CE 5128

WATER RESOURCES
ENGINEERING

Prof. Dr. Taj Ali Khan 1

 Course Outline-Part-I

• Characteristics of Groundwater
• Aquifers
• Basic Groundwater Parameters and Laws
• Heterogeneity and Anisotropy
• Steady State Groundwater Flow
• Compressibility of Aquifers
• Transmissivity and Storativity
• Radial Flow in Aquifers

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 Course Outline-Part-II

• Superposition of Elementary Solutions in Groundwater Flow

• Pumping Near Hydrologic Boundaries
• Transient Groundwater Flow
• Pumping Test Analysis
• Groundwater Modeling
(Based on Finite Element Method and Finite Difference Method).

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 Recommended Books
• Tariq. A. (2000). Groundwater Hydrology. Center of Excellence in
Water Resources, Lahore.
• Bear, J. (1979). Hydraulics of Groundwater. McGraw-Hill Co. NY.
• Bouwer, H. (1978). Groundwater Hydrology. McGraw-Hill Co. NY.
• Freeze, R. A. and Cherry, J. A. (1979). Groundwater. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
• McWhorter, D. B. and Sunada, D. K. (1977). Groundwater
Hydrology and Hydraulics. Water Resources Publications, Colorado,
USA.
• Todd, D. K. (1980). Groundwater Hydrology, 2nd edition. John
Wiley and Sons, NY.
• Internet
• Class Notes 4
Course OBJECTIVES
 What is Groundwater?
 Where it is Stored?
 How it is Recharged?
 How it is Discharged?
 How it is Moved?
 Hydraulics of Wells?
 GW Characteristics?
 GW Problems?
 GW Modeling?
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 GW Management?
 HYDROLOGY
The science dealing with the waters of the earth,
their occurrence, distribution and circulation, their
chemical and physical properties, and their
interaction with the environment.
(Ward & Robinson, 1999)

Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology examines the relationships of
geologic materials and flowing water.
Both water flux and water quality are issues

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 Main Branches
HYDROLOGY

Surface Water Ground Water

Hydrology Hydrology
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 HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

• Never-ending circulation.
• Constant movement.
Components of Hydrologic Cycle

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Types of Terrestrial Water

Surface
Water

Soil Water/
Moisture

Ground Water
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 Pores Full of Combination of Air and Water
Unsaturated Zone / Zone of Aeration / Vadose
(Soil Water)

Zone of Saturation (Ground water)

Pores Full Completely with Water

 Groundwater Importance

Important source of clean water

More abundant than SW

Baseflow Linked to SW systems

Sustains flows
in streams
 Table 1. Estimated Distribution of World's Water.

Component Volume 1000 km3 % of Total Water

Atmospheric water 13 0.001

Surface Water
Salt Water in Oceans 1320000 97.2
Salt water in lakes & inland seas 104 0.008
Fresh water in lakes 125 0.009
Fresh water in stream channels 1.25 0.0001
Fresh water in glaciers and icecaps 29000 2.15
Water in the biomass 50 0.004

Subsurface water
Vadose water 67 0.005
G/W within depth of 0.8 km 4200 0.31
G/W between 0.8 and 4 km depth 4200 0.31

Total (rounded) 1360000 100

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Global Water Supply
Distribution

• 2.8% of earth’s water

is fresh – 97.2%
oceans
• 1% of fresh water in
lakes, streams, rivers
• 29% of the world’s
fresh water exists in
aquifers and 70% in14
15
What is groundwater?

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 Ground Water
• It is usually defined as water found underground in the
saturated zone of rocks, i.e. at depths where the entire void
space of the rock is filled with water.
• It is a term used to denote subsurface water that exists at
pressure greater than or equal to atmospheric pressure.
• It is an important source of drinking water for humankind.
• It is an important renewable source.
• The world’s water distribution is shown in Table 1.
Groundwater represents about 0.62 % of the world’s total
water. Since much of the g/w below a depth of 0.8 km is
saline or costs too much to develop with present
technologies and economic conditions.
• As groundwater supplies are limited, they must be properly
managed and protected against undue exploitation and 17
contamination by pollutants.
 Groundwater Use
• Groundwater is used for irrigation, as a drinking
water supply, as a source of all household water, for
industrial operations needing water, and a whole lot
more!

• In fact, many cities depend entirely on groundwater

for all of their water needs.

• If they were to run out of groundwater they wouldn't

have any more fresh, clean water.

• Unfortunately, many cities have to rely mainly on

groundwater because they have polluted their surface
waters too badly to be used. 18
 Groundwater Zones

• Subsurface formations containing water may be divided

vertically into several zones according to the relative
proportion of the pore space, which is occupied by water.
• The three distinct types of groundwater zones are as
follows:
1. Saturated Zone
2. Unsaturated (Vadose) Zone:
3. Tension - Saturated Zone

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 Vertical Zones of Subsurface Water
• Soil water zone: extends from the ground surface down
through the major root zone, varies with soil type and
vegetation but is usually a few feet in thickness.

• Vadose zone (unsaturated zone): extends from the

surface to the water table through the root zone,
intermediate zone, and the capillary zone.

• Capillary zone: extends from the water table up to the

limit of capillary rise, which varies inversely with the pore
size of the soil and directly with the surface tension.

• Water table: the level to which water will rise in a well

drilled into the saturated zone.

• Saturated zone: occurs beneath the water table where

porosity is a direct measure of the water contained per unit
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volume.
Vertical Distribution of Ground Water

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 Saturated Zone

It has the following properties:

1. It occurs below the water table.
2. The soil pores are filled with water, and the moisture
content θ equals the porosity φ.
3. The fluid pressure p is greater than atmospheric; so the
pressure head ψ (measure as gage pressure) is greater than
zero.
4. The hydraulic head h must be measured with a
piezometer.
5. The hydraulic conductivity K is a constant; it is not a
function of the pressure head ψ i.e. K = Ks.

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 Unsaturated (Vadose) Zone
It has the following properties:

1. It occurs above the water table and above the capillary fringe.
2. The soil pores are only partially filled with water; the
moisture content θ is less than the porosity φ.
3. The fluid pressure p is less than atmospheric; the pressure
head ψ is less than zero.
4. The hydraulic head must be measured with a tensiometer.
5. The hydraulic conductivity K and the moisture content θ
are both functions of the pressure head ψ.

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 Tension - Saturated Zone
• The capillary fringe fits into neither of the grouping above.
The pores there are saturated, but the pressure heads are less
than atmospheric. A more descriptive name is the tension-
saturated zone.
• It occurs above the water table and below the unsaturated zone.
• The pore space is full with water (w = ) .
• The pressure is less than atmospheric and water is held in the
pore space by surface tension effects.
• The height of the tension saturated zone (also known as the
capillary rise zone) is determined by the pore geometry, sorting
and grain size.
• The tension saturated zone is typically 400 mm thick in a fine-
grained sand and may reach several metres in clay. 24
 Water Table
• The water table is the elevation at which the pore water is at
zero gauge pressure, or at atmospheric pressure.
• Above the water table, the water is held in tension by
attraction to soil grains.
• Below the water table, the water is under pressure greater
than atmospheric pressure.
• The water table is actually a sloping surface.
• In general, the shape of the water table tends to follow the
topography of the ground surface.
• It is, however, not a stationary surface, but rises or falls
with the addition or withdrawal of water.
• Obviously, it would rise during the rainy season and fall
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during periods of drought.
 Capillary Fringe

• The porous medium is saturated for some distance

(usually small) above the water table. This zone that is
saturated and above the water table is called the
capillary zone, or the capillary fringe. In gravel, this
may be millimeters thick. In clay, it may be meters
thick.
• Above the capillary fringe, the pores become more and
more filled with air. The zone above the capillary zone
with some air in the pores is the vadose zone. The
vadose zone can be zero to hundreds of meters thick.

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 Types of Water-Bearing Units
 The geologic formations are classified in relation to their
capacity to store and transmit the water i.e., the porosity and
hydraulic conductivity.
 An aquifer is a geologic formation, which contains water and
permits significant amount of water to move through it under
field conditions.
 An aquiclude is a formation which may contain water but is
incapable of transmitting significant quantities under ordinary
field conditions. A clay layer is an example of an aquiclude.
For all practical purposes, an aquiclude is considered an
impervious formation.
 An aquitard is a geologic formation which is of semi-pervious
nature, it transmits water at a very low rate compared to the
aquifer.
 An aquifuge is an impervious formation, which neither
contains nor transmits water. 27
 Comparison of Water Bearing Units

Hydraulic Properties
Types Examples

Store Transmit Yield

Sand, gravel
Aquifer Yes Yes Yes

Aquiclude Yes No No Clay, shale

Aquitard Yes Yes Slow Clay

Granite,
Aquifuge No No No
basalt
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 Aquifers
• A geological unit which can store and supply significant quantities
of water.
• Aquifers are underground sources of water. However, many people
picture them as huge underground lakes.
• Aquifers are actually made of the water that is found in the tiny little
spaces (or "pores") in between the particles that make up the soils
and rock under the ground (or in the "subsurface"). These particles
can actually act as a natural filter to help remove impurities from
the water. This makes groundwater some of the cleanest water on the
planet!
• The aquifer portion of the subsurface is the part that is completely
soaked (or "saturated") with water is usually called "groundwater".
• Aquifers have the following two types:
1. Unconfined (Phreatic or Water Table) Aquifers 29
2. Confined (Pressure) Aquifers
 Types of Aquifers
Ground Level

Perched Aquifer

Piezometric Level

Water Table

Unconfined Aquifer

Confining layer

Confined Aquifer

Confining Layer 30
Aquifer Systems

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 1. Unconfined Aquifers

• The top of an unconfined aquifer is the water table,

which is the plane where groundwater pressures are
equal to atmospheric pressure.
• The lower boundary of unconfined aquifers is a
layer of much less permeable material than the
aquifer itself.
• The water in unconfined aquifers comes from direct
rainfall recharge over the aquifer, from connections
to surface waters, and/or from other aquifers.

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 2. Confined Aquifers

• An aquifer bounded from above and from below by

impervious formations.
• Confined aquifers are completely filled with groundwater,
and they do not have a free water table.
• The pressure condition in a confined aquifer is
characterized by the piezometric surface, which is the
surface obtained by connecting equilibrium water levels in
tubes, or piezometers, penetrating the confined aquifer.
• Confined aquifers recharge through formation outcrops -
areas where the soil system is exposed to the surface -- or
through aquicludes.

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 Confined Aquifer

• The hydraulic head in a confined aquifer lies above the

base of the upper confining layer and is generally referred to
as the potentiometric surface or piezometric surface.
• In a confined aquifer, the water level in a borehole drilled
into the aquifer rises above the top of the aquifer. The well is
called an artesian well.
• In some cases the water level may rise above ground
surface, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian
well.

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 Leaky and Perched Aquifers

Leaky Aquifers
Aquifers whether confined or unconfined that can lose or
gain water through either or both of the formations bounding
them from above or below are called leaky aquifers.

Perched Aquifer
A special case of unconfined aquifer is the perched aquifer
which occurs whenever an impervious (or semi-pervious)
layer of limited areal extent is located between the water
table of a unconfined aquifer and the ground surface.

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 Groundwater -- Recharge and Discharge
• Water is continually recycled through aquifer systems.
• Groundwater recharge is any water added to the aquifer zone. Processes
that contribute to groundwater recharge include precipitation, streamflow,
leakage (reservoirs, lakes, aqueducts), and artificial means (injection wells).
• Groundwater discharge is any process that removes water from an aquifer
system. Natural springs and artificial wells are examples of discharge
processes.
• In many locations groundwater withdrawal exceeds natural recharge
rates. This is known as overdraft. In such areas, the water table is drawn
down "permanently"; therefore, groundwater is considered a nonrenewable
resource.
• Groundwater supplies 30% of the water present in our streams. Effluent
streams act as discharge zones for groundwater during dry seasons. This
phenomenon is known as base flow. Groundwater overdraft reduces the
base flow, which results in the reduction of water supplied to our streams.
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 Water-Bearing Formations
Water-bearing formations may be either consolidated or
unconsolidated.
Consolidated material consists of mineral particles that have been
fused together by heat and pressure or by chemical reactions to form
solid masses. They generally consist of sedimentary and igneous rocks.
Unconsolidated material consists of individual mineral particles
derived from the breakdown of consolidated rock.
• Unconsolidated sediments are generally the best aquifers.
• These sediments deposits are of alluvial origin.
• Alluvial sediments are deposited in and around watercourses.
• Since water-carrying capacity depends on the size of particles,
alluvial sediments are usually well graded and layered. This
enhances their porosity and hydraulic conductivity, making them
good aquifers. 37
 Porosity
The porosity or pore space is the amount of air
space or void space between soil particles.

Water

38
 Effective Porosity
• Effective porosity is the fraction of the
porosity (inter-connected pores) that is
available for transporting water (excludes
fraction of pores too small to hold water, or
those that are not inter-connected).

• It can be measured in the laboratory

directly by saturating a dried sample of
known volume and measuring water uptake
in a sealed chamber over time

• For unconsolidated coarse-grained

sediments there is no significant difference
between porosity and effective porosity.

• Effective porosity is further classified as

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primary and secondary porosity.
 Voids and Porosity

Void spaces may consist of primary voids that were

formed at the same time as the rock or secondary
voids formed by fracturing of consolidated materials
and chemical action-forming solution channels.
Based on that, porosity is also defined as primary or
secondary.
Primary porosity is due to the properties of the
soil or rock matrix.
Secondary porosity may be due to secondary
solution or fracturing of the rock mass.
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 Table 2. Rocks Classification
Porosity
Type of
Rock Types
Primary % (grain) Secondary (fracture) Water-bearing Unit

Sediments, Unconsolidated
Gravel 30-40 Aquifer
Coarse Sand 30-40 Aquifer
Medium to fine sand 30-35 Aquifer
Silt 40-50 Occasional Aquiclude
Clay 45-55 Rare Aquiclude
Sediments, Consolidated
Limestone, dolomite 1-50 Solution joints, planes Aquifer or aquifuge
Coarse, medium sandstone < 20 Joints, fractures Aquifer or aquiclude
Fine sandstone, argillite < 10 Joints, fractures Aquifer or aquifuge
Joints, fractures Aquifuge or aquifer
Volcanic rocks
Basalt Joints, fractures Aquifer or aquifuge
Acid volcanic rocks Aquifuge or aquifer
Crystalline rocks
Plutonic and metamorphic Fractures Aquifuge or aquifer

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 Summary
•The major source of all fresh water drinking supplies in some
countries is groundwater. Groundwater is stored
underground in aquifers, and is highly vulnerable to pollution.
•Understanding groundwater processes and aquifers is crucial
to the management and protection of this precious
resource.
•Groundwater comes from precipitation. Precipitated water
must filter down through the vadose zone to reach the zone
of saturation, where groundwater flow occurs.
•The vadose zone has an important environmental role in
groundwater systems. Surface pollutants must filter through
the vadose zone before entering the zone of saturation.
•Subsurface monitoring of the vadose zone is used to locate
plumes of contaminated water, tracking the direction and rate
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of plume movement.