3.

Water Sources

Theorigin of all water is rainfall.

How we collect water?
 Water can be collected as it falls as rain before it
reaches the ground;
 as surface water when it flows over the ground;
is pooled in lakes or ponds;
 as ground water when it percolates in to the
ground and flows or collects as ground water;
 from the sea (ocean) in to which it finally flows.
 Water Sources
 Therefore sources of water supply schemes can
conveniently be classified as follows:
1.Surface source
a) River or stream
b) Ponds or lakes
c) Storage reservoir
 Water Sources
I. 2. Under ground sources
 Springs
 Depression springs
 Artesian springs
 Contact springs
 Hot springs
 Wells
 Shallow wells
 Deep wells
 Infiltration galleries
 Infiltration wells
 The following are the underground
source of water:
i) Spring
- When the under ground water reappears
at the ground surface by under ground
pressure, then it is known as spring.
 Generally springs are formed under
following circumstances .
a) When the surface of the earth drops sharply
below the normal ground water-table
 b )When due to an obstruction ground water is collected in
the form of a reservoir and forces the water to overflow at the
surfaces
c) When a pervious layer is sandwiched between two impervious
layer
 ii) Infiltration Galleries
- It is underground tunnel which have holes on its sides,
used for tapping underground water near river, lakes or
streams.
 iii) Infiltration wells
- These are shallow wells constructed under the sandy river bed.
 iv) Wells - It is an artificial hole make
into the ground for extracting the under
ground water.
- The well may be of two types. These
are a) Open well: - It is constructed by
digging the earth.
- It draws water from the topmost
pervious layer.
- The diameter of this well varies from 1m
to 2m and the depth varies from 20m to
30m depending upon the nature of soil &
the water table.
b) Tube well: - It is constructed by sinking
G.I pipes.
 It draws water from the deeper most
pervious layer.
The diameter and the depth of this well
varying from 37mm to 150 mm and 100m
to 200m respectively, depending upon the
nature of soil and suitable water bearing
strata.
 Water Sources
Surface sources
 Surface sources are those sources of water in
which the water flows over the surface of the earth
and is thus directly available for water supplies. The
important of these sources are :
Natural ponds and lakes
Streams and rivers
Impounding reservoirs
Ponds and lakes
A natural large sized depression formed within the
surface of the earth, when gets filled up with water,
is known as a pond or a lake.
 Water Sources
• The difference between a pond and a lake is
only that of size. If the size of the depression is
comparatively small it may be termed as a lake????.
• The quantity of water available from lakes is
however, generally small. It depends upon the
catchment area of the Lake Basin, annual rainfall,
and geological formations.
 Water Sources
 Streams and rivers

◦Small streams channels feed their waters to

the lakes or rivers.
◦Generally streams are not suitable for water
supply schemes because the quantity of water
available in them is generally very small and
they may even some times go dry
 Water Sources
 Rivers are the most important sources of
water for public water supply schemes.
Rivers may be perennial or non- perennial
rivers. Perennial rivers are those in which the
water is available throughout the year.
Perennial rivers can be used as source of
public supplies directly whereas the non-
perennial rivers can be used as sources of
public supplies by providing storage on the
upstream of the intake works
 Water Sources
 The quality of water obtained from
rivers is generally not reliable as it
contains large amounts of silt, sand
and lot of suspended matter.

 The disposal of the untreated or

treated sewage into the rivers is
further liable to contaminate the river
waters.
 Water Sources
 Storage reservoir
o A barrier in the form of a dam constructed
across a river so as to form a pool of
water on the upstream side of the barrier.
This is known as the storage reservoir.
o The quality of this reservoir water is not
much different from that of a natural lake.
o The water stored in the reservoir can be
used easily not only for water supplies but
also for other purposes.
 Water Sources
2.Subsurface sources
As we move down below the surface of the
earth towards its center, water is found to
exist in different forms in different regions.
Various forms of underground sources
The underground water is generally available
in the following forms:
Infiltration galleries
Infiltration wells
Springs
Wells including tube wells
 Water Sources
 Infiltration galleries
• Infiltration galleries are horizontal or nearly
horizontal tunnels constructed at shallow
depths (3 to 5 meters) along the bank of the
river through the water bearing strata.
• They are sometimes called horizontal wells.
• constructed of masonry walls. Walls with
roof slabs and derive their water from the
aquifer by various porous drain pipes.
 Water Sources
• These pipes are generally covered with
gravels so as to prevent entry of the fine
sand particles into the pipe.
 Infiltration wells
• Infiltration wells are the shallow well-
constructed in series along the banks of the
river, in order to collect the river water
seeping through the bottoms.
 Water Sources
 Springs
• The natural out flow of ground water at the earth’s
surface is said to form a spring.
• A pervious layer sandwiched between two
impervious layers, give rise to a natural spring.
• Springs are generally capable of supplying very
small amounts of water and are, therefore, generally
not regarded as sources of water supplies.
• However, good developed springs may sometimes
be used as water supply source for small towns.
 Water Sources

Wells
◦ A well is a hole usually vertical,
excavated in the earth for bringing
ground water to the surface. The well
may be classified into two types.
Open wells
Tube wells
Determination of yields of an open well
The yields of an open well can be
determined by the following two tests
1. Constant level test (pumping test)
In this test, the water level is depressed by
some head (H).Then the rate of pumping
is adjusted in such a way that the water
level remains constant in the well. At this
time, the rate of pumping is equal to the
rate of yield from the well.
 2.Recuperation Test
In this test, the water from the well is pumped to
a depression head H1 and the pumping is
stopped. The water level is rises due to the
ground water flow.
The rate of yield may be calculated from the
Expression deduced below; Let H1 =
Depression head when pumping was stopped.
H2 = Depression head after a certain period.
T = Time taken by the water level to rise from H1
to H2
H = Depression head at time t
H = Decrease in depression head in time  t
November 2010
 ASSIGNMENT
1

2.CaseII: Drive the equation for yielding of

Tube well in confined aquifer.
 Quize-1 :
July 30,2011

1. State and discuss briefly at least four (4)

water source selection criteria(10%).

November 2010
 Water Sources

Source selection criteria

The choice of water supply to a town or city
depends on the following:
 Location
 Quantity of water
 Quality of water
 Cost
Water Sources
 Water Sources

 The selection of the source of supply is

done on the above points and the source
which will give good quality and
quantity at least cost will be selected.
 This economic policy may lead to the
selection of both surface and ground
water sources to very big cities.