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CHAPTER 13
Groundwater
Once polluted, groundwater is difcult, if not impossible, to clean up, since it contains few decomposing microbes and is not exposed to sunlight, strong water ow, or any of the other natural
purication processes that cleanse surface water.
Eugene P. Odum; Ecology and Our Endangered Life Support Systems

13.1

GROUNDWATER AND AQUIFERS

Part of the precipitation that falls on land may inltrate the surface, percolate downward through
the soil under the force of gravity, and become what is known as groundwater. Like surface water,
groundwater is an extremely important part of the hydrologic cycle. Almost half of the people in
the U.S. obtain their public water supply from groundwater. Overall, the U.S. has more groundwater
than surface water, including the water in the Great Lakes. Unfortunately, pumping it to the surface
for use is sometimes uneconomical and, in recent years, the pollution of groundwater supplies from
improper disposal has become a signicant problem (Spellman, 1996).
Groundwater is found in saturated layers called aquifers that lie under the Earths surface.
Aquifers are made up of a combination of solid material such as rock and gravel, and open spaces
called pores. Regardless of the type of aquifer, the groundwater in the aquifer is always in motion.
Aquifers that lie just under the Earths surface are in the zone of saturation and are called unconfined
aquifers (see Figure 13.1). The top of the zone of saturation is the water table. An unconned
aquifer is only contained on the bottom and is dependent on local precipitation for recharge. This
type of aquifer is often referred to as a water table aquifer.
The actual amount of water in an aquifer is dependent upon the amount of space available
between the various grains of material that make up the aquifer. The amount of space available is
called porosity. The ease of movement through an aquifer depends upon how well the pores are
connected. The ability of an aquifer to pass water is called permeability. Types of aquifers include:
Unconned aquifers: a primary source of shallow well water (see Figure 13.1). Because these
wells are shallow, they are subject to local contamination from hazardous and toxic materials that
provide increased levels of nitrates and microorganisms, including fuel and oil; agricultural runoff
containing nitrates and microorganisms; and septic tanks. (Note that this type of well may be
classied as groundwater under the direct inuence of surface water [GUDISW] and therefore
require treatment for control of microorganisms [disinfection]).
Conned aquifers: aquifers sandwiched between two impermeable layers that block the ow of
water. The water in a conned aquifer is under hydrostatic pressure. It does not have a free water
table (see Figure 13.2).

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Ground
surface

Rain
Infiltration
Percolation

Water table
Water table well

Unconfined aquifer

Figure 13.1

Unconfined aquifer. (From Spellman, F.R., 1996, Stream Ecology & Self-Purification. Lancaster,
PA: Technomic Publishing Company.)

Recharge
area
Rain
Ground

Artesian well
Confining layer
Clay
Clay
Confined
aquifer

Flow

Bedrock

Figure 13.2

Confined aquifer. (From Spellman, F.R., 1996, Stream Ecology & Self-Purification. Lancaster, PA:
Technomic Publishing Company.)

Conned aquifers are artesian aquifers. A well drilled in an artesian aquifer is called an artesian
well and commonly yields large quantities of high-quality water. A well in a conned aquifer is
normally referred to as a deep well and is not generally affected by local hydrological events. A
conned aquifer is recharged by rain or snow in the mountains, where it is close to the surface of

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the Earth. Because the recharge area is some distance from areas of possible contamination of the
conned aquifer, the possibility of contamination is usually very low. However, once contaminated,
such aquifers may take centuries to recover.
When groundwater exits the Earths crust, it is called a spring. The water in a spring can
originate from a water table aquifer or from a conned aquifer. Only water from a conned aquifer
spring is considered desirable for a public water system.
13.1.1 Groundwater Quality
Generally, groundwater possesses high chemical, bacteriological, and physical quality. When
pumped from an aquifer composed of a mixture of sand and gravel, groundwater is often used
without ltration (if not directly inuenced by surface water). It can also be used without disinfection
if it has a low coliform count. However (as pointed out earlier), groundwater can become contaminated. For example, when septic systems fail; saltwater intrudes; improper disposal of wastes
occurs;, chemicals are improperly stock-piled; underground storage tanks leak; hazardous materials
are spilled; fertilizers and pesticides are misapplied; and mines are improperly abandoned, groundwater can become contaminated.
When groundwater is removed from its underground water-bearing stratum via a well, water
ows toward the center of the well. In a water table aquifer, this movement causes the water table
to sag toward the well. This sag is called the cone of depression. The shape and size of the cone
is dependent on the relationship between the pumping rate and the rate at which water can move
toward the well. If the movement rate is high, the cone is shallow and its growth stable. The area
included in the cone of depression is called the zone of influence; any contamination in this zone
will be drawn into the well.
13.1.2 GUDISW
Groundwater under the direct inuence of surface water (GUDISW) is not classied as a groundwater supply. When a supply is designated as GUDISW, the states surface water rules apply to
the source rather than the groundwater rules. The Surface Water Treatment Rule of the Safe Drinking
Water Act requires each site to determine which groundwater supplies are inuenced by surface
water (when surface water can inltrate a groundwater supply and could contaminate it with
Giardia, viruses, turbidity, or organic material from the surface water source). To determine whether
a groundwater supply is under the direct inuence of surface water, USEPA has developed procedures that focus on signicant and relatively rapid shifts in water quality characteristics, including
turbidity, temperature, and pH. When these shifts can be closely correlated with rainfall or other
surface water conditions or when certain indicator organisms associated with surface water are
found, the source is said to be under the direct inuence of surface water.

13.2

AQUIFER PARAMETERS

Certain aquifer parameters are relevant to determining the available volume of water and the ease
of its withdrawal. We identify and dene these relevant parameters in this section.
13.2.1 Aquifer Porosity
Aquifer porosity is dened as the ratio of the volume of voids (open spaces) in the soil to the total
volume. Simply stated, porosity is the volume of open space and is often determined using the
equation:

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V void
Vtotal

(13.1)

Two basic types of porosity are common: primary, formed at the time the rock was deposited,
and secondary, formed later (by dissolution of carbonate in caverns). Well-sorted materials tend to
have higher porosities than poorly sorted ones. Fine-grained sediments tend to have higher porosities
than coarse-grained sediments, although they are often poorly connected. Some typical values of
porosity are clay, 55%; ne sand, 45%; sand and gravel, 20%; sandstone, 15%; and limestone,
15%. The interconnected or effective porosity (e) is the most important in hydrology, and .
13.2.2 Specific Yield (Storage Coefficient)
Specic yield is the percentage of water that is free to drain from the aquifer under the inuence
of gravity. It is not equal to porosity because the molecular and surface tension forces in the pore
spaces keep some of the water in the voids. Specic yield reects the amount of water available
for development (Davis and Cornwell, 1991). Specic yield and storage coefcient may be used
interchangeably for unconned aquifers.
13.2.3 Permeability (K)
Permeability describes the measure of an aquifers ability to transmit water under a sloping
piezometric surface. It is dened as the discharge that occurs through a unit cross-section of aquifer.
13.2.4 Transmissivity (T)
Transmissivity describes the capacity of an aquifer to transmit water. It is the product of hydraulic
conductivity (permeability) and the aquifers saturated thickness:
T = Kb

(13.2)

where
T = transmissivity of an aquifer, gallons per day per foot or cubic meters per day-meter
K = permeability, gallons per day per square foot (per day-square meter)
b = thickness of aquifer, feet or meters
A rough estimation of T is found by multiplying specic capacity by 2000 (USEPA, 1994).
Example 13.1
Problem:
If an aquifers thickness is 60 ft, estimate the permeability of the aquifer with transmissibility
of 30,000 gpm/ft.
Solution:
Rearranging Equation 13.2:
K = T/b = (30,000 gpm/ft)/60 ft
= 500 gpm/ft 2

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13.2.5 Hydraulic Gradient and Head

The height of the potentiometric surface at any point in an aquifer is the hydraulic gradient. Stated
differently, the hydraulic gradient is the slope of the piezometric surface. The difference in elevation
from one point to another along the hydraulic gradient is a measure of pressure. This elevation
difference is called pressure head.
We usually express the amount of mechanical energy that groundwater contains in terms of the
hydraulic head (h), the total mechanical energy per unit weight. The hydraulic head is conveniently
measured as the elevation to which water will rise in an open pipe, relative to some reference level.
Therefore, the hydraulic head has units of length for example, the elevation to which water will rise.
Two main components contribute to the mechanical energy or the hydraulic head of groundwater: potential energy due to gravity and pressure exerted on the water. Kinetic energy, a third
energy, is caused by movement of water and is very small compared to the other two energies
because groundwater ows very slowly and the energy can therefore be neglected. In terms of
hydraulic head, the potential energy is expressed as the elevation head (z) or simply the elevation
of the point of interest relative to some reference level. The energy of uid pressure is expressed
as the pressure head (hp). The pressure head is equivalent to the height of the water column overlying
the point of interest. The total hydraulic head is then given by:
h = z + hp

(13.3)

According to Baron (2003), groundwater will move from areas of high mechanical energy to
areas with low mechanical energy. The hydraulic gradient of a ow system of interest is dened
as the difference in hydraulic head between two points of interest (dh) and the ow distance between
these two points (dl) or, in mathematical terms:
gradient h = dh/dl

(13.4)

13.2.6 Flow Lines and Flow Nets

A ow line is an imaginary line that follows the path that a parcel of groundwater would follow
as it owed through an aquifer. These lines are useful tools for visualizing the ow of groundwater.
Flow lines can be constructed from equipotential lines or lines of equal hydraulic head. The
combination of equipotential lines and ow lines results in a ow net basically, a graphical
solution of the two-dimensional Laplace equation (Fetter, 1994).

13.3

GROUNDWATER FLOW

Groundwater ow for a steady-state condition in which the water table or piezometric head does
not change within a specied time is expressed by the following equations (Gupta, 1997):
Pore velocity or advection, v =

K (h1 h 2 )
nL

(13.5)

where pore area of ow, Av = nA.

Because Q = Av, combining the two gives us Darcys law:
Rate of groundwater flow, Q =

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K (h1 h 2 )A
L

(13.6)

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where
Q = rate of groundwater ow
v = pore velocity or advection
K = hydraulic conductivity
A = aquifer cross-section area through which ow takes place
h1 = water head at upstream end
h2 = water head at downstream end
L = distance between h1 and h2
n = porosity
Note: The term (h1 h2)/L is the hydraulic gradient.
Example 13.2
Problem:
An irrigation ditch runs parallel to a pond; they are 2200 ft apart. A pervious formation of 40ft average thickness connects them. Hydraulic conductivity and porosity of the pervious formation
are 12 ft/day and 0.55, respectively. The water level in the ditch is at an elevation of 120 ft and
110 ft in the pond. Determine the rate of seepage from the channel to the pond.
Solution:
Hydraulic gradient, I =

h1 h 2 120 110
=
= 0.0045
L
22000

For each 1 ft width:

A = 1 40 = 40 ft 2
From Equation 13.6:
Q = (12 ft/day)(0.0045)(40 ft 2 ) = 2.16 ft 3 /day/ft width
From Equation 13.5:
Seepage velocity, v =

13.4

K(h1 h 2 ) (12)(0.00045)
=
= 0.098ft/day
0.55
nL

GENERAL EQUATIONS OF GROUNDWATER FLOW

The combination of Darcys law and a statement of mass conservation results in general equations
describing the ow of groundwater through a porous medium. These general equations are partial
differential equations in which the spatial coordinates in all three dimensions (x, y, and z) and the
time are all independent variables.
To derive the general equations, Darcys law and the law of mass conservation are applied to
a small volume of aquifer, the control volume. The law of mass conservation is basically an account

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of all the water that goes into and out of the control volume. That is, all the water that goes into
the control volume must come out, or a change must occur in water storage in the control volume.
Applying these two laws to a conned aquifer results in Laplaces equation, a famous partial
differential equation that can also be used to describe many other physical phenomena (for example,
the ow of heat through a solid) (Baron, 2003):
d 2 h/dx 2 + d 2h/dy 2 + d 2 /dz 2 = 0
Applying Darcys law and the law of mass conservation to two-dimensional ow in an unconned aquifer results in the Boussinesq equation:
d/dx (h dh/ds) + d/dx (h dh/dy) = Sy /K dh/dt
where Sy is the specic yield of the aquifer.
If the drawdown in the aquifer is very small compared with the saturated thickness, the variable
thickness, h, can be replaced with an average thickness that is assumed to be constant over the
aquifer. The Boussinesq equation can then be simplied to:
d 2h/dx 2 + d 2h/dy 2 = Sy /(Kb) dh/dt
Describing groundwater ow in conned and unconned aquifers by using these general partial
differential equations is difcult to solve directly. However, these differential equations can be
simplied to algebraic equations for the solution of simple cases (for example, one-dimensional
ow in a homogenous porous medium). Another approach is to use a ow net (described earlier)
to solve Laplaces equation graphically for relatively simple cases. More complex cases, however,
must be solved mathematically, most commonly with computerized groundwater modeling programs. The most popular of these programs is MODFLOW-2000, published by the United States
Geological Society (USGS).
13.4.1 Steady Flow in a Confined Aquifer
If steady movement of groundwater occurs in a conned aquifer and the hydraulic heads do not
change over time, we can use another derivation of Darcys law directly to determine how much
water is owing through a unit width of aquifer, using the following equation:
q = Kb dh/dl
where
=
q
K
=
b
=
dh/dl =

(13.7)

ow per unit width (L2/T)

hydraulic conductivity (L/T)
aquifer thickness (L)
hydraulic gradient (dimensionless)

13.4.2 Steady Flow in an Unconfined Aquifer

Steady ow of water through an unconned aquifer can be described by Dupuits equation:

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q =

K ((h12 h 22 )/L)

(13.8)

where
h1 and h2 = the water level at two points of interest
L
= the distance between these two points
Based on Dupuits assumptions, this equation states that the hydraulic gradient is equal to the slope
of the water table; the streamlines are horizontal; and equipotentials are vertical. This equation is
useful, particularly in eld evaluations of the hydraulic characteristics of aquifer materials.

REFERENCES
Baron, D. (2003). Water: Californias Precious Resource. Accessed at http://www.cs.Csubak.edu/Geology/Faculty/Baron/SuppGWNotes-2.htm.
Davis, M.L. and Cornwell, D.A. (1985). Introduction to Environmental Engineering, 2nd ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Fetter, C.W. (1994). Applied Hydrology, 3rd ed. New York: Prentice Hall.
Gupta, R.S. (1997). Environmental Engineering and Science: An Introduction. Rockville, MD: Government
Institutes.
Odum, E.P. (1997). Ecology and Our Endangered Life-Support Systems. New York: Sinauer Associates.
Spellman, F.R. (1996). Stream Ecology & Self-Purification. Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publishing Company.
USEPA. (1994). Handbook: Ground Water and Wellhead Protection, EPA/625/R-94/001. Washington, D.C.:
United States Environmental Protection Agency.

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