THE WATER TABLE GROUND

WATER, AQUIFERS & SPRINGS

 OBJECTIVES

• UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF WATER TABLE

• IDENTIFYING KEY CONCEPTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WATER TABLE

• UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF GROUNDWATER

• DISCUSSING THE IMPORTANCE OF GROUNDWATER

• DISCUSSING THE FORMATION OF SPRINGS

 THE WATER TABLE

THE WATER TABLE IS AN UNDERGROUND BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE SOIL SURFACE

AND THE AREA WHERE GROUNDWATER SATURATES SPACES BETWEEN SEDIMENTS
AND CRACKS IN ROCK. WATER PRESSURE AND ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE ARE
EQUAL AT THIS BOUNDARY. 
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SURFACE
CONFIGURATION OF REGION’S WATER TABLE

• DIFFERENCES IN THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL

• PERMEABILITY

• RATE OF GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT

 WHAT IS GROUNDWATER
• GROUNDWATER IS THE WATER FOUND UNDERGROUND IN THE CRACKS AND SPACES IN SOIL,
SAND AND ROCK. IT IS STORED IN AND MOVES SLOWLY THROUGH GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
OF SOIL, SAND AND ROCKS CALLED AQUIFERS.
 IMPORTANCE OF GROUNDWATER

•GROUNDWATER IS THE WORLD’S MOST EXTRACTED RAW MATERIAL WITHDRAWAL RATES CURRENTLY IN THE

ESTIMATED RANGE OF 982 KM3/YEAR.

•ABOUT 60 PERCENT OF GROUNDWATER WITHDRAWN WORLDWIDE IS USED FOR AGRICULTURE; THE REST IS

ALMOST EQUALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN THE DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL SECTORS.

•IN MANY NATIONS, MORE THAN HALF OF THE GROUNDWATER WITHDRAWN IS FOR DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLIES

AND GLOBALLY IT PROVIDES 25 TO 40 PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S DRINKING WATER.

•GLOBALLY, ABOUT 38 PERCENT OF IRRIGATED LANDS ARE EQUIPPED FOR IRRIGATION WITH GROUNDWATER.
FORMATION OF SPRINGS
THE DRAINAGE BASIN SYSTEM
• THERE ARE MANY INTER-RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THIS SYSTEM:

• Inputs: how water is introduced into the drainage basin system. This is known as precipitation.

• Stores: how water is stored or held for a period of time within the drainage basin system

- interception (by vegetation), soil moisture, surface storage (lakes), groundwater

• Transfers: A process or flow of water from one place to another in the drainage basin system

- surface run-off/overland flow, infiltration, percolation, through-flow, groundwater flow

• Outputs: how the water is released either back to the sea or back into the atmosphere - river

discharge, evapotranspiration
 DRAINAGE BASIN

A drainage basin or catchment area is the area drained by a river and its tributaries.

The boundary of a drainage basin is called a watershed. This is a ridge of highland the separates

one drainage basin from another.

The point where a river begins is its source. A river reaches the sea at its mouth.