6.

Groundwater Hydraulics
6.1 Introduction
6.2 A Conceptual Model
6.3 Darcy's Law
.....6.3.1 Hydraulic conductivity, intrinsic permeability, and porosity
.....6.3.2 Restrictions on Darcy's law
6.4 Water in Natural Formations
6.5 Steady Groundwater Flow
.....6.5.1 Quantifying groundwater flow using flow nets
.....6.5.2 Heterogeneity and anisotropy
6.6 Concluding Remarks
6.7 Key Points
6.9 Suggested Readings
6.10 Exploring Further
Review Questions

6.1 Introduction
Of the total amount of freshwater on this planet, about 30.1% is contained beneath the
surface of the Earth. This figure is even more impressive when one considers that 69.6%
of the freshwater is held in ice caps and glaciers. Most of this water is found in rocks and
soils that are saturated with water, that is, materials in which, for all intents and purposes,
water occupies all pores, openings, and fractures. We refer to water in the saturated
region of the subsurface as groundwater.

Groundwater is an important resource in many areas. In some cases (e.g., the southern
High Plains of Texas, coastal areas of Florida, the barrier islands along the east coast of
the United States), it is practically the only source of freshwater. Even in areas where
surface water is available, groundwater may be a preferable source because of water
temperature, quality, or accessibility.

The study of groundwater is motivated partly by practical considerations of water supply.

In addition, an understanding of the hydrological cycle for a catchment requires a
quantitative description of how the groundwater reservoir functions. For example, recall
that streamflow (baseflow) can be maintained in perennial streams between precipitation
events. We can hypothesize that this is at least in part the result of the discharge of
groundwater. In this chapter and again in Chapter 7 we discuss subsurface pathways
through which precipitation eventually may reach a surface water body. We return to
these ideas again in Chapter 9, when we examine mechanisms of runoff generation.

A number of environmental issues involve groundwater, especially the remediation of

sites that have been contaminated by poorly controlled dumping practices and the
identification of and planning for sites to safely dispose of hazardous wastes. An example
is planning for the disposal of radioactive wastes.
Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
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Thee Waste Isollation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is an und derground repository

r buuilt for certtain
radiioactive wasstes that weere generateed during thee constructiion of nucleear weaponss. These
wasstes, including work glooves, laboraatory glassw ware, etc., have been stoored in 55-g gallon
drum ms at facilitties of the Department
D of Energy. The wastes are not higgh-level, butt they
conttain isotopees that remaain radioactiive for very long periodds of time (ttens of thou usands
of years).
y These wastes muust be isolatted for millennia to enssure that theey do not po ose
riskks to human health. Thee plan for diisposal of th hese wastes is to bury tthem in a
repoository in a 600-m thickk salt formaation (the Saalado Form mation) somee 700 m bellow the
grouund surfacee. Rock salt is thought tot be a good d host rock for
f radioacttive wastes because
it floows and ovver time willl seal the waastes off fro
om the envirronment. Thhe only path h that
wouuld lead to the
t release of o radioactivvity to partss of the enviironment w
where it migh ht
adversely affecct people or ecosystemss is through h dissolutionn of the wasste by waterr and
trannsport of thee dissolved constituentss by ground dwater. The Culebra doolomite, a reegional
aquifer, overliees the Saladdo Formationn. Assessment of the suuitability off the WIPP site for
dispposal of radiioactive waaste requiress knowledgee of how grooundwater flows in thee
aquifer above thet repository. Several questions mightm be raised. What ccauses or drrives the
movvement of groundwater
g r? What phyysical charaacteristics off subsurfacee fluids and
d porous
meddia determinne the rate of o fluid movvement?

Beccause we aree again interrested in thee flow of water

w in relattion to impoosed forces, the
equations of fluuid mechanics provide the basis fo or the quanttitative desccription of
grouundwater flow. Howevver, at the sccale of the pores
p in rockks and soilss, the paths along
a
whiich groundw water flows are complex, with man ny twists, tuurns, contracctions, and
expansions. Soo we recognize immediately that siimplifications will havee to be mad de to
enabble useful equations
e to be derived.

6.22 A Con
nceptuaal
Model
Let us try to piccture the floow of
water in a poroous medium m, for
exam mple, a sand. The pathh a
"parrcel" of watter might foollow in
movving throughh a materiall
conttaining porees or void sppaces is
convvoluted (Figgure 6.1). Not
N only
does the water follow tortuuous
pathhs, but the geometry
g off the
channnels of flow is extrem mely
commplex and caannot be specified
commpletely (i.ee., the positiion, size
and shape of alll of the sannd grains
cannnot be know wn). Finallyy, we
Figure 6.1 Schemmatic of a th
hin section of
o a
recoognize that the
t openinggs in
porous medium
m andd the tortuous flow paath of
whiich water floows are veryy small.
two waterr "parcels." (Note thaat a real meedium
Theerefore, we might
m expecct that
is three-diimensional with flow tthrough thhe open
fricttionless flow
w is totally
spaces within
w the th
hree-dimen nsional mattrix.)
meaaningless inn this situatioon and

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thatt head losses will play the

t predomiinant role.

Thiss picture off groundwater flow is exceedingly complex. To T try to undderstand thee fluid
mecchanics of thhe flow, wee must resorrt to a conceeptual modeel. We first cconsider thee
tortuuous flow path
p (Figuree 6.1) to be "straightene
" ed" by someehow stretchhing the patth. The
openning througgh which floow occurs thhen might be b depicted as a pipe with a contin nually
varyying cross section
s (Figuure 6.2). Off course, theere are actuaally many fflow paths and
a the
entiire system would
w consist of many different vaariable-radiuus tubes. Neext we replaace the
variiable-radiuss tubes with an equivaleent set of coonstant-radiius tubes. Thhus, our
conceptual moddel of flow through a porous
p mediium is flow through a bbundle of veery
smaall (capillaryy) tubes of different
d diaameters. Too be sure, the model is aalmost
unacceptably oversimplifi
o ed. Neverthheless, we can derive ceertain insighhts into flow
w in
rockks and soils by examining this connceptual mo odel.

Connsider flow through a

capiillary tube. Because
the tube is veryy narrow
and the velocitiies
relaatively small, it is
reassonable to assume
a that
the flow in the capillary
tubee is laminarr. In
Secttion 3.7.1, we
w found
an expression
e f the
for
averrage velocitty,
Figure 6.2 Straigh
htened flow
w "tubes" representing flow
in
i a porouss medium.
(3.337)

of laaminar flow
w through a horizontal pipe
p or tubee of circularr cross sectiion; D is thee
diammeter of thee tube. The negative
n siggn indicatess that the floow is down the pressuree
graddient from high
h to low pressure. The
T discharg ge through the t tube is ggiven by thee
prodduct of averrage velocitty and the crross-sectionnal area of thhe tube:

(6.11)

Equuation (6.1) is a form off Poiseuille's law for th he flow of a viscous fluuid through a
capiillary tube. Discharge isi directly proportional
p l to the pressure gradiennt, inversely
y
propportional too the fluid viiscosity, andd directly proportional to the fourtth power off the
radiius of the tuube.

Thee equations derived

d fromm this conceptual mod del have several importaant implicattions.
Firsst, equation (6.1) indicaates that forr a given flu
uid and given pressure ggradient (dp p/dx),
the discharge varies
v as thee fourth powwer of the raadius of the tube. For exxample, thee
disccharge fromm a tube of raadius 10 mm m will be 10 04 times greeater than thhat from a tu
ube of
radiius 1 mm, iff all other coonditions arre the same. Because thhe size of thhe capillary tubes
in our
o conceptuual model iss related (onn an intuitiv ve basis) to the
t texture oor grain size of the
poroous medium m, flow ratess will depennd on the tex xture.

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Equuation (3.37) specifies that

t for the case of horiizontal flow w the averagge velocity isi
propportional too the pressurre gradient, U is proporrtional to dpp/dx. Becauuse the flow of
grouundwater neeed not be horizontal
h w would lik
we ke a somew what more geeneral form m for this
exprression. Thee differencee caused by allowing fo or vertical components
c of flow is that
t the
effeects of graviity must be taken into account.
a Th
hus, instead of the gradiient in presssure (or,
alterrnatively, pressure
p heaad), we mighht expect th
he velocity tot be proporrtional to the
graddient in presssure head plus
p gravitaational or eleevation heaad as we fouund in Chapter 3
[equuation (3.388)]:

(6.22)

wheere l is the flow

f directioon. The paraameter h is called the hydraulic
h h
head [L], whhich
mayy be definedd as a quantity, measurable at everry point in a groundwatter flow sysstem,
whiich represennts the fluid mechanical energy perr unit weighht. Hydrauliic head is th
he sum
of thhe pressure and elevatiion heads:

(6.33)

Equuation (6.2) is the form of Poiseuillle's law that provides the

t most useeful analogy y for
floww through a porous meddium. As we w will see, an
a equationn almost idenntical to equ
uation
(6.22) is the basiis for studiees of grounddwater flow
w. Because equation
e (6.2) was derivved in
Chaapter 3 usingg well-know wn principlees and stated
d assumptioons, we can use the anaalogy
betwween the coonceptual model and thee actual porrous medium m to great aadvantage inn the
sensse that we can
c apply, inn qualitativee terms at leeast, knowleedge about the factors that
t
conttrol laminarr flow in tubbes directlyy to the flow
w of groundwwater.

6.33 Darcyy's Law

In 1856,
1 a Frennch hydrauliic
engineer namedd Henry
Darrcy publisheed an equatiion
for flow
f througgh a porous
meddium that tooday bears his
h
namme. In designning a wateer
treaatment systeem for the ciity
of Dijon,
D Darcyy found thatt
no formulas
f exxisted for
deteermining thee capacity of
o
a saand filtrationn system.
Connsequently, Darcy
perfformed a series of
experiments onn water flow w
throough columnns of sand.
Figure 6.3 Sch
hematic diaagram of an n apparatu
us for
Darrcy packed sand
s into iroon illlustrating Darcy's law
w.

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pipees and systeematically measured

m paarameters th
hat he expeccted to influuence the floow.
Connsider flow through a cylindrical volume
v of saand, with crross-sectionnal area = A and
lenggth = L (Figgure 6.3). Thhe sum of elevation heaad (z) and pressure
p heaad (p/ρg) is
reprresented as h and varies from h1 too h2 along thhe column. The hydrauulic head at each
end of the coluumn is meassured with a manometer. By varyinng L and thee hydraulic head
mn (h1 − h2 = Δh), Darccy found thhat the total discharge Q varies
diffference acrooss the colum
in direct
d proporrtion to A annd to Δh annd inversely with L. Thaat is,

(6.44)

he hydrauliic conductivvity [L T−1].

wheere K is a coonstant of prroportionaliity called th ]
Equuation (6.4) can be rewrritten as:

(6.55)

Thiss can be written more generally

g ass:

(6.66)

wheere q = Q/A is the speciific discharrge. Equatio on (6.6) is thhe form of DDarcy's laww that
−
−1
we will
w use in our
o studies. Although q has dimen nsions of velocity [L T ], keep in mind
thatt we obtaineed this term by dividingg the dischaarge by the total
t area aand that water
flow
ws only throough a fraction of the area,
a the spaaces betweenn the solid ggrains of thee
meddium.

In equation
e (6.66), is thhe hydraullic gradientt and the neegative sign indicates thhat
posiitive specifiic dischargee (indicatingg direction of
o flow) corrresponds w with a negatiive
hyddraulic gradiient. Thus, Darcy's
D law
w states that specific disscharge in a porous medium is
in thhe directionn of decreasiing head annd directly proportional
p l to the hydrraulic gradient
(Figgure 6.4).

6.3.1 Hydrau
ulic condu
uctivity, in
ntrinsic peermeabilitty, and poorosity

We can envisioon the hydraaulic conducctivity as th he slope of a line relatinng specific

disccharge, q, with
w hydraulic gradient, [equation (6.6)]. Imagine a sset of experriments
usinng a given sample of material
m and a fluid of co onstant dennsity and visscosity. By varying
v
the hydraulic gradient
g andd measuring the discharrge, q can be plotted aggainst .
Acccording to Darcy's
D law a straight liine should obtain,
o the slope
s of whiich will be K
(Figgure 6.4). Using
U a fluidd with a connstant densitty and viscoosity, the sloope of the
relaationship bettween q andd dh/dl will depend onlly on the maaterial and ggenerally will w
incrrease with thhe coarseneess of the material. Now w imagine repeating
r thee experimennts with
anotther fluid haaving differrent propertties (e.g., a greater
g visccosity). We wwould expeect the
morre viscous fluid
fl to movve more slow wly if everyything else remains
r connstant.

Thee example abbove suggests that hyddraulic cond

ductivity deppends upon the nature of
o both

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the fluid and thhe porous material.

m Thee way in whhich K depennds on thesee propertiess can be
infeerred by refeerence to thhe conceptuaal model disscussed earllier. We alreeady have
rem
marked on thhe similarityy
betwween equatiions (6.2) annd (6.6),
whiich are reprooduced beloow (for
one-directionall flow in thee l
direection) to faacilitate direect
com
mparison.

(6.22)
(Poiseuille's laaw)

(6.66) (Darcy's law)

Thiss analogy suuggests thatt ρg/μ

shouuld describee the variatiion of K
withh fluid denssity and visccosity,
and that D2/32 should desccribe the Figure 6.44 Darcy's (11856) original data sh howing
variiation of K with
w pore diiameter. a linear reelationshipp between specific disccharge
Of course,
c the "diameter" of the and hydra aulic gradiient for twoo different sands.
porees is not meeasurable (oor even
well defined), so wever, qualittatively we might expeect the
s the analoogy is not peerfect. How
graiin size of thhe material to
t give an inndication off the size off the openinggs (i.e., we would
expect larger pores in a booulder field than in a sillt deposit) and
a we can define and
meaasure the avverage grainn size of a grranular material such as a sand. Expperimental
eviddence suppoorts this anaalogy, at leaast for simplle granular porous
p meddia. Based ono
experimental reesults, the following
fo em
mpirical relaationship foor hydraulicc conductiviity can
be written:
w

(6.77)

wheere N = a facctor to accoount for shappe of the paassages [dim mensionless]; d = the mean
m
−2 −2
graiin diameter [L]; g = thee unit weighht of the fluiid [M L T ]; μ = the viscosity of o the
fluidd [M L−1 T−1
−
]. From thhis we see thhat K is com
mposed of tw wo factors, oone representing
fluidd propertiess and the othher represennting properrties of the medium. Darcy's law can
c be
writtten in a maanner that cllearly separates these twwo influencces:

(6.88)

wheere k is referrred to as thhe intrinsic permeabillity [L2] of the

t porous m medium. Th he
facttor in eqquation (6.7) is equivalent to k. On nce the intrinnsic permeaability of a certain
c
rockk formationn is known, equation
e (6.8) can be used
u to desccribe the flow
w of any flu uid (oil,
gas,, or water) through
t thatt formation..

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In addressing
a issues such as
a the moveement of contaminants in the subsuurface, it sh hould be
apparent that thhe hydraulicc conductivity or intrin nsic permeabbility of nattural materiaals
playys a major role,
r with hiigher valuess of K or k resulting
r in faster transpport. Measuuring or
estimmating thesse propertiess is a fundammental stepp in applyingg Darcy's laaw to a natu
ural
settiing. There are
a a varietyy of techniqques and meethods for eiither directlly or indirecctly
deteermining thee permeabillity of a sam mple of poro ous materiall. A small sample can beb
placced in a devvice called a permeameeter, not un nlike Darcy's original column. Thee flow
ratee through thee sample caan be measuured for a kn nown hydraaulic gradiennt and the
permmeability caalculated dirrectly usingg Darcy's law w. In some situations, for examplee in
lookking at flow
w deep undeerground, saamples may be difficultt to obtain. T There are a variety
of methods,
m knnown as aquuifer tests orr "pump" tessts, for deteermining perrmeability in
i such
casees. By withddrawing or adding wateer to a well,, and measuuring the waater level in n that
well or other wells
w nearbyy as a functioon of time, we can calcculate the peermeability.
Finaally, there are
a indirect methods
m thaat are basedd on measurring some otther parameeter
[succh as grain size,
s equatioon ] that is related
r to th
he permeabiility.

Liteerally thousaands of permmeability measuremen

m ts have beenn made in ddifferent maaterials.
Thee results shoow that the range
r of perrmeabilitiess of natural materials
m iss quite largee
(Figgure 6.5). Recalling
R thee discussionn of the WIP PP site in thhe introductiion, one repported
rangge of hydrauulic conducctivities for salt depositts, such as thhe Salado F Formation, is 10−12
−10 −1
to 10 m s (Domenico
( and Schwarrtz, 1990). Relative
R to the
t other typpes of mateerials
show wn in Figurre 6.5, this range
r is neaar the low en
nd, and is siimilar to shaales and
unfrractured cryystalline roccks. The resulting slow w rate of grouundwater fllow is one reason
thatt salt formattions have been
b consideered for waaste repositoories. For exxample, a ty ypical
hyddraulic gradiient of 1/100 in a salt formation
fo w a hydrauulic conductivity of 10−10
with −
m
s−1 will
w produce a specific discharge of o 10−12 m s−1, or less thhan 1 mm pper 30 yearss!

Figure 6.55 Ranges off intrinsic permeabilit

p ty and hydraulic cond ductivity fo
or a
variety of
o rocks (grray bars) and
a sedimen nts (blue baars). Data ffrom Freezze
an
nd Cherry (1979).
(

Darrcy's law inddicates that for a given value of the hydraulic gradient (ddh/dl), the sp
pecific

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disccharge will beb greater for

f a permeaable materiaal, such as a sand or graavel, than for fo a
grannite. The diffference cann be severall orders of magnitude
m (
(Figure 6.5)). As mentiooned
earllier, the speccific dischaarge, despitee having dimmensions off velocity [L L T−1], is no
ot a true
veloocity. In othher words, wew could noot use speciffic dischargee to determiine how lon ng it
willl take a parccel of waterr to move froom one poin nt to anotheer. The cross-sectional area
avaiilable to thee water is smmaller than the actual cross-section
c nal area, succh that the solid
s
porttion of the porous
p medium acts as a constrictiion. This coonstriction m means that a tagged
parccel of waterr, or, better, many taggeed parcels th hat are averraged togethher, will apppear to
movve through a porous meedium at a rate r that is faster
f than thhe specific discharge. The
T
effeect is similarr to the constriction in a pipe discuussed in Chhapter 3; thee constrictedd flow
has a greater mean
m velocitty for the saame value off discharge..

We can determ mine the meaan pore water velocity if we have somes idea oof the amou
unt of
"connstriction." For porous materials, this
t propertty is the porrosity [dimeensionless], which
is siimply the frraction of a porous matterial which
h is void spaace, that is,

(6.99)

wheere Vv is thee volume off void space [L3] and Vt is the total volume [L3]. If we hav
ve
meaasured the porosity,
p whhich by definnition must be betweenn 0 and 1, wwe can deterrmine
−1
the mean pore water
w veloccity, or averrage linear velocity, [L T ]:

(6.110)

6.3.2 Restricctions on Darcy's

D law
w

Darrcy's law is widely

w usedd for almostt all situatio
ons involvinng motion off a fluid through
soil or rock in the
t natural environmen
e nt. Although h the concepptual modell we used to o
introoduce our discussion
d o Darcy's laaw can applly (to a limitted extent) only to gran
of nular
matterials such as sand, equuation (6.6)) is applied in materialss ranging froom clay to
limeestone to fraactured crysstalline and metamorph hic rocks. The
T openings through which w
fluidd flows in most
m of thesse materials cannot be envisioned
e as capillaryy tubes.
Nevvertheless, Darcy's
D law usually cann be applied d with succeess.

Theere are somee general lim mitations onn the use of equation (66.6), and beccause of thee
anallogy we devveloped we can infer how these reestrictions arrise by exam mining the
assuumptions im
mplicit in thee derivationn of equation (6.2). Firsst, Darcy's llaw has been found
to be
b invalid foor high values of Reynoolds numberr. Experimeents using vvery high flo ow rates
in very
v permeaable materiaals have founnd that wheen values off the Reynollds number exceed
the range 1-10,, Darcy's law w does not describe
d thee relationship between flow rate an nd
hyddraulic gradiient. For floow through porous
p materials, the characteristi
c ic length in the
Reyynolds numbber is the mean
m grain diameter,
d d:

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(6.111)

wheere q, the sppecific dischharge, is useed in place of

o the meann velocity, U U. This restrriction
can be explaineed by virtuee of the fact that Poiseu uille's law neeglects inerrtial forces
(acccelerations). The simplest evidence of this staatement is thhat a velocitty head term m does
not appear in Poiseuille's
P l (or in thhe definition
law n of hydraulic head) annd that this term
t
deriives from coonsiderationn of acceleration.

Darrcy's law alsso may fail to t hold at very low values of hydrraulic gradieent in some very
loww-permeabiliity materials, such as clays. Equation (6.6) im mplies that aany hydrauliic
graddient, no maatter how sm mall, will caause some motion
m of water.
w In certtain clay maaterials
it is observed thhat below some threshoold value, a small hydrraulic gradieent will not cause
mottion; that is,, the force due
d to pressuure and grav vity must exxceed somee critical vallue
befoore motion ofo water ensues. Poiseuuille's law, which
w is ouur analogy fo
for Darcy's law,
l is
an expression
e o Newton'ss second law
of w, and is bassed on the idea
i of balannced forcess.
How wever, the only
o forces considered
c are pressuree and shear. Deviation from the laaw can
be the
t result off the presencce of other forces
f that we
w failed too consider (ee.g., the ineertial
termms discussedd in the prevvious paraggraph). In th he case of cllays, there m
may be impo ortant
elecctrostatic forrces resultinng from chaarge imbalan nces withinn the mineraal structure and
a at
loww hydraulic gradients
g thhese may contribute to a force balaance.

6.44 Waterr in Nattural Foormatio

ons
Thee subsurfacee is a compllicated assorrtment of diifferent matterials, somee of high
perm meability annd some of low permeaability. Hyd drologists stuudying grouundwater flo ow are
inteerested in hoow the distribution of different
d maaterials in thhe subsurfacce influencees
pattterns and rattes of grounndwater movement, and d how the water
w interaccts chemicaally
withh natural maaterials. Thee first topic will be adddressed morre fully in C Chapter 7, bu ut for
noww we introduuce some teerms that aree applied to o different sooil or rock uunits, based
d on
wheether they arre relativelyy permeablee or not, and d where theyy reside in tthe subsurfaace. An
aquuifer is a satturated geollogical formmation that contains
c andd transmits "significantt"
quanntities of water under normal
n fieldd conditionss. "Significaant" is a vaggue term buut the
impplication is that
t aquiferss are formattions that caan be used for f water suupply. Obvio ously,
wheether the suppply is signnificant or noot depends upon whethher one is reeferring to a supply
for a single rural dwelling or a large municipality
m y.

Manny aquifers are unconsoolidated maaterials, maiinly gravel and a sand. E Examples off this
typee of aquifer include thoose in coastaal plain setttings and inttermontane valleys.
Lim
mestones, paartially cemeented sandsstones and conglomerat
c tes, and perrmeable volccanic
and igneous roccks are alsoo important as aquifers.. Water is derived
d from
m limestone
aquifers underllying the Shhenandoah Valley
V and most
m of the Florida penninsula; the High
Plaiins Aquifer (sand, silt, and clay deeposits) is immportant thrroughout a llarge part of
o the
centtral United States; the basalts
b of thhe Columbia Plateau annd the Hawaaiian Island ds are
sourrces of wateer.

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

Of course,
c not all formatioons are aquiifers. An aq
quiclude is a formationn that may contain
water but does not transmiit significannt quantitiess. Clays andd shales are examples of o
aquicludes. Ann aquifuge is i a formatioon that neith
her containss nor transm mits significcant
quanntities of water. Unfracctured crysttalline rockss would falll into this caategory. Thee more
general term aq quitard is often
o used too denote forrmations that are of rellatively low
w
perm
meability, and
a which maym include both aquiclludes and aqquifuges.

Aquuifers are classified acccording to hydraulic

h co
onditions as well as type of materiaal.
Grooundwater by b definitionn refers to water
w in the saturated zoone of the ssubsurface; one
typee of aquifer is an uncon nfined or water-table
w aquifer. Iff an excavatiion is madee in soil,
the near-surfacce material is i usually noot saturatedd (the unsatuurated or vadose zone, Chapter
8). Deeper
D in thhe soil profi ns prevail (saturated zoone). The water
file, saturateed condition w
tablle is definedd as a surfacce of zero gage
g pressurre within thee subsurface, and separrates
the saturated annd unsaturated zones. Water W will flow
f into ann excavationn or well up
p to this
leveel; the waterr table is eqquivalent to a free surfaace. An aquiifer with thee water tablle as the
bouunding surfaace of the toop of the aquuifer is an unconfined
u a
aquifer.

Thee second typpe of aquiferr is called confined

c or artesian. This
T type off aquifer is found
f
wheen permeablle material (the
( aquiferr) is overlain n by relatively imperm meable materrial (an
aquiclude; Figuure 6.6). Thhe water in a confined aquifer
a is unnder pressurre and, in a well
penetrating thee
aquifer, will risse
abovve the top of
o
the aquifer (seee
Figuure 6.6). Thhe
heigght to whichh
water rises in a
well defines thee
piezzometric orr
poteentiometricc
surfface. Note that
t
a weell penetratiing
a coonfined aquiifer
can be thought of
as a piezometeer,
or single tube
mannometer. Thhe
water level in a
piezzometer is a
meaasure of watter F
Figure 6.6 Hydrogeolo
H ogical unitss. Three pieezometers are a
presssure in the deppicted, whicch are openn in either t
the confineed or unconnfined
aquifer. Thus, the
t aquifer, as ind dicated by the
t short hoorizontal lines. Note that in
elevvation of thee unconfined aqu uifers, the water
w level ini the piezoometer (farr right)
poteentiometric indiccates the heeight of the
e water tab le; in confiined aquifeers, the
surfface above ana watter level in the piezom meters (left anda center) rises abov ve the
arbiitrary top of th
he aquifer and
a indicat tes the posittion of the
(horrizontal) potenntiometric surface.
s
datuum is the suum of pressuure head andd elevation head, or thee hydraulic head, h, of Darcy's
law.

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

6.55 Steadyy Groundwateer Flow

Thee concepts developed
d inn Section 6.3 can be ap pplied readilly to field problems. Coonsider
firstt a simple exxample in which
w a connfined aquife
fer is boundeed by two cchannels (Fiigure
6.7)). The heighht of the watter in the chhannel on th
he left definnes the hydraaulic head at
a that
bouundary of thee aquifer annd the same is true on the
t right bouundary. If thhe flow is stteady
and the confineed aquifer iss of constannt thickness,, b, the speccific discharrge through
h the
aquifer from x = 0 to x = L is constantt and we can write Darrcy's law forr flow in thee x-
direection as:

(6.112)

We can rearrannge this expression andd integrate over

o the lenggth of the coonfined aqu
uifer to
obtaain an expreession for hyydraulic heaad, h:

(6.113)

Figuree 6.7 Horizoontal flow in

i a confineed aquifer.

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

Equuation (6.13) specifies that

t the head decreasess linearly wiith distance from the leeft
bouundary; that is, the potentiometric surface
s is a plane sloping from lefft to right. This
T is
show wn as a soliid gray line in Figure 6.7.
6 Water fllows in the downhill diirection of this
t
surfface.

On a plan view w of the channnel-aquiferr

systtem consideered above, the contourr
linees of the pottentiometricc surface aree
paraallel to the channels
c (Fiigure 6.8). The
T
spaccing of the contours
c inddicates the
sloppe of this suurface, just as
a do the
conttour lines of a standardd topographhic
mapp. Once thesse lines of equal
e hydrauulic
headd, or equipootentials, have
h been
estaablished, linnes that indicate the
direection of floow can be skketched in byb
constructing peerpendiculaars to the
equipotentials because
b thiss representss
the downhill diirection of thet
poteentiometric surface, thee direction of o
floww specified by Darcy's law. These
linees are calledd streamlinees. Together,
the equipotentiials and the streamliness
constitute a flow net. Flow w nets can beb Figu ure 6.8 Plan n view of thhe aquifer shown
s
applied to greaat advantagee in actual fiield in Fiigure 6.7 - a simple floow net. Note that
probblems wherre groundwaater flow thee streamlinees are perp pendicular to
t the
pattterns are to be
b establishhed based onn e
equipotenti als.
the measured water
w levels in a series ofo wells (seee Fetter, 19994, for exam
mples).

We will discuss the use off flow nets in i greater deetail in a latter section oof this chaptter, but
at thhis point wee need to re--evaluate thhe physical reasoning
r b
behind the iddea that
streamlines muust be perpendicular to equipotentiials. Darcy'ss law indicaates that flow w
shouuld always be from higgh values off the hydrau ulic head to low values.. In fact, flo ow must
folloow the pathh of steepestt descent. Piicture the potentiometrric surface oor the waterr table
as a topographiic surface, with
w hills (hhigh h) and valleys
v (loww h). Now im magine a drrop of
water moving along
a this suurface in response to th
he pull of grravity. We hhave to imaagine
this water dropp moving ratther slowly,, without th he momentum we mighht expect a ball b
bearring or otheer object to have
h on a stteep surfacee. The waterr drop movees down thee slope
and perpendicuular to the "ttopographicc" contours---in other wordsw followws the path of
o
steeepest descennt, rather thaan followingg some arbiitrary path downd the sloope. The ratte of
desccent is propportional to the
t slope, juust as the sp
pecific dischharge is prooportional to o the
hyddraulic gradiient.

An example off the use of flow

f nets too obtain an understandi
u ing of hydroological
phennomena is presented
p byy Hubbert (1940).
( Connsider an ideealized valleey in whichh the
grouundwater flow from thee hillslopes is perpendiicular to thee axis of thee valley (Figgure
6.9)). A flow neet for a cross section through the hillslope
h shoows flow aloong "U-shap ped"
pathhs from the ridge to thee valley botttom. Althou ugh the hommogeneity of the materiial and
twoo-dimensionnal nature off the flow would
w never exist in natture, the genneral picturee of
flow
w is instructtive. Note thhat water floow near thee stream is not
n horizonttal (as one might
m

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

expect intuitiveely) but has a significannt upward component.

c Contrary too erroneous
propposals that groundwate
g er flow is cooncentrated near the waater table with a large volume
v
of stagnant watter at depth,, the flow patterns are actually
a succh that flow
w occurs thro
oughout
the saturated zoone. The facct that water flows alon ng "U-shapeed" paths is of practicaal as
well as theoretiical importaance. The U.S.
U Geologiical Survey conducted a study on the t
pressence and thhe movemennt of agricuultural chem micals in shaallow grounddwater on th he
Delmmarva (Dellaware-Maryyland-Virgiinia) Peninssula (Hamiltton and Sheedlock, 1992 2).
Theey found nittrate (partly from applieed fertilizerrs) at almostt all depths sampled in the
grouundwater annd attributedd the patternns of contammination to land-use prractices and d to
grouundwater flow paths.

Thee constructioon of
accuurate flow nets
n is a
taskk requiring
considerable prractice.
Morre commonly today,
floww nets are
constructed usiing
nummerical soluttions to
the equations governing
g
grouundwater flow.
Reggardless of how
h a
floww net is constructed,
it prrovides not only a
visuualization off the
grouundwater flow
pathhs, but also
infoormation onn the rate
of groundwater
g r flow in
a paarticular reggion. Figure 6.99 Flow net for
f two-dim
mensional ggroundwateer flow
through a hillslope. Redrawn from
f Hubbbert, 1940, fig.
f 45.

6.5.1 Quantifying grou

undwater flow usin
ng flow netts

Retuurning to thhe example of horizontaal flow thro

ough an aquifer boundeed by two ch
hannels
sepaarated by diistance L (F
Figure 6.8), we
w find thaat:

(6.114)

Beccause the hyydraulic graddient, hydraaulic conducctivity, and aquifer thicckness are
constant, the vaalue calculaated using equation (6.1 14) represennts the specific discharrge at
any point in thee aquifer. Quite
Q often thhe total disccharge in ann aquifer, raather than sp
pecific
disccharge at a point,
p is of primary
p conncern. Disch harge per unnit length off stream can n be
calcculated from
m equation (6.14)
( by muultiplying byb the thicknness of the aaquifer, b:

(6.115) Discharrge per lenggth =

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

wheere T = Kb [L[ 2 T−1] is called

c the trransmissivitty of the aqquifer. This is an imporrtant
paraameter whenn considerinng the deveelopment off a water suppply from ann aquifer. ForF
exammple, a highhly permeabble formatioon 10 mm th hick may noot provide a usable sup pply of
water but a form mation 100 m thick with only a moderate
m valuue of hydraaulic conducctivity
veryy likely willl be usable.

We can use thee geometry of o a flow neet like that in

i Figure 6.8 to calculaate the dischharge
throough the aquuifer as welll. This mayy not seem teerribly impoortant for thhis simple
exam mple, but when
w we connsider moree complicateed flow pattterns (i.e., F
Figure 6.9) we
w see
thatt some simpple calculations can be performed
p that
t allow usu to quantiffy flow even n in
thesse settings.

In Figure
F 6.8, the
t simple flow
f net wass constructeed such thatt a series of squares waas
creaated, each bounded
b by a pair of eqquipotentialss and a pair of streamlines. Within n the
flow
w net, waterr moves from m high to loow hydrauliic head and cannot crosss a streamlline.
Thee area betweeen a pair off streamlinees is referred
d to as a strreamtube. IIn more
commplicated floow nets, theese squares might
m becom me "curvilinnear squarees," as can be
b seen
in Figure
F 6.9. If
I we isolatee one of thesse squares (Figure
( 6.100) and makee use of Darrcy's
law, we can callculate the discharge
d thhrough the square
s and extend
e this to determin
ne the
disccharge throuugh the aquiifer. The sqquare has siddes of lengthh ds (in the direction of
o flow)
by dm
d (perpenddicular to fllow). Know wing that thee aquifer thickness is b,, we can app ply
Darrcy's law to determine the
t total
disccharge throuugh this boxx:

(6.116)

wheere Qs referss to the totaal discharge

[L3 T−1] througgh a streamttube and dh
refeers to the heead differencce across thhe
boxx, or in this case
c h4 − h3. Because thhe
dommain is squaare, dm = dss, and
equation (6.16)) becomes:

(6.117)

In other
o words,, if we knoww the
hyddraulic condductivity (orr the
trannsmissivity, T = Kb), we
w can simplly
lookk at our flow
w net to see what Figuree 6.10 A sim
mple flow n net showing g terms
conttour intervaal is used for hydraulic usedd to quantiffy flow in tthe aquifer.. The
headd (dh) and multiply
m thaat value by grray square of
o dimensioon ds by dm m is
the transmissivvity to determmine the analyzed in thee text.
amoount of wateer moving thhrough eachh
streamtube. If the
t aquifer is i bounded at upper an
nd lower endds, we can ccount the nuumber
of streamtubes and multiply by Qs to determine the t total am
mount of watter flowing through
the aquifer.

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

We now look at a a somewhhat more com mplicated example.

e Onne effect of placing a dam
d in a
stream or river is that a hyydraulic graddient is creaated beneathh the dam. A At the upstrream
end, the hydrauulic head (reelative to thhe base of th
he dam) at thhe bottom oof the reserv voir is
equal to the deppth of waterr in the reseervoir (Figu
ure 6.11). Onn the downsstream side,, the
hyddraulic head is equal to the height of o water in the
t river. A flow net caan be constrructed,
as shown in Figgure 6.11, too determinee the pattern n and rate off steady grooundwater flow
f
beneath the dam m. Note thaat a low-perm meability laayer exists at
a depth, whhich represeents the
botttom of the aquifer;
a benneath the dam m. We can envision
e thiis boundaryy, as well as the
basee of the dam
m itself, as streamlines,
s because there will be relatively liittle flow accross
themm. For this example,
e w assume thhat the dam is 100 m wide
we w (in the ddirection in nto the
page), and that the hydraulic conductiivity of the material beeneath the dam is 10 m s−1.
−10

We can use equuation (6.177) to calculaate the total discharge beneath

b the dam. We use the
lenggth of the daam (100 m)) in place off the aquiferr thickness (b).
( The conntour interval for
hyddraulic head, dh, is 2 m. Then,

(6.118)

We can multiplly this valuee by the num mber of streeamtubes (33) to obtain the total disscharge,
−8 3 −1
6×110 m s , which is appproximatelyy equal to 1.9 1 m3 yr−1. In this casee, the flow beneath
b
the dam is fairlly small, whhich is whatt we would hope for; thhe dam wouuld be fairly y
ineffficient if water was constantly leaaking around d it! A largeer value woould result iff the
hyddraulic condductivity waas higher, orr the differen
nce in headd across the dam was grreater.

Figuree 6.11 Flow

w net for grroundwaterr movemen nt beneath a concrete
dam. Thhe equipoteentials (graay lines) aree labeled with
w values oof hydrauliic
head.

Beffore we concclude this chhapter withh a discussioon of some ofo the compplexities thaat enter
intoo our evaluaation of grouundwater floow, we men ntion severaal other poinnts regardinng the
use of flow netts as we havve describedd it. First, we
w have conssidered onlyy steady
grouundwater fllow. It is not possible too construct a flow net for
f unsteadyy or transien nt
grouundwater flow. Also, we w can use a flow net to o describe thhe variationn in specificc
disccharge, and therefore fllow velocityy, in an aquifer. You caan imagine each stream mtube as
a "ppipe," becauuse water caannot cross a streamlinee. Thereforee, from the pprinciple off

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Chapter 6. Groundwater Hydraulics ERS 100: Introduction to Hydrologic Principles

conservation of mass described in Chapters 3 and 4, we can state that within a

streamtube, the specific discharge will be greatest where the streamtube is narrowest. The
total discharge through the streamtube must be the same at any cross section. Referring to
Figure 6.11, the flow velocity will be greater at point A than at point B. Finally, we have
considered only homogeneous porous media, that is, materials with a spatially constant k.
In the next section, we discuss the implications for flow through materials that are not
homogeneous.

6.5.2 Heterogeneity and anisotropy

Virtually all natural materials through which groundwater flows display variations in
intrinsic permeability from point to point. This is referred to as heterogeneity. The
natural processes that create and modify rocks, sediments, and soils give rise to
heterogeneity at all scales-from minor variations in grain size and the small holes called
vugs in carbonate rocks (mm scale) to sedimentological and soil features (m scale) to
variations in fracture spacing and lithological layering as depicted in Figure 6.6 (m to km
scale). These variations in permeability from point to point complicate flow net
construction. Permeable zones tend to focus groundwater flow, while, conversely, flow
tends to avoid less permeable zones (see "Exploring Further"). It is possible to construct
flow nets for some simple cases, such as layered aquifers and aquitards. However, when
the permeability distribution is more complicated, hydrogeologists often rely on
numerical simulation to depict the pattern and rate of groundwater flow.

Another complication often arises when measuring the permeability of natural materials.
Rocks, sediments, and soils often have textural features that cause the permeability at a
point to vary with the direction of measurement. Materials that display this trait are
referred to as anisotropic, while isotropic refers to the condition in which the
permeability does not depend on the direction of measurement. Consider a fractured rock
aquifer, in which the fractures are predominantly horizontal. In this case, the permeability
will be higher when measured in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction.
You might picture this situation by referring to Figure 6.2 and imagining that the
capillary tubes are aligned in the horizontal direction, with relatively little hydraulic
communication between them. Other features which produce anisotropy include (but are
not limited to) the orientation of: platy minerals and small-scale layering in sedimentary
rocks, such as clays; cooling cracks and lava flow tubes in basalts; large pores due to
animal burrowing and plant roots in soils; and schistosity and fractures in metamorphic
and igneous rocks.

Anisotropy, like heterogeneity, makes the job of constructing flow nets difficult, so that
once again we must rely on numerical models that are capable of including this aspect of
natural porous media. In the case of anisotropy, because water will tend to flow in a
"preferred" direction, that is, in the direction of maximum permeability, Darcy's law must
be modified to include this preference. As a result, in an anisotropic medium, the
streamlines and equipotentials may not be perpendicular to one another at all points.

In introducing the concept of a flow net in Section 6.5, we described streamlines as paths
of steepest descent in the "topographic landscape" of hydraulic head. We can extend this
analogy to anisotropic media if we now imagine a series of ridges running at some angle

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Chapter 6. Groundwater Hydraulics ERS 100: Introduction to Hydrologic Principles

with respect to the equipotentials. These ridges cause the water drop to move at some
angle other than straight "downhill," since the water wants to follow the ruts between the
ridges at least part of the time. (The flow will be straight downhill if the ridges are either
straight downhill or follow the equipotentials.) These ridges in the hydraulic
"topography" have the same effect as anisotropy in porous media. The flow direction will
be altered from the normal direction parallel to the hydraulic gradient toward the
direction of maximum intrinsic permeability.

6.6 Concluding Remarks

Darcy's law (as well as the law of conservation of mass implied in the construction and
use of flow nets) provides the basis for computing steady groundwater flow patterns and
rates. In some cases a simple "back-of-the-envelope" calculation is sufficient to gain a
rough estimate of flow rates. In other cases, the aquifer may have a complex geometry or
be heterogeneous and anisotropic and simple calculations will not suffice. Today
hydrologists routinely use groundwater models (by which the groundwater flow
equations are solved with the assistance of computers) to address environmental issues
(e.g., NRC, 1990b). The computational techniques used in groundwater models are much
more sophisticated than those we have used in this chapter. However, the ideas behind
the computation are essentially the same. The geometry, conditions at the boundaries, and
hydraulic parameters (intrinsic permeability, porosity) of the aquifer must be specified
before predictions can be made with the models.

One use of groundwater models is in making assessments of compliance with

environmental regulations. For example, before the WIPP site can receive a license to
begin operation, a set of regulations issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) must be met. For WIPP, the U.S. Department of Energy must show that the
probability of significant releases to the accessible environment over 10,000 years into
the future will be very small. The "accessible environment" for WIPP means groundwater
in the Culebra formation "down gradient" of WIPP, that is, in the direction of decreasing
hydraulic head. The demonstration of compliance with the EPA standard is done using a
performance assessment analysis (Campbell and Cranwell, 1988). In short, performance
assessment uses a set of scenarios-sequences of hypothetical events that might occur in
the future-and models to predict the impact of these scenarios. For WIPP, one scenario
that is of concern involves someone in the distant future drilling a well into the repository
and allowing some of the radioactive wastes to flow up the well and into the Culebra
dolomite. A groundwater model must be used to "route" the hypothetical contaminant
through the aquifer to decide whether significant quantities of contaminant might reach a
human population in this scenario. These and many other environmental problems require
the kind of knowledge of groundwater hydraulics that we have introduced in this chapter.

6.7 Key Points

• The term "groundwater" refers to subsurface water found in completely saturated
porous media. {Section 6.1}

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Chapter 6. Groundwater Hydraulics ERS 100: Introduction to Hydrologic Principles

• Flow through porous media may be approached using the analogy of laminar
frictional flow through a bundle of small capillary tubes, where the flow through
an individual tube is described using Poiseuille's law. {Section 6.2}
• Hydraulic head is a measurable quantity that can be used to describe flow in
porous media. Groundwater always flows from regions of high hydraulic head to
regions of low hydraulic head: h = (p/ρg) + z. {Section 6.2}
• Henry Darcy published a report in 1856 describing a set of experiments in which
he measured flow rates through sand-filled columns. His experiments resulted in
an empirical equation relating the specific discharge in porous media to the
hydraulic gradient, referred to as Darcy's law: q = −K(dh/dl). {Section 6.3}
• The proportionality constant K in Darcy's law is called the hydraulic conductivity,
and is a measure of the ability of the medium to transmit fluid. Hydraulic
conductivity depends on both material and fluid properties, and is often separated
into two groups of terms, K = k (ρg/μ), where k is the intrinsic permeability.
{Section 6.3.1}
• The properties of porous materials need to be known or estimated in order to
solve groundwater flow problems: the porosity (φ), which is the fraction of total
medium volume occupied by pore space; the hydraulic conductivity (K), which
varies by at least 13 orders of magnitude for natural materials; and the intrinsic
permeability (k), which varies similarly to hydraulic conductivity. {Section 6.3.1}
• Darcy's law may be used for many situations of flow through porous media,
except when values of the Reynolds number are high or other forces
(accelerations, electrostatic forces) are significant. {Section 6.3.2}
• Geological formations may be classified as: aquifers, saturated geological
formations that contain and transmit "significant" quantities of water under
normal field conditions; aquicludes, formations that may contain water but do not
transmit significant quantities; aquifuges, formations that neither contain nor
transmit significant quantities of water; or aquitards, a general term for formations
that are of relatively low permeability, which may include both aquicludes and
aquifuges. {Section 6.4}
• Aquifers may be either unconfined (bound at the top by the water table) or
confined (bound at the top by an overlying aquitard). {Section 6.4}
• The water table is a surface separating saturated and unsaturated zones in the
subsurface. The fluid pressure at the water table is zero (gage). {Section 6.4}
• Flow nets are used to depict patterns of steady two-dimensional groundwater
flow, and are made up of two families of orthogonal lines: equipotentials (lines of
constant hydraulic head) and streamlines (representing the path of flowing
groundwater). Flow nets may be used to calculate the rates of groundwater
movement. {Sections 6.5 and 6.5.1}
• Most natural porous media are heterogeneous (permeability varies from point to
point) and anisotropic (the permeability measured at a point depends on the
direction of measurement). {Section 6.5.2}

6.9 Suggested Readings

Freeze, R. A., and J. A. Cherry. 1979. Groundwater. New York: Prentice-Hall. Chapters

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

2 annd 5, pp. 14-79, 167-1991.

1) Laminar
L floww through a capillary tuube is descrribed by Poiseuille's law
w. For a
horiizontal tubee, the dischaarge, Q, is proportional
p l to:

the gradient in elevvation headd, z.

the gradient in preessure, p.
the squuare of the tuube diameteer, D2.
the fouurth power of
o the tube diameter,
d D4.

2) The
T hydraulic head, h, is
i equal to the
t sum of the:
t

pressurre, elevationn, and veloccity heads.

fluid prressure and the elevatioon head.
pressurre head and elevation head.
h
hydrauulic conductiivity and inntrinsic permmeability.

3) Henry
H Darcyy (1856) meeasured the flow of watter through sand-filled columns, and
a
founnd that the total
t discharrge, Q, throough the collumns was:

proporttional to thee column cross-sectionaal area, A.

inverseely proportioonal to the length,
l L, off the colum
mn.
proporttional to thee head differrence across the colum mn.
proporttional to thee pressure difference
d accross the coolumn.

4) For
F flow through porouus media, the specific discharge,
d q [L T−1], maay be defineed
as:

the totaal dischargee divided byy the column n width.

the totaal dischargee divided byy cross-sectiional area.
the totaal dischargee divided byy the porositty.
the Darrcy velocityy.

5) What
W is (aree) the differeence(s) betw
ween hydrau
ulic conductivity, K, annd intrinsic
perm
meability, k?
k

The inttrinsic perm

meability is a measure of
o the abilityy of a mediuum to transm
mit
watter only.
They have
h differennt dimensioons.
The inttrinsic perm
meability doees not depen
nd on fluid properties.
The hyydraulic connductivity dooes not depeend on fluidd propertiess.

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

6) For
F water, what
w is the natural
n rangee of values of hydraulic conductivvity, K?

zero to one
10−5 to one thousaand m s−1
10−9 to one m s−1
o billion m s−1
one to one

7) The
T averagee linear veloocity is alwaays greater than
t the speecific dischaarge.

True
False

8) Which
W of thee followingg are methodds or devicees used to measure
m hydrraulic
conductivity?

Permeaameter
Piezom
meter
Aquifer tests
Weir

9) Inn which of the followinng situationns might Daarcy's law noot apply?

for veryy permeablee materials with very high

h flow raates.
for veryy low hydraaulic gradients in somee low-permeeability materials, such as
clayys.
for flow
w through crystalline
c roocks.
for the flow of air through a porous
p air fiilter.

10) The terms aquifer,

a aq
quitard, aqu uifuge, and aquiclude all refer to saturated
geological form
mations. Theey are distinnguished on
n the basis of
o their propperties, such
h as
perm
meability. Which
W of thee followingg statements are true forr an aquiferr?

It neithher contains nor transmmits significaant quantitiees of water uunder norm

mal
fieldd conditionss.
Clays and
a shales area good exaamples.
It is a formation
f thhat can be used
u for water supply.
It is a formation
f off generally low permeaability.

11) Regarding a confined aquifer:

the watter table forrms the uppeer boundary

y.
an aquiitard forms the upper boundary.
b
It is a formation
f thhat can be used
u for water supply.
It is a formation
f off generally low permeaability.

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Chappter 6. Groundwater Hydraaulics ERS 100: Inntroduction too Hydrologic Principles
P

12) The water table:

t

forms the
t upper booundary of an a unconfin ned aquifer.
is a surrface along which
w the (gage) pressure is zero.
is deterrmined by thhe water levvel in a well within an unconfinedd aquifer.
is calleed the potentiometric suurface in a confined
c aquuifer.

13) A flow net:

is a diaagram of equuipotentialss and stream

mlines.
depictss steady grouundwater fllow in two dimensions.
d .
may bee used to quuantify grounndwater flo ow.

14) When the hydraulic

h coonductivity varies from
m point to pooint within aan aquifer, the
t
aquifer is said to
t be:

homogeneous.
heteroggeneous.
isotropic.
anisotroopic.

Lastt modified: Sep 18, 20008

ERSS 100: Introoduction to Hydrologic
H Principles /

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