ENGINEERING HYDROLOGY
CE – 354
LECTURE NO. 03
Batch 2019 - 2023
BY
ENGR. HAMZA SUBHANI
WELL HYDAULICS
What is well hydraulics?
To understand the processes in effect when one or more wells are
pumping from an aquifer. This for instance considers the analysis
of drawdown due to pumping with time and distance
Importance of well hydraulics
Groundwater withdrawal from aquifers are important to meet the
water demand. Therefore, we need to understand well hydraulics
to design a pumping strategy that is sufficient to furnish the
adequate amounts of water
GROUNDWATER WELLS
• The groundwater is collected through the use of wells
• Well systems usually have – well structure, pump and discharge pipes
• Well usually consists of perforated casing that allows water to enter the well
but prevents collapse of hole
• When water is withdrawn, the flow becomes established to compensate
the withdrawl
• Because of head loss, piezometric surface adjacent to well is depressed;
this is called ‘cone of depression’
• Remember Darcy’s equation:
dh
Q KA
dx
Basic Assumptions
• The piezometric surface of the aquifer is horizontal
prior to the start of the pumping
• The aquifer is homogeneous & isotropic (same material with same
properties in all directions)
• All flow is radial toward the well
• Groundwater flow is horizontal
• Darcy’s law is valid
• The pumping well fully penetrates the aquifer
STEADY VERSUS TRANSIENT (UNSTEADY)
• Steady state implies that the drawdown is a function of
location only
h = f(r)
• Transient state implies that the drawdown is a function of
location & time
h = f(r, t)
WELL OPERATING IN AN UNCONFINED AQUIFER
BASIC TERMS
• Radial Flow into the well through the aquifer the water table assume to be
conical shape called Cone Of Depression.
• The drop in the water table elevation at any point from its previous static
level is called Drawdown.
• The areal extend of the cone of depression is called Area Of Influence.
• At constant rate of pumping drawdown curve develops gradually with time
due to withdrawal of water from storage. This phase is called an Unsteady
Flow Condition.
• On prolonged pumping, an equilibrium state is reached between the rate of
pumping and the rate of inflow of ground water from the outer edges of the
zone of influence. The cone of depression attain constant shape then the well
is known to operate in Steady Flow Condition.
BASIC TERMS
• There is a gradual accumulation of storage till the original (static) level is
reached. This stage is called Recuperation Or Recovery.
• S is the drawdown at observatory well.
STEADY CONFINED FLOW
STEADY CONFINED FLOW
• Fig shows a well completely penetrating a horizontal confined aquifer of
thickness B.
• Consider the well to be discharging a steady flow, Q.
• The original peizometric head (static head) was H.
• hw is the peizometric head at the well
• Sw is the drawdown at well.
• S1 and S2 are the drawdown at two observatory wells.
• Similarly h1 and h2 are the corresponding head of the observatory wells.
• Q is the discharge from the well.
• rw is the radius of the well.
STEADY CONFINED FLOW
STEADY CONFINED FLOW
STEADY UNCONFINED FLOW
STEADY UNCONFINED FLOW
• Consider the well to be discharging a steady flow, Q.
• The original peizometric head (static head) was H.
• hw is the peizometric head at the well
• Sw is the drawdown at well.
• S1 and S2 are the drawdown at two observatory wells.
• Similarly h1 and h2 are the corresponding head of the observatory wells.
• Q is the discharge from the well.
• rw is the radius of the well.
STEADY UNCONFINED FLOW
OPEN WELLS
• Open wells (also known as dug wells) are extensively used for drinking water
supply in rural communities and in small farming Operations.
• They are best suited for shallow and low yielding aquifers.
• In hard rocks the cross sections are circular or rectangular in shape.
• They are generally sunk to the depth of about 10 m and are lined wherever
loose overburden is encountered.
• The water entered into these wells from bottom.
• These wells tap water in unconfined aquifers.
OPEN WELLS
• When the water in an open well is pumped out, the water level inside the well
is lowered. The difference in the water table elevation and water level inside
the well is known as Depression Head.
• The flow discharge into the well (Q) is proportional to the depression head (H)
and is expressed as
Q = Ko H
• Where Ko is a proportionality constant and depend upon the characteristics of
the aquifer.
• Since Ko represents discharge per unit drawdown it is called as Specific
Capacity of the well.
OPEN WELLS
OPEN WELLS
• There is a Critical Depression head for a well beyond which any higher
depression head would cause dislodging of soil particles by the high flow
velocities.
• Discharge corresponding to the critical head is called Critical or Maximum
Yield.
• The yield Q from an open well under a depression head H is obtained as
Q = Ks A H
Where Ks = Specific Capacity of per unit well area & =
A = Bottom area of the well
H = Depression Head
SPECIFIC CAPACITY
EXAMPLE NO. 01
A 30-cm diameter well completely penetrates a confined aquifer of permeability
45 m/day. The length of the strainer is 20 m. Under steady state of pumping the
drawdown at the well was found to be 3.0 m and the radius of influence was 300
m. Calculate the discharge.
SOLUTION NO. 01
PROBLEM NO. 01
For the well in the previous example, calculate the discharge (a) if the well
diameter is 45 cm and all other data remain the same as in example no. 01 (b) if
the drawdown is increased to 4.5 m and all the other data remain unchanged as in
example no. 01.
EXAMPLE NO. 02
A 30-cm well completely penetrates an unconfined aquifer of saturated depth
40m. After a long period of pumping at a steady rate of 1500 lpm, the drawdown
in two observation wells 25 and 75 m from the pumping well were found to be
3.5 and 2.0 m respectively. Determine the transmissivity of the aquifer. What is
the drawdown at the pumping well?
SOLUTION NO. 02
SOLUTION NO. 02
EXAMPLE NO. 03
During the recuperation test of a 4.0 m open well a recuperation of the depression
head from 2.5 m to 1.25 m was found to take place in 90 minutes. Determine the
(i) Specific capacity per unit well area and (ii) yield of the well for a safe
drawdown of 2.5 m (iii) What would be the yield from the well of 5.0 m diameter
for a drawdown of 2.25 m?
SOLUTION NO. 03
ANY QUESTIONS????
