BASIC
SUBSURFACE
FLOW
INTRODUCTION
• GROUND WATER HYDROLOGY
- Is the science dealing with the quantity,
quality, movement, and distribution of water below
the surface of the Earth
- The subsurface environment is a porous
medium with void spaces having varying degrees of
water saturation
INTRODUCTION
• Aeration Zone
- region where void
spaces are not completely
filled with water
• Saturation Zone
- region where void
spaces are completely
filled with water
INTRODUCTION
• Aeration Zone
- water in this zone is
called Vadose water
- is sometimes called
Vadose Zone
- Latin word Vadosus =
shallow
INTRODUCTION
• Phreatic Surface
Greek word
phreatos – “well”
- Water table
- the boundary
between the aeration
zone and saturation zone
- pressure is equal to
atmospheric pressure
INTRODUCTION
• Soil-water Zone
- contains the:
1. roots of surface
vegetation;
2. voids left by decayed
roots of earlier vegetation
and;
3. animal and worm
burrows.
INTRODUCTION
• Soil-water Zone
- has maximum
moisture corresponding
to maximum moisture
that can be held by soil
- maximum moisture
content in this zone is
called Field Capacity
INTRODUCTION
• Intermediate Zone
- extends from bottom
of Soil-water zone to the
upper limit of the
capillary zone
INTRODUCTION
• Capillary Zone
- extends from the
water table up to the
limit of the capillary rise
of the water from the
saturation zone
• Capillary Fringe
- zone in which the
water moves up due to
capillary action
INTRODUCTION
• Aquifer
- from latin word:
aqua – “water”
ferre – “to bear”
- a geologic formation
containing water that can
be withdrawn in
significant amounts
INTRODUCTION
• Aquifer
- consists of the entire
water-bearing geologic
unit and not just
saturated portion
AQUIFER
AQUICLUDES
➢ Contain water but are incapable of transmitting (e.g.
clay)
AQUIFUGES
➢ Neither contain or transmit water (e.g. rock)
AQUITARDS
➢ A semipervious formations that bounds both
unconfined and confined aquifers
AQUIFERS
TYPES OF FLOWS:
1. INTERFLOW/THROUGHFLOW
➢ Flow towards the stream/river within the
unsaturated zone
2. BASEFLOW
➢ Flow towards the stream/river within the
saturated zone
AQUIFERS
ARTESIAN AQUIFER
➢ Produces flowing water when penetrated by a
well from the ground surface
➢ Concentrated flows of groundwater when
artesian aquifers intersect the ground surface are
called SPRINGS
LEAKY AQUIFERS
➢ An aquifer by semipervious formations
AQUIFER
1. UNCONFINED AQUIFERS
➢ Are open to the atmosphere
➢ Are also called phreatic aquifers or water-
table aquifers
Perched water table
- water accumulates above the elevated
stratum of low permeability, and water above
spills over into an unconfined aquifer
AQUIFER
2. CONFINED AQUIFERS
➢ Water in the saturated zone is bounded by
either impervious or semipervious formations
➢ Water above has higher atmospheric
pressure
AQUIFER
PIEZOMETERS
➢ Observation wells with very short screened
openings used to measure the piezometric
head
Piezometric head, Ø
➢ Usually measured as an equivalent liquid
surface elevation
POROUS
MEDIUM
POROUS MEDIUM
POROUS MEDIA
➢ A soil or rock strata that permit water flow
➢ Is an interconnected structure of tiny conduits of
various shapes and sizes
PERMEABILITY
➢ The capacity of a porous material for transmitting
fluid
POROUS MEDIUM
VOID SPACE
➢ Where water flows
through and around the
solid matrix
Porosity
➢ Proportion of a soil or
rock that consists of open
spaces
➢ The amount of air space
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑉𝑣 𝑉−𝑉𝑠
ŋ= = = or void space between
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉 𝑉 soil particles
POROUS MEDIUM
VOLUMETRIC MOISTURE CONTENT (θ)
➢ The volume of water divided by the total volume of soil
sample
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
θ=
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒
➢ Completely dry soil will have zero moisture content
(minimum value of θ)
➢ The maximum value will be equal to its porosity
For completely dry soil θ = 0
For saturated soil θ = ŋ
POROUS MEDIUM
Wetting Process in the Subsurface
➢ Consider a relatively dry porous media,
which is unsaturated
➢ In relatively dry state only adsorbed water
exist
➢ This is mainly due to the electrostatic
forces between the water molecules and
soil particles
➢ As the wetting progresses, more water is
available and capillary forces become
predominant
➢ On further wetting, the pores are filled
with water and progresses towards full
saturation
POROUS MEDIUM
Driving Energy for flow through porous media
➢ Total energy (h) consists of three components in the unsaturated zone
in the subsurface flow
Suction Head
➢ Suction forces which are binding water to soil particles through
tension (soil to suck the water due to capillary action)
Datum Head
➢ Refers to a reference level from which water level are measured
Kinetic Energy/Velocity Head
➢ The pressure which is needed to increase the speed at which
water flows
POROUS MEDIUM
Total Energy
𝑉2
h=Ψ+z+
2𝑔
Where:
Ψ = Suction Head
z = Datum Head
𝑉2
= Velocity Head
2𝑔
POROUS MEDIUM
In saturated flow, the velocity of flow is very less in comparison
with Ψ and z
𝑉2
≈ negligible ≈ 0
2𝑔
The energy which is causing the flow of water in the unsaturated
medium is the sum of the two components:
Suction Head and Datum Head
h=Ψ+z
DARCY’S
LAW
DARCY’S LAW
➢ Henry Philbert Gaspard Darcy
➢ States that the rate of flow per
unit area of an aquifer is
proportional to the gradient of
the potential head measured
in the direction of flow
DARCY’S LAW
➢ Flow through porous media
➢ Investigated the flow rate of
water through a column of
sand with cross-sectional
area A and length L and
found that the volumetric
flow rate, Q, of water
through the sand column
could be described by the
Φ 1−Φ 2
relation Q = KA
𝐿
DARCY’S LAW
Φ 1−Φ 2
Q = KA
𝐿
Where:
Q = volumetric flow rate
K = proportionality constant
Φ = piezometric/hydraulic head
L = length of column
Piezometric Head
𝑝
Φ= +z p = pressure, z = elevation
𝑦
ɣ = specific weight of groundwater
DARCY’S LAW
Hydraulic Gradient
Φ 1−Φ 2
J=
𝐿
And can be written in the form of
q = -KJ
q = Specific Discharge/filtration velocity/Darcy’s velocity
K = Hydraulic Conductivity
J = Hydraulic Gradient
DARCY’S LAW
Seepage Velocity
➢ The flow velocity through the pores
𝑄
v=
𝐴𝑝
Where:
v = seepage velocity
Ap = area of the pores normal to the flow direction
Q = flow rate
Seepage Velocity related to specific discharge, q
𝐴
v=q
𝐴𝑝
A = bulk cross-sectional area, areal porosity
DARCY’S LAW
Effective Porosity
➢ The ratio of the effective flow area to the bulk cross-sectional
area
𝐴𝑒
ne =
𝐴
Where:
ne = effective porosity
Ae = effective flow area through the pores
A = bulk cross-sectional area
DARCY’S LAW
Relationship between seepage velocity, v, and the specific
discharge, q
𝑞 𝐾
v= =- J
𝑛𝑒 𝑛𝑒
DARCY’S LAW
Sample problem:
Water flows through a sand aquifer with a piezometric
head gradient of 0.01.
(a) If the hydraulic conductivity and effective
porosity of the aquifer are 2 m/d and 0.3, respectively,
estimate the specific discharge and seepage velocity
in the aquifer;
(b) estimate the volumetric flow rate of the
groundwater if the aquifer is 15 m deep and 1 km wide.
(c) How long does it take the groundwater to move
100 m?
HYDRAULIC
CONDUCTIVITY
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
➢ Is the property of a porous medium that
describes the relationship between the specific
discharge and the gradient in the piezometric
head
➢ Accurate measurement and characterization of
the hydraulic conductivity is essential to the
quantification of flow in porous media
CLASSIFICATION
CLASSIFICATION
1. ISOTROPIC
➢ Hydraulic conductivity does not depend on the
flow direction
2. ANISOTROPIC
➢ Hydraulic conductivity depends on the flow
direction
FLOW
EQUATIONS
FLOW EQUATIONS
1. SPECIFIC STORAGE
➢ The volume of water released from storage per
unit volume of the porous media per unit
decline in piezometric head
Specific storage is associated with the net
effects of the following:
1. Expansion of water due to compressibility;
2. Reduction in void space associated with the
expansion of the solid grains and the
compressibility of the solid matrix.
FLOW EQUATIONS
SPECIFIC STORAGE
Ss = ɣ (nEw + α)
Where:
ɣ = specific weight of water
n = porosity of the porous medium
Ew = compressibility coefficient
α = compressibility coefficient of the solid matrix
END
