kochina (1952, 1962)

approximated the capillary fringe as
Fig. 1. Moisture distribution in a soil column
 Geological formations and their
classification

AQUIFER
 An aquifer is an underground geological formation which contains
water and sufficient amount of water can be extracted
economically using water wells. Aquifers comprise generally layers
of sand and gravel and fracture bedrock.
 For example Gravel, Lime stones and sandstones generally form
good aquifer when occurring in suitable geological condition and
geographic situation.
 AQUIFUGE
 It is a relatively impermeable formation with no interconnected
pores and hence neither containing nor transmitting water. It has
very low porosity and very low permeability. For example Basalt,
Granite etc. are the example of aquifuge.
Cont..
 AQUICLUDE
A geological formation which is saturated and which may
contain large amount of water because of its high porosity
but cannot transmit water as it is relatively impermeable is
called an aquiclude. For example Clay lenses or a Clay layer,
Shale etc. are the best example of aquiclude.
 AQUITARD
 It is a saturated geological formation which is poorly
permeable and hence it does not yield water freely to wells.
It may transmit vertically appreciable quantities of water to
or from adjacent aquifers. For example Clay lenses
interbedded with sand or Sandy clay.
Types of Aquifer

Fig. 5 (a) Unconfined aquifer, (b) Leaky unconfined aquifer

Fig. 6 (a) Confined aquifer (b) Leaky confined aquifer