11/6/2010

SOURCES OF WATER SUPPLY

GROUND WATER HYDRAULICS

AAiT, Zerihun Alemayehu

GROUNDWATER
 Groundwater takes 0.62% of the total water in the
hydrosphere
 0.31% of the total water in the hydrosphere has depth
less than 800m
 sand, gravel, and sandstones good aquifers

 Limestone and shale that have caverns, fissures or

faults can also be considered as good aquifers.
 Clay’s ability to transmit water is very poor due to the
very small particle sizes (< 0.0004 mm).

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

1
 11/6/2010

SUBSURFACE DISTRIBUTION OF WATER

Ground surface
Soil water zone -Large fluctuation in water
Unsaturated Content due to plant transpiration
Vadose zone
zone
Capillary zone GWT

Saturated All voids are filled with water

zone Zone of Under hydrostatic pressure
saturation

Aquifer is a water-bearing formation that is saturated

and that Water
transmits large quantities of water.
AAiT By Zerihun
Supply & Urban Drainage
Alemayehu

AQUIFER PARAMETERS
 Porosity: ratio of volume of voids to total volume

 Vt is total volume of soil and Vs is the volume of solids

 Specific yield(Sy): amount of water that will drain
under the influence of gravity

 Specific retention(Sr): part that is retained as a film on

rock surfaces and in very small openings.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

2
 11/6/2010

AQUIFER PARAMETERS

 Storage coefficient (S): the volume of water that an

aquifer releases from or takes into storage per unit
surface area of the aquifer per unit change in head

 Hydraulic gradient (dh/dx): the slope of the

piezometric surface or water table line in m/m. The
magnitude of the head determines the pressure on the
groundwater to move and its velocity.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

AQUIFER PARAMETERS

 Hydraulic conductivity(K): ratio of velocity to hydraulic

gradient, indicating permeability of porous media.
QdL
K=
Adh

 Transmissivity: the capacity of an aquifer to transmit

water
 measure of how easily water in a confined aquifer can flow
through the porous media.

T = Kb, b = saturated thickness

AAiT By Zerihun Alemayehu
Water Supply & Urban Drainage

3
 11/6/2010

AQUIFER TYPES
 Unconfined and confined aquifers

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

GROUNDWATER FLOW
 Groundwater flows in the direction of decreasing
head.
 Equipotential lines lines showing points
having equal pressure.
 Flow direction is perpendicular to equipotential
lines 145 m 150 m
155 m
140 m

135 m
Aquifer boundary
130 m
Equipotential line
Flow direction
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

4
 11/6/2010

VELOCITY OF GW
 Velocity can be determined by Darcy’s law V = kS

 Darcy law :Q through porous media is proportional to the head

loss and inversely proportional to the length of the flow path.

L Q Δh
V  K
h A L
or
Q
Porous medium
Q V   K dL
dh
; for very small element

Area = A
 K = hydraulic conductivity and h is the head loss
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

DETERMINATION OF K
Laboratory methods
Constant head permeameter: VL
 K 
Ath
V = volume water flowing in time t through of area A, length
L, and with constant head h.

 Variable head permeameter : r 2 L  h1 

ln  
K 
rc t  h2 
2

r = radius of the column in which the water level drops

rc = radius of the sample
h1, h2 are heads at times t1 and t2, respectively
t = t2 – t1
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

5
 11/6/2010

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

DETERMINATION OF K...

Field Methods
 Pumping test: constant removal of water from a
single well and observations of water level declines at
several adjacent wells.
 This is the most accurate way
 For anisotropic aquifers, the combined horizontal
hydraulic conductivity:
K 
K Z
i i

Z i

 Where, Ki = K in layer i; Zi = thickness of layer I

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

6
 11/6/2010

DETERMINATION OF K...

Field Methods…
 Slug test or piezometer test: the simplest method
 some volume of water is taken out from the piezometer and
the subsequent rise of the water back to its original position
is recorded in time.

 ri-inside radius,
 L- the length of the screen section,
 ro-the outside radius
 to- characteristic time interval
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

HYDRAULICS OF WATER WELLS

 Well: hydraulic structure utilized to access water-
bearing aquifers
 Allows estimation of aquifer hydraulic properties
 Provides direct access to ground water conditions
1) Sampling
2) Testing
3) Resource Extraction
4) Environmental Restoration

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

7
 11/6/2010

HYDRAULICS OF WATER WELLS

 Aquifer test: studies involving analyzing the change,
with time, in water levels in an aquifer caused by
withdrawals through wells.
 Drawdown/cone of depression: is the difference
between the water level at any time during the test
and the original position. Ground

Original GWT

Cone of depression Drawdown

Well
Impervious Water Supply & Urban Drainage
AAiT By Zerihun Alemayehu
stratum

STEADY STATE CONDITION

• Cone of depression remains in equilibrium

• The water table is only slightly inclined
• Flow direction is horizontal
• Slopes of the water table and the hydraulic gradient are
equal
• Aquifer: isotropic, homogeneous and infinite extent
• Well fully penetrating the aquifer

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

8
 11/6/2010

STEADY RADIAL FLOW TO A WELL-CONFINED

For horizontal flow, Q at any radius r equals, from
Darcy’s law, dh dh
Q  2rbK  2rT
dr dr

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

STEADY RADIAL FLOW TO A WELL-CONFINED

 Integrating after separation of variables, with h = hw
at r = rw at the well, yields Thiem Equation.
h  hw
Q  2T
r
ln
rw
 Near the well, transmissivity, T, may be estimated by
observing heads h1 and h2 at two adjacent observation
wells located at r1 and r2, respectively, from the
pumping well. r
ln 2
r1
T Q
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu 2 (h2  h1 )

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STEADY RADIAL FLOW TO A WELL-UNCONFINED

 radial flow in an unconfined, homogeneous, isotropic,
and horizontal aquifer yields:

dH
Q  2rHK
dr

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

STEADY RADIAL FLOW TO A WELL-UNCONFINED

 integrating, the flow rate in a unconfined aquifer from

2 to 1
(h2  h1 )
2 2
Q  K
r
ln 2
r1

Q r
 Solving for K, K  ln 2
 (h2  h1 )
2 2
r1

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

10
 11/6/2010

RADIUS OF INFLUENCE OF STEADY STATE

PUMPING WELLS

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

EXAMPLE
 A 0.5 m well fully penetrates an unconfined aquifer of
30 m depth. Two observation well located 30 and 70 m
from the pumped well have drawdowns of 7 m and 6.4
m, respectively. If the flow is steady and K = 74 m/d
 what would be the discharge
 Estimate the drawdown at the well

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

11
 11/6/2010

SOLUTION
 For unconfined well Q is given as
(h2  h1 )
2 2
Q  K
r
ln 2
h1= 30 -7 = 23 m, and h2 = 30 – 6.4 = 23.6 m r1
r1 = 30 m and r2 = 70 m

(23.6 2  232 )
Q    74  7671.54 m3 / day
70
ln
30

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

SOLUTION
 Drawdown at the well,
 using the h1=23 m and rw=0.5m/2=.25 m, we have hw

(h1  hw ) (232  hw )
2 2 2
Q  K    74  7671.54 m3 / day
r1 30
ln ln
rw 0.25
Solving for hw, we have hw = 19.26 m
So the drawdown would be 30.0 – 19.26 = 10.74 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

12
 11/6/2010

EXAMPLE
 Design a tube well for the following data
 Yield required = 0.1 m3/sec
 Thickness of confined aquifer = 25 m
 Radius of confined aquifer = 250 m
 Permeability coefficient = 70 m/day
 Drawdown at the well = 6 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

SOLUTION
h  hw
 For confined aquifer Q is given by Q  2bK
r
ln
 Taking between the well and at the radius of
rw

influence(R) we have
 h-hw = 6 m
 b = 25 m
 R = 250 m
 70 m / day  6m
Q  0.1m3 / sec  2  25m   
 86400 sec/ day  ln 250
Solving for rw, we get rw = 0.12 m or 12 cm rw
Thus, diameter of the well is 24 cm or 25 cm
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

13
 11/6/2010

TRANSIENT OR UNSTEADY STATE CONDITION

Assumptions:
 The aquifer is homogenous, isotropic, uniformly thick,
and of infinite areal extent
 Prior to pumping the piezometric surface is horizontal

 The fully penetrating well is pumped at constant rate

 Flow is horizontal within the aquifer

 Storage within the well can be neglected

 Water removed from storage responds instantaneously

with a declining head

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

TRANSIENT OR UNSTEADY STATE CONDITION

 The governing equation in plane polar coordinates is:
 2h 1 h S h
 
r 2
r r T t
Where, h = head
r = radial distance
S = storage coefficient
T = transmissivity
 Solution methods to solve the governing equation:
Theis and Cooper-Jacob methods

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

14
 11/6/2010

THEIS METHOD
Theis assumed the following :
 T is constant during the test to the limits of the cone of
depression
 The water withdrawn from the aquifer is entirely from
the storage and discharged with the decline in head.
 The discharging well penetrates the entire thickness of
the aquifer.
 the diameter of the well is small relative to the
pumping rate so that the storage in the well is
negligible.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

THEIS METHOD…
 Theis solution is written as:

Q e u
s' 
4T u u du

 The integral in the Theis equation is written as W(u):

W(u) = – 0.5772 – ln(u) + u – u2/2·2! + u3/3·3! – u4/4·4! + …
 Therefore: r 2S
s' 
Q
W (u ) u
4T 4Tt
s’ = drawdown, W(u) = well function, Q = discharge at the well,
S = storage coefficient, T = transmissivity, t = time

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

15
 11/6/2010

THEIS METHOD…
 Procedure:
 Plot the type curve: W(u) vs. u or 1/u and on a log-log paper
 Plot the observed data: s’ vs. r2/t or t/r2 on a transparent log-log
paper
 Superimpose the observed plot on the type curve
 Adjust the observed plot in such a way that most of the points lie
on the type curve.
 Select one matching point and take the corresponding readings for
W(u), u, s’ and r2/t.
Q
 Compute T from the Theis equation: T  W (u )
4s '
1
 Determine S from the equation for u: S  4Tu
r2
t
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

W(u) = – 0.5772 – ln(u) + u – u2/2·2! + u3/3·3! – u4/4·4! + …

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

16
 11/6/2010

t/r2=

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

THEIS METHOD…

 Fora known S and T, we can compute s’

directly at a given r from the well as a function
of time:
 First compute u = r2S / (4Tt)
 Then, calculate for W(u)
Q
 Finally, s '  W (u )
4T

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

17
 11/6/2010

COOPER-JACOB METHOD
 Theis equation applies to all times and places if the
assumptions are met but Jacob’s method applies only
under certain additional equations.
 Facts:
 At the start of withdrawals, the entire cone of depression
has unsteady shape
 After some time, the cone of depression begins to have a
relatively steady shape
 The Jacob method is applicable only to the zone in
which steady shape conditions prevail or to the entire
cone only after steady conditions have developed
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

COOPER-JACOB METHOD…
 Cooper and Jacob noted that for small values of r and
large values of t, the parameter u = r2S/4Tt becomes
very small so that the infinite series can be
approximated by:
 W(u) = – 0.5772 – ln(u) (neglecting higher terms)
Q
 0.5772  ln u 
s' 
4T
 Rearranging the above equation

2.3Q  2.25Tt 
s'  log 
4T  r S 
2

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

18
 11/6/2010

COOPER-JACOB METHOD…
 plot of s’ vs. log (t), projection of the line back to s’ =
0, where t = t0 yields the following relation:
2.3Q  2.25Tt  2.25Tt0
0 log  S  0
4T  r S 
2
r2

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

COOPER-JACOB METHOD…

 Replacing s by s, where s is the drawdown

difference per unit log cycle of t:

2.3Q
T 
4 s '

 The Cooper-Jacob method first solves for T and then

for S and is only applicable for small values of u (u <
0.01).

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

19
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EXAMPLE
A fully penetrating artesian well is pumped at a
rate Q = 1600 m3/d from an aquifer whose S and
T values are 4 x 10-4 and 0.145 m2/min,
respectively.
 What is the drawdown at a distance of 100 m
after a) 1 hr and b)1 day of pumping?
 Estimate the radius of influence after 1 h and
1 day of pumping
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

SOLUTION
 For t = 1 hr = 60*60 = 3600 sec
 First calculate u

 u = r2S / (4Tt) = 1002 x 4 x 10-4/ (4 x 0.145/60 x 3600)=

0.1149
 Read/ calculate W(u)=1.698

 Thus, the drawdown becomes

 s= 1600/86400*1.698/(4 x  x 0.145/60) = 1.035 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

20
 11/6/2010

SOLUTION….

 For t = 1 day = 86400 sec

 First calculate u

 u = r2S / (4Tt) = 1002 x 4 x 10-4/ (4 x 0.145/60 x 86400)=

0.00479
 Read/ calculate W(u)=4.769

 Thus, the drawdown becomes

 s = 1600/86400*4.769/(4 x  x 0.145/60) = 2.908 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

SOLUTION
 Determine the radius of influence
 We may use Jacob’s formula to determine the radius of
influence
2.25Tt0
S
r2
For time t=1hr= 3600 sec
2.25Tto 2.25  0.145/60  3600
r2    48937.5m 2
S 4 10 -4

Thus, the radius of influence, r = 221.21 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

21
 11/6/2010

SOLUTION

For time t=1day = 86400 sec

2.25Tto 2.25  0.145/60  86400

r2    1174500m 2
S 4 10 -4

Thus, the radius of influence, r = 1083.74 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

WELL HYDRAULICS
A well is pumped at a rate of 0.75 m3/min. at an observation well 30
m away, the drawdowns were noted as a function of time as shown
below:
t,
days s, m t, days s, m t, days s, m
1 0.75 6 3.45 30 7.47
2 1.3 8 4.02 40 8.24
3 1.9 10 4.57 60 9.34
4 2.45 15 5.6 80 10.1
5 3 20 6.37 100 10.66
 Determine the values of T and S using Cooper-Jacob’s method.
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

22
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SOLUTION
t, days t, min s, m
1 60 0.75
2 120 1.3
3 180 1.9
4 240 2.45
5 300 3
6 360 3.45
8 480 4.02
10 600 4.57
15 900 5.6
20 1200 6.37
30 1800 7.47
40 2400 8.24
60 3600 9.34
80 4800 10.1
100 AAiT
Water Supply & Urban Drainage
6000 By10.66
Zerihun Alemayehu

SOLUTION…
 From the graph we have to = 72 min and s = 5.3 m
 And Q = 0.75 m3/min and r = 30 m
 Thus,

2.3Q 2.3  0.75

T    0.0259 m 2 / min
4 s' 4  5.3
2.25Tt0 2.25  0.0259  72
S 2
  0.00466
r 30 2

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

23
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INTERFERENCE OF WELLS
 The combined drawdown at a point is equal to the sum
of the drawdowns caused by individual wells.
 Reduced yield for each of the wells.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

Resultant drawdown

AAiT

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PUMPING AND RECHARGING WELLS

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Well construction depends on

 the flow rate,
 depth to groundwater,
 geologic condition,
 casing material, and
 economic factors
 Shallow and deep well
construction

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

25
 11/6/2010

SHALLOW WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Shallow wells are less than 30 m deep
 constructed by
 digging,
 boring,
 driving, or
 jetting methods.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

SHALLOW WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Dug wells: excavated by hand and

are vertical wells.
 diameter > 0.5 m and depth < 15 m.
 Lining and casing :concrete or
brick.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

26
 11/6/2010

SHALLOW WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Driven wells: a series of pipe lengths driven
vertically downward by repeated impacts into the
ground.
 diameters 25 – 75 mm
 Length below 15 m.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

SHALLOW WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Bored wells: constructed with

hand-operated or power-
driven augers.
 Diameters of 25 to 900 mm
 depths up to 30 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

27
 11/6/2010

SHALLOW WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Jetted wells: a high-velocity

stream of water directed
vertically downward, while
the casing that is lowered
into the hole conducts the
water and cuttings to the
surface.
 Small-diameter holes, up to 10
cm,
 depths up to 15 m
 useful for observation wells
and well-point systems for
dewatering purposes.
AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage
By Zerihun Alemayehu

DEEP WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Deep wells constructed by percussion (cable tool)
drilling or rotary drilling methods.
 Percussion drilling: regular lifting and dropping of a
string of tools, with a sharp bit on the lower end to
break rock by impact.
 for consolidated rock materials to depths of 600 m.

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

28
 11/6/2010

PERCUSSION DRILLING

Pulley

Tripod

Rope

Casing pipe

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

DEEP WELL CONSTRUCTION

 Rotary method: consists of drilling with a hollow,
rotating bit, with drilling mud or water used to increase
efficiency. No casing is required with drilling mud
because the mud forms a clay lining on the wall of the
well. Drilling mud consists of a suspension of water,
bentonite clay, and various organic additives.
 A rapid method for drilling in unconsolidated formations
 Air rotary methods use compressed air in place of drilling
mud and are convenient for consolidated formations.
 Drilling depths can exceed 150 m

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

29
 11/6/2010

HYDRAULIC ROTARY DRILLING

Drilling mud

Tripod

Mud to settling tank

AAiT Water Supply & Urban Drainage

By Zerihun Alemayehu

30