Chapter 3: Groundwater

Movement
Ahmad Sana, Ph.D.
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering
Sultan Qaboos University
PO Box 33, Muscat 123
Sultanate of Oman
Email: sana@squ.edu.om
1

Darcys law

Q
dh
v K
A
dl

Example 3.1.2

Darcy Velocity

Q
va
A
Validity of Darcys law

vD
NR

Darcy's law is valid for

NR 1

Permeability

K
2
2
k
: m or m
g

Intrinsic Permeability

1 centipoise1 cm 3 / s / 1 cm 2
2
1 darcy
0.987m
1 atm. / cm

Hydraulic Conductivity

Transmissivity

v
K
: m/day
dh / dl

T Kb : m2 /day

b saturated thickness of aquifer

Determination of permeability
Empirical relationships

k cd

or

k f s f d

c dimensionl ess coefficien t

d characteri stic grain diameter
f s grain or pore shape factor
f porosity factor

10

Laboratory methods:
Constant head and Falling head permeameters

11

Constant head permeameter:

Volume/tim e L
K
Ah

Falling head permeameter:

rt L h1
K
ln
rc time h2

Example 3.3.3

12

Tracer tests

L2
h time

13

Auger hole tests

C dy
K
864 dt
K in m/day
C is a dimensionl ess constant
dy / dt rate of rise in cm/s

Pumping tests (Chapter 4)

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Anisotropic aquifers

q1 K1iz1

q2 K 2iz 2

K1 z1 K 2 z2
Kx
z1 z2

q x K x i ( z1 z2 ) q1 q2

i dh / dl

K1 z1 K 2 z2 K n zn
Kx
z1 z2 z n

15

q z K1 dh1 / z1

z1
dh1
qz
K1

z1 z 2
q z
dh1 dh2
K1 K 2
for homogeneou s system
dh1 dh2
or
q z K z
z1 z 2
z1 z 2
Kz
z1 / K1 z 2 / K 2

z1 z 2
q z
dh1 dh2
Kz

z1 z 2 z n
Kz
z1 / K1 z 2 / K 2 z n / K n

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Example 3.4.1

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Groundwater flow rates

Assume a productive alluvial aquifer with K = 75 m/day and a hydraulic gradient = -10
m/1000 m = -0.01. From Darcys law,

dh
v K
750.01 0.75m/day
dl
Q Av 5010000.75 37500m 3 /day
0.43m3 /s

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Groundwater flow directions: Flow nets

dh
i
ds
dh
qK
dm
ds
q Kdh (ds dm)
h
dh
n
h
Q mq Km
n

19

Flow nets for anisotropic hydraulic conductivity

Kz
1 L
L

Kx
9 3

( K x 9K z )

for K x K z
K' KxKz
20

Estimating groundwater flow direction from three

well observations

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Example 3.6.1
Three observation wells are installed to determine the direction of groundwater movement
and the hydraulic gradient in a regional aquifer. The distance between the wells and the
total head at each well are shown in Figure.

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Step 1: Identify the well with

the intermediate water levelWell in this case.
Step 2: Along the straight line
between the wells with the
highest head and the lowest
head, identify the location of the
same head of the well from Step
I. Note that this is accomplished
by locating the elevation of
32.55 m between Well 2 and
Well 3 in the graphical solution.
Step 3: Draw a straight line
between the intermediate well
from Step 1 and the point
identified in Step 2.
This is a segment of the equipotential line along which the total head is the same as that in the
intermediate well (i.e., equipotential line of 32.55 m head in this case).
Step 4: Draw a line perpendicular to the equipotential line passing through the well with the
lowest head. The hydraulic gradient is the slope of that perpendicular line. Also, the direction of
the line indicates the direction of ground water movement. The graphical procedure above is
illustrated in the Figure. The hydraulic gradient is then computed as
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General Flow Equations

d
CS V .dA dt CV .d

S S specific storage
W Q /( dxdydz )
flow into or out of control volume

d
h
.d S S dxdydz W dxdydz

dt CV
t
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q
q

CS V .dA q z dz dxdy qdxdy dxdydz z

q
q
q
CS V .dA dxdydz x dxdydz y dxdydz z
q
q
q
dxdydz dxdydz dxdydz
x
y
z
h

S S
(dxdydz ) W (dxdydz )
t

h q q q
SS
W 0
t x y z
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h
qx K x
x

h
qy K y
y

h
qz K z
z

h
h h
h
W
K x K y K z S S
x x y
y z z
t

2 h 2 h 2 h S S h W
2 2

2
x
y
z
K t K
2h 2h 2h W
2 2
2
x
y
z
K
2 h 2 h S h
2
2
x
y
T t

for

K Kx K y Kz

for steady state

( S S S b, T Kb)
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For radial flow

For steady state

1 h 2 h 1 h S h

r 2
r r r r
r r T t

1 h
r 0
r r r

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