CWE 2261: Physical Hydrology

Module for CEE, CGE, CCE, CSE, CWE students

College of Science and Technology

School of Engineering
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic
 PHYSICAL HYDROLOGY
Code: CWE2261
INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
HYDROLOGY
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE - TERMINOLOGY
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
What is Groundwater?

•Groundwater is broadly defined as the water

present in the zone of saturation below the ground.

The Hydrologic (or water) Cycle describes the

distribution of water among the oceans, land and
atmosphere.
INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Infiltration: is controlled by soil type, thickness,
water content, and precipitation characteristics.
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER

Groundwater Recharge = precipitation –

evapotranspiration - runoff
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
•IMPORTANCE OF GROUNDWATER (GW)
•It provides water for rivers, streams and wetlands
•Part of the Hydrologic Cycle
•It provides a water resources for humans, stock
and plants (irrigation)
•Groundwater is an important source of drinking
water
•It helps maintain lake water levels
•It can provide a pathway to filter, chemically
remove contaminants (but not always)
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Sources of GW
Precipitation
Natural recharge
Artificial recharge
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Disposal of Groundwater
•Outflow – stream,
•spring,
•lake,
•ocean
•Use of water – wells, drains
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Groundwater as Resource
•“Renewable” natural resource
Largest fresh water source
concerned with its development and
management
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Groundwater Occurrence
•GW occurs in saturated and unsaturated
zones,
•but GW supply tapped from saturated
zones.
INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
•Infiltration: water entering the ground.

•Percolation: water movement within the ground

•Unsat. Zone: water percolates vertically downward

•Sat. Zone: water percolates horizontally and may

move in any direction depending on the boundaries
of the aquifer.
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Origins of Groundwater
•Water infiltrated from precipitation, lakes and
streams
•Part of the hydrologic cycle
•Recent geologic time, generally good quality
•Water entrapped in sedimentary rocks at the time
of deposition
•the hydrologic cycle, though of atmospheric origin
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Types of Geological Formations
Aquifer: permeable geologic formation capable of
storing and transmitting significant quantities of
water.

Ex. sand, gravels etc

 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Aquiclude: is defined as a geologic formation that
can store significant amount of water but does not
have the capability to transmit a significant amount
of water and examples of aquiclude are clay etc.
Ex. – clay
INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
•Aquitard is defined as a geologic formation that
can store some water as well as can transmit water
at a relatively low rate compared to aquifers.

•Sandy clay crystalline rocks are ideal example of

aquitard.
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER

Aquifuge is defined as a geologic formation that can

neither store nor transmit water. Solid granite is an
ideal example of aquifuge.

Aquifuge: impermeable formation capable of

neither storing nor transmitting water
Ex. - Granite
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
TYPES OF AQUIFERS
unconfined aquifer
An unconfined aquifer: is a partly saturated aquifer
bounded below by an aquiclude and above by the free
water table or phreatic surface
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
TYPES OF AQUIFERS
unconfined aquifer
Unconfined aquifers interact with surface water
streams (i.e., groundwater surface water
interactions)
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
TYPES OF AQUIFERS
unconfined aquifer: Unconfined aquifers are more
susceptible to groundwater contamination.

Contaminants are transported by groundwater flow

 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
TYPES OF AQUIFERS
A confined aquifer :
A confined aquifer is a completely saturated aquifer having
upper and lower boundaries are lying impervious
(aquiclude) or semi-pervious strata (aquitard).
.
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Porosity is a measure of void space in a geologic
materials
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Aquifer properties
The hydraulic conductivity (K)
•The hydraulic conductivity (K): is a measure of the
sediments ability to transmit fluid.

•is a measure of how easy the water can flow

through the soil.

•The units of hydraulic conductivity are length per

time (e.g., cm/s)
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Table 1: Typical hydraulic conductivity of geological
units (adapted from Domenico and Schwartz 1990)
Geological unit Hydraulic conductivity (m/d)
Fine sand 0.02 to 17
Coarse sand 0.08 to 520
Gravel 26 to 2,592
Sandstone 3 x 10-5 to 0.5

Permeable basalt 0.03 to 1,728

 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Storage coefficient (S):
The storage coefficient or storativity is the volume
of water released from storage with respect to the
change in head (water level) and surface area of the
aquifer
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TRANSMISSIVITY
rate at which water is transmitted through a unit
width of aquifer under a unit hydraulic gradient)
The product of K and the saturated thickness of the
aquifer, b T = K.b
T: Transmissivity, [L2/T] e.g., m2/d
K: Hydraulic conductivity, [L.T-1 ]
b: aquifer thickness, [L]
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Groundwater interaction with surface water
Where the groundwater level is higher than the surface water
level groundwater can discharge into a stream (called a gaining
stream).

Figure : surface water-groundwater interactions (Winter,

Harvey, Franke & Alley 1998)
 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Where the surface water level is higher than the
groundwater level the river can leak to recharge the
groundwater system (losing stream).

Figure : surface water-groundwater interactions

(Winter, Harvey, Franke & Alley 1998)
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Hydraulic gradient
A hydraulic gradient is the difference between the
hydraulic head measured at two points in an aquifer
divided by the distance between them

Figure : Hydraulic gradient slope between two bores

 INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
Ground Water Contamination
Infiltrating water may bring contaminants down to
the water table, including (but not limited to):
•Pharmaceuticals
•Pesticides/herbicides
•Fertilizers
•Mercury and gold mining
•Landfill pollutants
INTRODUCTION TO GROUNDWATER
• Heavy metals
• Bacteria, viruses and parasites from sewage
• Industrial chemicals
• Acid mine drainage
• Radioactive waste
• Oil and gasoline
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Contaminated ground water can be extremely
difficult and expensive to clean up