Applied Hydrogeology

LECTURE SERIES 2
-Principles of Groundwater Flow

-Groundwater Discharge
-Groundwater Recharge
Groundwater Flow
Generally, it is not feasible to directly measure groundwater
velocities within an aquifer. However, observation
piezometers (boreholes) can be constructed to determine
the elevation of water level
The water level in the piezometer provides information about
the groundwater head at the open section of the piezometer
Groundwater head gradient can be used to estimate the
magnitude and direction of groundwater velocities
Therefore a thorough understanding of the concept of
groundwater heads is essential to identify and quantify the
flow processes within an aquifer system
The groundwater head of an elemental volume in an aquifer
is the height to which water will rise in a piezometer
(observation well) relative to a consistent datum

Groundwater Head Definition &
Determination of Flow Directions
Direction of Groundwater Flow
Groundwater flows from a higher to a lower head
In the upper diagram of Figure (b), the flow is from left to
right because lower groundwater head is in the piezometer to
the right. This is the direction of the dip of the strata
For the lower diagram of Figure (b), groundwater flow is to
the left since the level in the left hand piezometer is lower
and hence the direction of low is up-dip in the aquifer
In Figure (c), the open sections of piezometers (i) and (ii) are
at the same elevation and therefore provide information
about the horizontal velocity component and since the
groundwater head in piezometer (iii) is below that of
piezometer (ii) it means that there is vertical downward
velocity component & the two componentscan be combined
vectorially to give the magnitude and direction of flow

Groundwater (Darcy) velocity
Considering flow through a cylinder of aquifer below,
the Darcy velocity is defined as the discharge Q
divided by the total cross-sectional area A

- v = Q/A (1)
Groundwater (Darcy) velocity and
Seepage velocity
The groundwater velocity calculated using this
formula ignores the fact that the aquifer cross-section
contains both solid material and pores. Consequently,
the groundwater velocity has no direct physical
meaning although it is frequently used
Therefore an approximation to the actual seepage
velocity v
s
can be obtained by dividing the Darcys
velocity by the effective porosity n
eff

- v
s
= Q/An
eff
(2)

When porosity n is used the calculated velocity is
called average pore velocity.

Darcys Law
Consider water flowing at a rate Q through a cylinder
of cross-sectional area A packed with sand and having
piezometers at a distance L apart as shown below
Darcys Law
Total energy heads (fluid potentials) above a given datum
may be expressed as

Where p is the pressure, v is the velocity of flow, g is the
acceleration due to gravity, z is elevation, is the density and
h
L
is the head loss. Because velocities in porous media are
usually low, velocity heads are neglected; hence by rewriting

Where = g; and the resulting head loss is defined as the
potential loss in the sand cylinder due to frictional resistance

) 3 (
2 2
2
2
2 2
1
2
1 1
+ + + = + +
L
h z
g
v
g
p
z
g
v
g
p

) 4 (
2
2
1
1

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ = z
g
p
z
g
p
h
L

Darcys Law
Darcys law states that the flow rate through porous
media is proportional to the head loss h
L
and inversely
proportional to the length of flow path L. Introducing
a proportionality constant K leads to the equation

Expressed generally as

Or simply

) 5 ( =
L
h
KA Q
L
) 6 ( =
dl
dh
KA Q
) 7 ( = =
dl
dh
K
A
Q
v
Darcys Law
Where v is the Darcy velocity or specific discharge, K is
the hydraulic conductivity which serves as a measure
of permeability of the porous medium and dh/dl is the
hydraulic gradient
The negative heads indicates that the flow of water is
in the direction of decreasing head
Darcys law is valid for lamina flow whereby the
Reynolds number N
R
is less than 1 and does not depart
seriously up N
R
= 10
Most groundwater flow occurs with N
R
< 1 such that
Darcys law is applicable. Deviation from Darcys law
can occur where steep hydraulic gradients exist such as
near pumped wells

Hydraulic Conductivity
Where water is the prevailing fluid, the term hydraulic
conductivity is employed.

- Which means that hydraulic conductivity has velocity units
Transimissivity T is a widely used term in groundwater
hydraulics. It may be defined as the rate at which water of
prevailing kinematic viscosity is transmitted through a unit
width of aquifer under a unit hydraulic gradient

-Where b is the saturated thickness of the aquifer
) 8 (
/
=
dl dh
v
K
( )( ) ) 9 ( / /
2
= = = day m m day m Kb T
Methods of Determining
Hydraulic Conductivity
Hydraulic conductivity K in saturated zone can be
determined by a variety of techniques which includes
- Calculation from formulas
- Laboratory methods
- Tracer tests
- Auger hole tests
- Pumping test of wells
Pumping test of wells is considered the most reliable
method for estimating aquifer hydraulic conductivity. Based
on observations of water levels near pumping wells an
integrated K value over a sizeable aquifer section can be
obtained.

Example of Darcys Law
Utilization
A sand aquifer 12.19 m thick is about 1.61 km wide. The
aquifer is covered by a confining unit of glaciar till
about 13.72 m thick beginning from the land surface.
The difference in the hydraulic head between two wells
1524 m apart is 3.05 m. The hydraulic conductivity of
the sand aquifer is 20.44 m/day. What is the quantity
of groundwater passing through a cross-section of this
aquifer per day?
Anisotropic and In homogeneous
Aquifers
The discussion of hydraulic conductivity up to now has
assumed that the geologic material is homogeneous
and isotropic implying that the value of K is the same in
at every point and in all direction
However, homogeneity and isotropy is rarely the case,
instead in homogeneity & anisotropy is the rule where
directional properties of hydraulic conductivity exist
Considering an aquifer consisting of two horizontal
layers, each individually isotropic with different
thicknesses and hydraulic conductivities as shown

Anisotropy and In homogeneity
Diagram of two horizontal strata, each isotropic with
different thickness and hydraulic conductivities
q
z
q
1
q
2
z
1
z
2
K
1
K
2
For horizontal flow parallel to the layers, the flow q
1
in
the upper layer per unit width is
- q
1
= K
1
iz
1
(10)
Where i is the hydraulic gradient and K
1
and z
1
are as
indicated. Because i must be the same in each layer for
horizontal flow, then the total horizontal flow q
x
is
- q
x
= q
1
+ q
2
= i(K
1
z
1
+ K
2
z
2
) (11)
For a homogeneous system this is expressed as
- q
x
= K
x
i(z
1
+ z
2
) (12)
Where K
x
is the horizontal hydraulic conductivity for
the entire system. Equating and solving for K
x
yields
-
) 13 (
2 1
2 2 1 1

+
+
=
z z
z K z K
K
x
For vertical flow through the two layers, the flow q
z
per unit
horizontal area in the upper layer is
-

- where dh
1
is the head loss within the first layer. Expressing
in terms of head loss
-

- By continuity q
z
must be the same for the other layer, hence
-

For a homogeneous system; K
1
= K
2
= K
z
, it follows that

) 14 (
1
1
1
=
z
dh
K q
z
) 15 (
1
1
1
=
z
q
K
z
dh
) 16 (
2
2
1
1
2 1

(
+ = +
z
q
K
z
K
z
dh dh
-

- K
z
is the hydraulic conductivity for the entire system, hence
-

- Equating with equation (16) and rearranging for K
z
gives
-

- which defines the equivalent vertical hydraulic conductivity
for a stratified aquifer of two layers
) 17 (
2 1
2 1

(
+
+
=
z z
dh dh
K q
z z
) 18 (
2 1
2 1

(
+
= +
z
z
q
K
z z
dh dh
) 19 (
2
2
1
1
2 1

+
+
=
K
z
K
z
z z
K
z
Groundwater Flow Equation-derivation
The two fundamental principles of the governing equation
are Darcys law and the principle of continuity
The magnitude of the velocities change across the element,
hence if the velocity on the left-hand face of the element is
v
x
, on the right hand face at distance dx the velocity becomes
-

In the flow balance there are 4 components, net flows in the
x, y and z directions and a further component due to the
compressibility of the aquifer system which equals the
specific storage S
s
multiplied by the rate of change of
groundwater head with time. These four components must
sum to zero. (S
s
is the volume of water released from a unit
volume of saturated aquifer for a unit fall in hydraulic head)
) 20 (
c
c
+ dx
x
v
v
x
x
Groundwater Flow Equation-derivation
One-Dimensional Flow Problem
When the flow is predominantly in one horizontal direction,
one dimensional formulation is used to understand regional
groundwater flow starting with steady state problems
Considering an element of aquifer dx shown below which
extends upwards from an impermeable base to the water
table, distance m, with a vertical recharge at the water table q
One-Dimensional Flow Problem
Continuity of flow can be written/described as
- Inflow at left + Inflow due to recharge = Outflow at right
In mathematical terms (note the unit width of the aquifer)

-

Simplifying and combining with Darcys law gives

-

Considering an aquifer with impermeable base and constant
saturated depth and uniform recharge such that that the
transmissivity T is constant (T = K
x
m) as illustrated hereafter

) 23 (
|
.
|
\
|
+ = + m dx
dx
dv
v dx q m v
x
x x
( ) ) 24 ( =
|
.
|
\
|
x q
dx
dh
mK
dx
d
x
One-Dimensional Flow Problem-Aquifer with
constant saturated depth & uniform recharge
On the left-hand side, x = 0 is
an impermeable stratum
On the right-hand side, x = L
the aquifer is in contact with
a large lake at an elevation H
above the datum
The recharge q is constant
and hence not a function of x
As with the derivation of the
governing equation (24) unit
width is considered
Since the transmissivity T is
constant, equation 24 can be
written as follows

-

Integrating once

-

Where A is the constant of integration, integrating again

-

Where B is the second constant of integration
) 25 (
2
2
=
T
q
dx
h d
) 26 ( + = A
T
qx
dx
dh
) 27 (
2
2
+ + = B Ax
T
qx
h
The two constants of integration can be determined from the
two boundary conditions as A = 0 and B = H + qL
2
/2T
Substituting the values of the two constants the resultant
equation for groundwater head is

-

And the flow through the aquifer can be calculated as

-

( )
) 28 (
2
2 2

+ =
T
x L q
H h
) 29 ( = = qx
dx
dh
T Q
In the previous figure (b) the distribution of groundwater
head above the lake level is plotted as a function of qL
2
/2T
The maximum groundwater head occurs at x = 0, left-hand
side
Figure (c), shows the variation of flow in the aquifer with x
There is a linear increase from zero at the no-flow boundary
to qL per unit width of the aquifer at the lake
These expression will be used to estimate the maximum
groundwater head and maximum flows into the lake when
the following parameters apply
- Transmissivity T=250 m
2
/d; Constant recharge q=0.5 mm/d
- Length L= 1 km, 3 km & 10 km; Head in the lake H=50 m

Solutions: The flows into the lake for the three lengths of
aquifer are 0.5, 1.5 and 5.0 m
3
/d per metre width of aquifer
The maximum calculated groundwater head show greater
variations:
- L = 1.0 km h
max
= 50 + 1.0 m
- L = 3.0 km h
max
= 50 + 9.0 m
- L = 10.0 km h
max
= 50 + 100.0 m
The maximum groundwater head is far higher for the aquifer
length of 10 km since, compare to the 1 km length, the flow to
the lake is ten times higher, in addition some of the water has
to travel ten times the distance through the aquifer.
Check whether the changes in saturated thickness between
the lake and the outer boundary invalidate the analysis?
The assumption of constant saturated thickness means that
Transmissivity also is constant because it is a function of the
saturated depth.
- For L = 1.0 km the thickness varies by 2 percent meaning
that the error in calculated maximum groundwater head is
small
- For L = 3.0 km the thickness varies by 18 percent such that
the assumption of constant saturated thickness could still be
just acceptable
- For L = 10 km the thickness varies by 200 percent which
means that the calculated maximum groundwater head is
grossly over-estimated
Hence, derivation with varying thickness is considered next

Unconfined Aquifer with saturated depth a
function of the unknown groundwater head
(The Dupuit-Forchheimer Approach)
In the analysis the parameter h represents both the
groundwater head in the element and the height of the
section through which flow occurs
The assumption inherent in the Dupuit-Forchheimer
approximation is that the slope of the groundwater table is
very small and therefore flow is largely horizontal & uniform
From continuity, the inflow Q
in
plus recharge q must equal
the outflow Q
out
which can be expressed as inflow plus the
rate of change of inflow times the length of the element dx
-

- Combining with the Darcys law gives

) 30 (
|
.
|
\
|
+ = = + dx
dx
dQ
Q Q qdx Q
in
in out in
-

Which can be expressed as
-

- Provided that K is constant, equation (32) is the Dupuit-
Forchheimer approximation for unconfined flow problems
- The equation can be solved by integrating and eliminating
the constants of integration through incorporation of
boundary conditions

) 32 ( 2
2
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
K
q
dx
dh
dx
d
) 31 ( =
|
.
|
\
|
q h
dx
dh
K
dx
d
Considering a rectangular dam
shown with an upstream head
H
1
& downstream head H
2
at
x=0 & x=L. The equation for in
groundwater head (water table
elevation) can be obtained by
integrating twice equation (32)

- The water table elevation
(Dupuit parabola) is not the
correct elevation since the
analysis ignores presence of
seepage on downstream face
) 33 (
2
2
2
1
2
1
2

= x
L
H H
H h
Flow through the dam can be calculated from the equation
-

- Also obtained after integrating the left hand side and
applying the same boundary condition as in equation (33)
Example: Flow to Drainage Ditches
Consider two drainage ditches a distance L apart penetrating
to an impermeable layer; recharge to the aquifer is q and the
horizontal hydraulic conductivity is K. After integrating and
substituting the boundary conditions that at x = 0.5L, h = H,
the resulting equation for height of water table above base is
-
( )
) 34 (
2
2
2
2
1

= =
L
H H K
h
dx
dh
K Q
) 35 (
25 . 0
2 2
2 2

+ =
K
x L
q H h
The curve plotted in figure below relate to an example
where q = 0.002m/d, K = 0.05m/d, L = 20m & H = 2.0m

Check the derived equation (35) by Dupuit assumptions
Derive the expression for maximum height h
max
which
occurs at the centre (halfway between the ditches)
If the recharge rate is considered as constant (eg
continuous irrigation or rainfall over a long time). The
h
max
equation (to be derived as homework) can be used
to get an idea of the spacing of agricultural drains such
that an estimate of L has to be found so that h
max
is less
than some value given for a particular crop

Home Work
- Assuming a constant
recharge q is applicable at
the top, using dupuit
approximation derive the
equations for groundwater
head h and flow Q through
the aquifer
- Remember Darcys law
with Dupuit assumptions is

- Q = -Kh(dh/dx)
Aquifer with constant depth & Linearly varying
recharge
The recharge varies linearly
which can be expressed as
- q(x) = q
m
x/L (36)
- Therefore the differential
equation becomes
-

Integrating twice & applying
boundary conditions

-

) 37 (
2
2
=
L
x
T
q
dx
h d
m
( )
) 38 (
6
3 3

+ =
TL
x L q
H h
m
Confined Aquifer with varying thickness
When the saturated thickness is no constant, the
transmissivity is also no longer constant and hence the
groundwater flow equation is written as originally derived
-

Analytical solutions obtained by integration are rare/few
when saturated thickness varies. One possible solution is
illustrated in the figure below
) 39 ( ) ( =
|
.
|
\
|
x q
dx
dh
mK
dx
d
x
The value of must be selected such that a positive value of
aquifer thickness at the right hand side is obtained. With
groundwater heads of H
1
and H
2
at left-hand and right-hand
respectively, the head at any location x is given by

-

- With the flow through the aquifer equal to

-

( ) ) 40 (
1
1
2 1 1

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
L
x
e
e
H H H h
o
o
) 41 (
1
2 1

|
.
|
\
|
=
L
o
e
H H
m K Q
o
o
A specific example is presented in the Figure whereby
- Aquifer length L is 2000m, K=1.0m/d, H1=30m & H2=20m
- Coefficient is selected such that the aquifer thickness
decreases from 20m to 10m whereby = 0.000347
- The flow through the aquifer can be calculated to as 0.0693
cubic metres/day per metre width of the aquifer.
It can be shown that this flow through the aquifer lies
between a flow of 0.1 cubic metres/day for a constant
thickness of 20m and 0.05 cubic metres/day for a constant
thickness of 10m
The example serves to illustrate how analytical solutions can
be used to assess the likely influence of features such as
decreasing aquifer thickness.
Groundwater Recharge & Discharge
Groundwater recharge is said to occur when supply of
water enters the aquifer.
Natural recharge into an aquifer include deep percolation
from precipitation, seepage from streams, wetlands/lakes or
transfer of groundwater from one aquifer into another
Artificial recharge (intentional/non intentional) occurs
through man made canals, reservoirs, drainage ditches,
ponds, septic systems, irrigation, recharge/injection wells,
etc
Groundwater discharge occurs where groundwater leaves
the system. Natural outflow from aquifer occurs as seepage
into streams, lakes/wetlands, springs, transpiration and
evaporation
Artificial discharge normally results from wells and drains.
Groundwater Balance
Groundwater balance is essential in evaluationg the total
groundwater resource of a basin and it can be expressed
by the equation:
- S
o
= (R
t
+ G
i
) (E
t
+ P + G
o
) (42)
- Where
- S
o
= change in groundwater storage during the period
in question
- R
t
= total recharge
- G
i
= Groundwater inflow from outside the basin
- E
t
= Evapotranspiration from capillary fringe in shallow
water table areas and from vegetation
- P = Pumping from wells
- G
o
= Groundwater outflow to areas outside the basin

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LECTURE SERIES 2

-Principles of Groundwater Flow

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