GROUNDWATER FLOW

GROUP 7

Tumaneng, Paul
Evangelista, Lian

Aquino, Neil Arthur

UNCONFINED Acido, John

AQUIFER Castillo, Ness Gleo

 Unconfined

Confined

ILLUSTRATION
Groundwater flow in unconfined aquifers obey the same principles as flow in confined aquifers with an added element; the
elevation of the top of the saturated zone defines a “water table”, which is the elevation of water that stands in a screened
well that is just deep enough to encounter water. For example, the hydraulic head of the water table intersected by the
shallow well shown in Figure.
Groundwater does not flow in straight lines. It flows from areas of higher hydraulic head to areas of lower hydraulic head, and
this means that it can flow “uphill” in many situations.

Groundwater is in constant motion, although the rate at which it moves is generally slower than it would move in a stream
because it must pass through the intricate passageways between free space in the rock. First the groundwater moves downward
due to the pull of gravity. But it can also move upward because it will flow from higher pressure areas to lower pressure areas,
 GROUNDWATER HYDROLOGY
Groundwater accounts for 25.7% of the total freshwater
and 98.4% of the unfrozen fresh water in the hydrosphere
(Mather, 1984).

Although groundwater is renewable, the rate at which it is

replenished is often much slower than the rate at which
water is pumped from the water-yielding earthen layer or
aquifer.

GROUNDWATER FLOW
Water flows along the piezometric surface from areas of higher head to lower head.
In unconfined aquifers, the piezomeric surface is the water table. The piezometric surface can be calculated by subtracting the depth of water below the
ground surface from a predefined datum. In many cases the datum is either the height of the top of the confining layer relative to the sea level or the
depth below ground surface.

The hydrologist Henry Darcy, found out that the rate of ground water flow depends on the hydraulic gradient and on a property of geologic material
known as the hydraulic conductivity.

The hydraulic conductivity can be thought of as a measure of how easy it is to obtain flow of water through the porous media (ie., the sand graviel, etc.).
GROUNDWATER FLOW
Water flows along the piezometric surface from areas of higher head to lower head.
In unconfined aquifers, the piezomeric surface is the water table. The piezometric surface can be calculated by
subtracting the depth of water below the ground surface from a predefined datum. In many cases the datum is
either the height of the top of the confining layer relative to the sea level or the depth below ground surface.
The hydrologist Henry Darcy, found out that the rate of ground water flow depends on the hydraulic gradient
and on a property of geologic material known as the hydraulic conductivity.
The hydraulic conductivity can be thought of as a measure of how easy it is to obtain flow of water through the
porous media (ie., the sand graviel, etc.).
Piezometric Surface

An imaginary or hypothetical surface of the piezometric pressure or hydraulic head throughout all or part of a confined or
semi-confined aquifer; analogous to the water table of an unconfined aquifer.

The Importance of piezometric surface provides an indication of the direction of

groundwater flow and is used to determine hydraulic gradients.

Potentiometric Surface

- is a synonym of "piezometric surface" which an imaginary surface representing the static head of ground water in
tighty cased wells that tap a water-bearing rock unit (aquifer); or, in the case of unconfined aquifers, the water table. If the
potentiometric surface lies above the ground surface, a flowing artesian well results.
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