CE 244: fundamentals of HYDROLOGY

LECTURE -10: ground water

(DARCY’S LAW)
INSTRUCTOR: MR. BONIPHACE HIBWA
GROUND WATER MOVEMENT

• A ground water divide, like a surface water divide, indicates

distinct ground water flow regions within an aquifer.
• A divide is defined by a line on the either side of which
ground water moves in opposite directions.
• Ground water divides often occur in highland areas, and in
some geologic environments coincide with surface water
divides.
• This is common where aquifers are shallow and strongly
influenced by surface water flow.
• Where there are deep aquifers, surface and ground water
flows may have little or no relationship.
GROUND WATER DIVIDE
GROUND WATER MOVEMENT -
Cont’d

• As ground water flows downwards in an aquifer, its

upper surface slopes in the direction of flow.
• This slope is known as the hydraulic gradient and
is determined by measuring the water elevation in
wells tapping the aquifer.
• For confined aquifers, the hydraulic gradient is the
slope of the potentiometric surface.
• For unconfined aquifers, it is the slope of the water
table.
HYDRAULIC GRADIE
GROUND WATER MOVEMENT -
Cont’d
• The velocity at which ground water moves is a
function of three main variables:
• Hydraulic conductivity (permeability)
• porosity, and
• Hydraulic gradient.
• The hydraulic conductivity is a measure of the water
transmitting capability of an aquifer.
• High hydraulic conductivity values indicate an aquifer
can readily transmit water; low values indicate poor
transmitting ability.
WATER SUPPLY WELLS

• How aquifers respond when water is withdrawn from a

well is an important topic in ground water hydrology.
• It explains how a well gets its water, how it can
deplete adjacent wells, or how it can induce
contamination.
• When water is withdrawn from a well, its water level
drops. When the water level falls below the water
level of the surrounding aquifer, ground water flows
into the well.
• The rate of inflow increases until it equals the rate of
withdrawal.
WATER SUPPLY WELLS -Cont’d

• The movement of water from an aquifer into a

well alters the surface of the aquifer around the
well. It forms what is called a cone of depression.
• A cone of depression is a funnel-shaped drop in
the aquifer's surface.
• The well itself penetrates the bottom of the cone.
Within a cone of depression, all ground water
flows to the well.
• The outer limits of the cone define the well's area
of influence
Groundwater Flow & Darcy’s
Law
Gradients:
• The head difference divided by the
distance between the measuring points is a
slope called a Gradient.
• All water tables have a slope, usually a
small one.
• Groundwater will flow from an area of
higher head to an area of lower head.
• The steeper the slope, the faster the flow.
Groundwater Flow & Darcy’s
Law

Hydraulic Conductivity:
• Aquifers transmit water, the
speed at which water flows in an
aquifer is the hydraulic
conductivity.
• Since hydraulic conductivity is a
velocity, its units are distance
divided by time.
Groundwater Flow-Nets

• In an entire aquifer, the complex pattern of flow

gets equalized and flow can be assumed to follow
straight paths, perpendicular to the contours of
the groundwater table elevation.

Stream-lines:
• The reason these flow lines are perpendicular to
the groundwater elevation contours is that the
elevation is a measure of the force (gravity) that
is driving the flow.
Groundwater Velocity (Darcy’s
Law)

• The rate at which groundwater will flow

through an aquifer is the hydraulic conductivity
it is estimated by use of the single most
important equation in groundwater hydrology.
• Fortunately Darcy’s law is a simple one.
• Darcy’s law was developed in the 1850's by a
French engineer experimenting with flow of
water through sand filled pipes (an early water
purification technique).
Darcy’s law

Three factors determine the rate (velocity) of flow.

• The slope of the pipe,
• The diameter of the pipe,
• The permeability of the sand.
More about these factors:
• In an aquifer the slope is the hydraulic gradient (slope
of the water table),cross-sectional area is the
equivalent of the diameter in a pipe.
• In an aquifer the hydraulic conductivity is the measure
of permeability.
Darcy’s law

• In an aquifer flow is equal to the hydraulic

conductivity times the hydraulic gradient times the
cross-sectional area.
Mathematically, Darcy’s law is:
Q = KIA
Where Q = rate of flow
K = Hydraulic Conductivity
I = Slope
A = Cross sectional area.
TRANSMISSIVITY

• Hydraulic conductivity is a measure of how

much flow in a small part of an aquifer.
• However, aquifers have variable HC,
gradients and cross sectional area.
• A more useful measure for a real aquifer is
Transmissivity.
TRANSMISSIVITY

Transmissivity:
• It is the quantity of water that a given aquifer can
transmit. It is the average hydraulic conductivity
times the average thickness of the aquifer.
Estimating transmissivity:
• The transmissivity of a given length of an aquifer
can be measured by dividing the flow from that
portion of the aquifer by the width of the aquifer
times the slope (gradient of the aquifer)
Groundwater flow to wells

Important hydrological applications of wells:

• Extraction of groundwater to meet domestic,
municipal, industrial and irrigation needs;
• Controlling salt‐water intrusion near coastal
regions;
• Remove contaminated water from an aquifer;
• lower the water table for construction
projects and release pressure under dams, and
others.
Computation of drawdown

Basic assumptions:
• The aquifer is bounded on the bottom by a confining
layer;
• All geological formations are horizontal and have finite
horizontal extend;
• The potentiometric surface of the aquifer is horizontal
prior to the start of the pumping;
• The potentiometric surface of the aquifer is not changing
with time prior to the pumping;
• All changes in the position of the potentiometric surface
are due to the effect of pumping only;
Computation of drawdown

• The aquifer is homogeneous and isotropic;

• All flow is radial toward the well;
• Groundwater flow is horizontal;
• Darcy’s law is valid;
• Groundwater has a constant density and viscosity;
• The pumping well and the observation wells are fully
penetrated and are screened over the entire thickness
of the aquifer;
• The pumping well has an infinitesimal diameter and is
100% efficient.
Potentiometric surface

• A potentiometric surface is based on hydraulic principles.

• Two connected storage tanks with one full and one empty
will gradually fill/drain to the same level.
• This is because of atmospheric pressure and gravity.
• A potentiometric surface is the imaginary line where a
given reservoir of fluid will "equalize out to" if allowed to
flow.
• In groundwater "potentiometric surface" is a synonym of
"piezometric surface" which is an imaginary surface that
defines the level to which water in a confined aquifer
would rise were it completely pierced with wells.
Computing drawdown in a completely
confined aquifer

Specific assumptions:
• The aquifer is confined top and bottom;
• There is no source of recharge to the aquifer;
• The aquifer is compressible and water is
released instantaneously from the aquifer as
the head is lowered; and
• The well is pumped at a constant rate.
Computing drawdown in a completely
confined aquifer
Computing drawdown in a completely
confined aquifer

• According to the Darcy’s law, the flow across any

circular section of the aquifer toward the well is
given by:

where K is the hydraulic conductivity, and A is the

cross‐sectional area. To determine the cross
sectional area, let’s consider a cylinder shown in
below;
Computing drawdown in a completely
confined aquifer

• The cross-section area which the flow passes

through actually is the side area of the
cylinder with a height b and a radius r of the
top circle shown above, and is given by
Steady Radial Flow in a Confined
Aquifer

Additional assumptions:
• The aquifer is confined top and bottom;
• The well is pumped at a constant rate; and
• Equilibrium has been reached and there is no
further change in drawdown with time.
• If there are two observation wells, one
is at a distance r1 from the pumping
well and the hydraulic head is h1.
• The other observation well is at a
distance r2 from the pumping well, and
the hydraulic head is h2
Steady Radial Flow in a
Confined Aquifer

• Re-arrange, we obtain the following

equation which can be used to estimate
the aquifer transmissivity in a confined
aquifer
Steady radial flow in an unconfined
aquifer

Additional assumptions:
• The aquifer is unconfined and underlain by a
horizontal confining layer;
• The well is pumped at a constant rate; and
• Equilibrium has been reached and there is no
further change in drawdown with time.
EXAMPLE

• A well in an unconfined aquifer is pumped over a

long period at a rate of 0.05m3/s until
approximate steady-state conditions are
achieved. Two observation wells at distances of
25m and 50m from the abstraction well give
observed draw downs below the initial water
table level of 15.3m and 9.5m respectively. If
the saturated thickness of the aquifer prior to
pumping is 80m, determine the hydraulic
conductivity (coefficient of permeability) of the
aquifer material.
More on groundwater hydrology- (Groundwater hydrology
by David Keith Todd, Second Edition)

Working without a plan ni vurugu tu

THANK YOU

END OF LECTURE