BASIC SUBSURFACE

FLOW
Steady State Condition
WHAT IS A
SUBSURFACE
FLOW?
Subsurface flow refers to
the flow of water below
earth's surface as part of
the hydrologic cycle.
 SUBTOPIC
S

Law of Groundwater Groundwate Radial Travel time

Darcy, flow in r flow in Groundwate of
Confined Confined Unconfined r flow in Groundwate
and Aquifer Aquifer Confined r in
Unconfined Aquifer C onfined
Aquifers
Aquifer
Law of Darcy, Confined
and Unconfined
Aquifers
SUB TOPIC
#1:
C ONFINED AQUIFER
A confined aquifer is a geologic formation, sediment, or rock that contains body
of water trapped within sediment underneath the ground by at least one
confining layer.

CONFINING
LAYER

CONFINING
LAYER
SUB TOPIC
#1:
2 types of confining layers :
Aquitard- layer that slows but does not completely stops water from passing
through Aquiclude- layer that is impermeable or does not allow any amount of
water to pass through
SUB TOPIC #1:
How does water find its way if it is having a hard time to pass through confining layers?
Most water finds its way to the aquifer through an unconfined area usually much further
from where we’d like to put our well and travels for hundreds or thousand of years
through the sediment to where our well is.
SUB TOPIC
UNC ONFINED AQUIFER
#1:
An unconfined aquifer is a body of water that isn’t sediment or rock, just beneath
the surface . This aquifer receive direct infiltration from the surface when it rains
and snow . The surface of the saturated zone is the water table.

Water table
SUB TOPIC
#1:
Since this aquifer is close to the surface, it undertakes little pressure , which means
the
water in this aquifer is able to rise and fall .

Water rises

Water falls
SUB TOPIC
#1:
Unconfined aquifers are usually closer to the earths surface than confined aquifers and
as such, they are impacted by drug conditions and contaminants sooner. Due to these
factors, having a water well in an unconfined aquifer could cause more problems in
the future compared to a confined aquifer well
SUB TOPIC
#1:
PARAMETERS OF COMPARISON CONFINED AQUIFER UNCONFINED AQUIFER

An unconfined aquifer is comparatively

A form of aquifers that happens to be
Meaning exposed and not confined like a
surrounded by certain rock pieces.
confined aquifer.

Another name for this is water table or phreatic

Another name Another name for this aquifer is perched aquifer
aquifer

it happens to be relatively close to the

It happens to be relatively distant from the
Close to land surface of the land as it is available just
surface
below the surface.
of land due to being deep below the land.
Depth It has more depth. It has less depth

The water present in this aquifer happens to be the water present in this aquifer happens to
Water quality comparatively clean as there is a very be comparatively polluted as it is very close
minimum fluctuation in the purity of water. to the pollution present on the land

the water in this aquifer happens to be very old the water in this aquifer fluctuates a lot and
Nature of water
and serves long term uses therefore serves short-term uses only
SUB TOPIC
#1:
Darcy's Law
 Formulated by Henry Darc y in 1856
 It was a results of experiments on the flow of water through beds
of
sand
 It forms the scientific basis of fluid permeability used in the earth
sciences, such as hydrogeology.

Darcy’s Law Application

 Used to describe oil, water, and gas flows through petroleum
reservoirs.
 The flow of water through an aquifer.
SUB TOPIC
#1:
Darcy's law is a mathematical statement which neatly summarizes
several
familiar properties that groundwater flowing in aquifers exhibits,
including:
 If there is no pressure gradient over a distance, no flow occurs,
these are hydrostatic conditions;

 If there is a pressure gradient, flow will occur from high pressure

towards low pressure opposite the direction of increasing gradient,
hence the negative sign in Darcy's law;
SUB TOPIC
#1:
Continuation…

 the greater the pressure gradient through the same formation

material,
the greater the discharge rate; and
 the discharge rate of fluid will often be different, through
different formation materials, or even through the same material
in different directions, even if the same pressure gradient exists
in both cases.
SUB TOPIC
#1: Darcy’s Law Equation
 Darcy’s law describes the relationship among the instantaneous rate
of discharge through porous medium and pressure drop at a
distance.
 Darcy’s law is expressed as:
Q = -KA dh/dl Darcy’s Law
Wherein: Diagram

Q is the rate of water flow

K is the hydraulic c onduc tivity
A is the c olumn c ross-section area
dh/dl indicates a hydraulic
gradient.
SUB TOPIC
#1:
Limitations of Darcy’s Law
 Unsaturated and Saturated flow.
 Flow in fractured rocks and granular media.
 Transient flow and steady-state flow.
 Flow in aquitards and aquifers.
 Flow in Homogeneous and heterogeneous
systems.
Sample Problem 1: Darcy’s Law Vertical
Flow
A constant 20 mm of water is ponded on the surface of a 50 mm long saturated vertical
sand column. What is the water flux from the bottom of the column if the saturated
hydraulic conductivity is 50 mm/day?

SOLUTION:
(1)Define a convenient reference level and designate it as z=0.
(2)Calculate the difference in hydraulic head across the soil length

Hin  hin  z in  2 0 m m  5 0 m m  7 0 m m

Ho u t  ho u t  zo u t  0 m m  0 m m 
0mm
H  H in  H o u t  7 0 m m  0 m m 
70mm
(3) Calculate the hydraulic gradient
i:  H 7 0 m m
i    1 .4
z 50 m m

with units of hydraulic head it is a

dimensionless quantity

(4) Calculate the flux.

Jw  KS  i  50 1.4 

70mm/Flux
dayis downward
Sample Problem 2: Darcy’s Law Horizontal
Flow
The sand column from case a is now placed horizontally with 90 mm
of water ponded on the left side and 20 mm on the right side. Find:
(1) the water flux density, and (2) the volume of water collected at
the outlet during 12 hr if the cross-sectional area of the column was
1000 mm2.

SOLUTION:
(1)Set the reference level z=0 to
c oincide with the axes of the c olumn

(2)Mark the c olumn inlet by x=0.

Sign convention
+

-
(3) Calculate the difference in hydraulic head across the soil
length
Hin  hin  zin  90mm 0mm Ho u t  ho u t  z o u t  20mm  0 mm 
 90mm 20mm
H  Hin  Hout  90mm  20mm
(4) C alculate the 70mm
hydraulic (6) Calculate the cumulative volume of flow
gradient i:
H 70 m m
with units of hydraulic head it is a V
i  z   50 mm  1.4 dimensionless quantity Jw   V  Jw  A 
A t
t
(5) C alculate the V  1000  12  2.917  35004
flux. mm3
Jw  Ks i  50 1.4  70mm/ day
 2.917mm/hr
G roundwater flow
in Confined
Aquifer
SUB TOPIC
#2:
Confined Aquifer

A confined aquifer is an aquifer below the land surface that is

saturated with water. Layers of impermeable material are both above and
below the aquifer, causing it to be under pressure so that when the
aquifer is penetrated by a well, the water will rise above the top of the
aquifer.
Groundwater in a confined aquifer is under pressure and will rise up
inside a borehole drilled into the aquifer. The level to which the water
rises is called the potentiometric surface. An artesian flow is where water
flows out of the borehole under natural pressure
SUB TOPIC
#2:
SUB TOPIC
#2:
How confined aquifers recharge?

Confined aquifers may be replenished, or recharged by rain or

stream water infiltrating the rock at some considerable distance away
from the confined aquifer. Groundwater in these aquifers can
sometimes be thousands of years old.
SUB TOPIC
#2:
The assumptions on confined aquifer:

Under steady-state flow conditions, the groundwater level

(piezometric level in the confined aquifer or water table in the
unconfined aquifer) remains c onstant with time. . Steady
groundwater flow occurs in an aquifer system when the rate of
groundwater recharge is equal to the rate of groundwater
discharge.
SUB TOPIC
#2:
Thiem Equation
Calculation of Discharge in Confined Aquifer Using Theim’s Formula
for
Steady Radial Flow:
Discharge through confined aquifer can be calculated from the formula:

Where:
K = c oeffic ient of permeability
m = thic kness of aquifer
rw = radius of the well
T = transmissibility of aquifer = K.m
SUB TOPIC
#2:
Consider that the recharge to the aquifer within the influence zone of
the pumped well equals the rate of discharge of the well so that the
drawdown remains stabilized and therefore steady state exists.

The above equation is called equilibrium or Thiem’s equation

and is used to determine piezometric head at any point at a radial
distance r from the center of the well. Carrying the logic further if the
piezometric heads in two observation wells say h1 and h2 at two
points r1 and r2 distance radially away respectively from the centre
of the pumped well are measured during the pumping test,
coefficient of permeability ‘K can be easily calculated. The formula
can be written as follows (r2 > r1) The above method is popularly
called Thiem’s method.
SUB TOPIC
#2:
Sample
Problem:
A well is fully penetrated into a 50 ft thick confined aquifer. Water is pumped out at a
steady rate of 500 gallons/min until the following drawdown cone of depression is formed. The initial
water level was 100 ft before pumping. Find the hydraulic conductivity (ft/min) for the aquifer.
G roundwater flow in
Unconfined
Aquifer
SUB TOPIC
#3:
Unconfined Aquifer

 An unconfined aquifer is defined as a body of water formed from

ground water, rain water runoff and stream with its water table , or
upper surface , open to the atmosphere. They can be
problematic as they fluctuate under atmospheric pressure.

 Unconfined aquifers have clay, sand, and gravel layers which

can complicate the process of dewatering an area where drilling
or mic ro tunneling is to be c arried out.
SUB TOPIC
#3:
Unconfined aquifer are formed when ground water or run-off seeps
through the pores in the permeable rock and soil, and collects in
impermeable rock strata. The upper water surface of the aquifer or the
water table is at atmospheric pressure, so rises and falls and is more
impacted by drought conditions than confined aquifers.

 Unconfined aquifer can be found below the rivers and streams, and
consist of layers of sand, limestone, and gravel.
SUB TOPIC
#3:

• The water flow in unconfined aquifer

SUB TOPIC
#3:
The Use of water in unconfined aquifer:
 The water from unconfined aquifers are mainly used for domestic and
agric ultural purposes.

How is water released from an unconfined aquifer?

 Unconfined aquifers release water from storage by means of drainage
of
the aquifer material's pores, and since it drains, large quantities of water
are
released.
SUB TOPIC
#3:
How an unconfined aquifer form?
 Aquifers must be both permeable and porous and include such rock
types
as sandstone, conglomerate, fractured limestone and unconsolidated
sand
and gravel.

How an unconfined aquifers recharge?

 Recharge typically occurs via infiltration of rainfall or snowmelt to the
water
table but can also result from human activities such as irrigation of
cropland.
 Unconfined aquifers are usually recharged by rain or stream water
infiltrating directly through the overlying soil.
SUB TOPIC
#3:
How an unconfined aquifer discharge?

Discharge can occur via springs (focused discharge) or seeps (diffuse

discharge), and it can take place beneath surface-water bodies (e.g.,
lakes, streams, estuaries, or the ocean).
SUB TOPIC
#3:
The assumptions on Unconfined Aquifer:

The aquifer is pumped at a constant discharge rate. The well

penetrates the entire saturated thickness of the aquifer. The gradient
between the pumping well and monitoring wells is at steady-state.
SUB TOPIC
#3:
Dupuit-Thiem Equation

The Dupuit-Thiem equation is normally used to assess flow towards a

pumping well in unconfined aquifers under steady-state conditions.

The pressure head at the bottom of the tank along one axis can be
measured to assess the flow profile every 0.1 m between the well and
the tank wall.
SUB TOPIC #
3:

• R= 3000 s√K
• R = radius of influence
in meters
• K = c oeffic ient of
permeability in
m/sec.
• rw = radius of the
well
• s = drawdown at well
in meters
SAMPLE
PROBLEM:
A tube well is 0.46 m in
diameter. The
unconfined aquifer is of
18 m depth.
After drawdown depth
of
water is 12 m in the
well. Permeability of soil
is 24.50 m/day. Radius
of c ircle of influence is
275 metres.
C alc ulate disc harge of
the tube well.
Solution
:

Q = 2000
𝒎𝟑 /day
Radial Groundwater flow
in Confined Aquifer
SUB TOPIC
#4:
• When a well is pumped, water is removed from the aquifer
surrounding the well, and depending on the type of aquifer, the
water table or piezometric surface is lowered.

• The drawdown at a given point is the distance the water level is

lowered. A drawdown curve shows the variation of drawdown
with distance from the well. In three dimension, the
drawdown curve describes a conic shape known as the cone
of depression.
SUB TOPIC
#4:
SUB TOPIC
#4:
• Assume two-dimensional flow to a well centered on a circular
island and penetrating a homogeneous and isotropic confined
aquifer.
• Assume the flow is horizontal everywhere.
• Using plane polar coordinates with the well as the origin, the well
discharge rate Q for steady radial flow to the well at any distance
r is obtained as:

Q = Aq = - 𝒅𝒓
2πrbK𝒅𝒉
SUB TOPIC
#4: Q = Aq = -
𝒅𝒉
𝒅𝒓
Let: 2πrbK
Q = Disc harge Rate
A = C ross-sectional Area
(2πr*b)
o r= radius of the c ircle
o b=thickness of the
q = Darcy law (- 𝑑 slope of the drawdown
aquifer curve
K 𝑑 ℎ) 𝑟

Specific discharge(Darcy
flux)
SUB TOPIC
#4:
Q = Aq = -
𝒅𝒉
𝒅𝒓
2πrbK
• Rearranging and integrating the equation for the boundary
conditions
at the well:
h=h r=r
w

h=h0 w

r=r0
SUB TOPIC
#4:
Known as the Equilibrium or Theim
equation which enables the hydraulic
Gives the
conductivity or the transmissivity of
equation: h0 −hw
Q= a c onfined aquifer to be
ln(𝒓𝒐/𝒓𝒘)
2πKb determined from a pumped well
that fully penetrated the aquifer.
SUB TOPIC
#4:
• The equilibrium equation enables us
to determine the hydraulic
conductivity of a confined aquifer
from a pumped well that fully
penetrates the aquifer.
• The method consists of measuring
drawdown in two observation wells
at different distances from a well
pumped at a constant rate.
• When h, is measured,
SUB TOPIC
#4:
• From a practic al standpoint,
drawdown s, rather than the
head is measured so the
equation can be written as :

Wherein:
s1 = h 0 –
h1 s2 = h 0
– h2
Therefore,
s1-s2 = h2
– h1
SUB TOPIC
#4:
b = thickness of the aquifer
h0 = undisturbed artesian head
h1, h2 = undisturbed artesian head at r1 and r2
respectively
when well is discharging
s1, s2 = drawdown at r1 and r2 respectively when
well is discharging
Qw = Q1 = Aw = 2
Q 2 A1 = 2 rw b A 2 =
r1b 2 r2b V1
Vw = = Q 1/A1 Note: To use this equation, pumping must c ontinue
at a uniform rate for a sufficient to approach steady-
Q w /Aw V2 = state,
i.e. one in which the drawdown changes negligibly
Q 2/A2 with
time.
Sample
Problem:
A well fully penetrates a 25-m thick confined aquifer. After a long period
of pumping at a constant rate of 0.05 m3/s, the drawdown at distance
of 50 and 150 m from the well were observed to be 3 and 1.2 m,
respectively.
Determine
Given: the hydraulic conductivity.
Required:
• b = 25m K= ?
• s1 = 3m
• s2 = 1.2m
• r1 = 50m
• r2 = 150m
• Q = 0.05 m3/s = 4320
m3/day-1
s1 = h 0 –
h1 s2 = h0
– h2
𝒓
Q = 2πKb 𝑸
K = 2πKb(s1 −s 𝒍𝒏(𝒓𝟐 )
ln(𝒓𝟏 /𝒓𝟐) 2 𝟏
s1−s2
)
−
𝟑 𝟏
𝟒𝟑𝟐𝟎𝒎 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝒎
K 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒏 = 16.8 m
2π(25m) 𝟓𝟎𝒎
= day-1
(1.8m)
From the estimated hydraulic conductivity, we may conclude that
this
aquifer is probably a sandy aquifer.
Travel time of Groundwater
in Confined Aquifer
SUB TOPIC
#5: Groundwater flows slowly through the voids between grains
or the cracks in solid rock. Much of our knowledge depends on
field and laboratory observations

The time interval between recharge and discharge points is

defined as the travel time of groundwater flow. Travel time is
used in several applications, such as designing exploitation and
monitoring systems, identifying areas affected by contaminant
migration and assessing the potential for natural attenuation of
pollutants.
SUB TOPIC
#5:
Analytical solutions to estimate the travel time of
groundwater flow have been developed by several authors for
confined aquifers with regional flow, unconfined aquifers with
pumping conditions and without recharge, unconfined aquifers
without pumping conditions and with recharge by infiltration,
and unconfined aquifers without pumping and with recharge
by infiltration in oceanic islands and inland.
SUB TOPIC
#5: Velocities of ground-water flow generally are low and are orders of
magnitude less than velocities of streamflow. The movement of ground
water normally occurs as slow seepage through the pore spaces between
particles of unconsolidated earth materials or through networks of fractures
and solution openings in consolidated rocks. A velocity of 1 foot per day or
greater is a high rate of movement for ground water, and ground-water
velocities can be as low as 1 foot per year or 1 foot per decade.
SUB TOPIC
#5:
In contrast, velocities of streamflow generally are measured in feet per
second (ft/s) or meter per second (m/s). Groundwater moves very slow from
recharge areas to discharge zones. Flow rates in aquifers are commonly
measured in feet per day. It might take years, decades, or even centuries for
water flow through some aquifers. Flow rates are much faster where large
openings exist, such as in fractured basalt or coarse gravel.
SUB TOPIC
#5:
Formulas to consider in finding the Travel Time of Groundwater:

• Area of cross section of flow, 𝐴 = 𝑡𝑤

𝑑
• Hydraulic Gradient, ℎ
𝑑
𝐿 𝑑
• Rate of flow, 𝑄 = 𝐾𝐴 ℎ
𝑑
𝐿
• Darcy velocity, 𝑣 𝐷 = 𝑄
𝐴
• Seepage velocity, 𝑣 𝑠 = 𝑣 𝐷
𝑦
Sample
Problem:
A confined Aquifer has a source of recharge as shown in Figure. The
hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer is 50m/day and its porosity is 0.2.
The piezometric head in two wells 1000 m apart is 50 m and 55 m,
respectively from a common datum. The average thickness of the
aquifer is 30 m and average width is 5 km.

(a) Determine the rate of flow through the aquifer.

(b) Determine the time of travel from the head of the aquifer to a
point
4 km downstream (assume no dispersion or diffusion).
Sample
Problem:
Solution:
Area of cross section of
flow 𝐴 = 𝑡𝑤 = 30 𝑚 5 𝑘𝑚 1000 𝑚
1 𝑘𝑚
= 15 × 104 𝑚 2

Hydraulic Gradient
dh/dL = 55 𝑚−50 𝑚 = 5 × 10−3
1000

Rate of flow
3
𝑑 𝑚 𝑚
𝑄 = 𝐾𝐴 ℎ = 50 𝑑 𝑎 15 × 104 𝑚 2 5 × 10−3 = 37, 500
𝑑𝑎
𝑑𝐿 𝑦 𝑦
Darcy velocity
𝑄 37,500 𝑚3
=
𝑣𝐷 = = 0.25 𝑚/𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝐴 15×104
𝑚2
Seepage velocity:
𝑣𝐷 0.25
𝑣𝑠 = = = 1.25 𝑚/𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝑦 0.2

Time to travel 4 km or 4000 m

4000 𝑚
downstream:
𝑡 = 1.25 = 3200 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑟 8.77 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
𝑚 /𝑑 𝑎 𝑦
EN
D