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CHAPTER 5
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
GROUND WATER
Water commonly gets into the soils and rocks when surface precipitation (rain or snow)
percolates (move downwards) through the interconnecting channels made by the voids in
soils or the cracks in rocks.
Figure 5.1
,,
A body of soil or rock which holds ground water and allows water to move through itself is
called an aquifer; the opposite of an aquifer is an aquiclude (Figure 2).
,,
Figure 5.2
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ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
ANDMECHANICS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOIL
AND GEOLOGY
CHAPTER 5
GROUND WATER
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
(symbol
g.w.l.) or phreatic surface is the top level of saturation of a body of soil.
Types of ground water
,,
(a)
has a positive internal pore pressure (i.e., greater the atmospheric pressure)
(b) Vardose
Vadose water, which :
may be transient percolating water moving down to join the phreatic surface (or water
table).
may be capillary water held above the water table by surface tension having a negative
internal pore pressure
(b)
(a)
Figure 5.3
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ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
ANDMECHANICS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOIL
AND GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
CHAPTER 5
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
(a) Saturated Zone: the top surface is at atmospheric pressure and is known as the water
table or the phreatic surface. Below this surface the soil is saturated with water subject
to positive hydrostatic pressure.
to capillary action which holds water below atmospheric pressure. Hence, the
pressure in the pore (or pore water pressure) is negative.
Above the capillary saturated one is a partially saturated subzone where water is
held by capillary action (surface tension) and absorption.
The top subzone occurs only when there is continuous upward evaporation and/or
downward percolation.
Capillary action: A phenomenon associated
;
with surface tension and resulting in the
5.4 Unconfined Aquifer and Confined Aquifer
elevation or depression of liquids in capillaries.
Unconfined aquifer
The surface water usually moves downwards through the void channels of a layer of pervious
(permeable) soil or rock to the top level of saturation or the ground water level (Figure 5.4).
An aquifer fed by direct downward percolation which establishes a water table is called an
unconfined aquifer. Water will normally fill a pit or borehole to the level of the ground
water table.
Aquifer
Impermeable layer
Figure 5.4
Unconfined aquifer
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ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
ANDMECHANICS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOIL
AND GEOLOGY
CHAPTER 5
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
GROUND WATER
Confined Aquifer
An aquifer, which is sandwiched between two impermeable layers of soil or rock, is fed
with water from a source at some distance away is termed a confined aquifer. Water in a
confined aquifer is often subject to the pressure (artesian pressure) of a head of water higher
than the ground level immediately above and, if tapped by a cased borehole, a column of
water will rise above the ground surface level The level to which the water will rise in such a
Aquifer
Figure 5.5
Confined aquifer
The water in an aquifer, whether confined or unconfined, has pressure at any point due to the
head of water above it. Since the water is in the void spaces in the soil or rock, i.e., in the
pores, this pressure (shown diagrammatically by the manometers in Figure 5.6) is known as
the pore water pressure (symbol u).
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ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
ANDMECHANICS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOIL
AND GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
CHAPTER 5
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
Figure 5.6
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ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
ANDMECHANICS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOIL
AND GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
Positive Pore Water Pressure
CHAPTER 5
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
Normally, water pressure increases positively with depth below the ground water level (g.w.l.)
as shown in Figure 5.7.
In some soils, particularly those with very small void spaces, the top of saturated (g.w.l.) is
modified by the surface tension effect of the very small channels formed by the
interconnecting pores. This is demonstrated by a simple experiment as shown in Figure 5.8.
Aabove the ground water leveling a soil, where it is partially saturated, the narrow channels
formed by interconnecting small voids act like a system of capillary tubes which suck up
water by surface tension. This phenomenon is termed soil suction.
Figure 5.8
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ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
ANDMECHANICS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOIL
AND GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
CHAPTER 5
Oct 2009
Dr.Paul Ho
use of instruments called standpipe and piezometer. (Negative pore water pressure is
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CHAPTER 5
5.10
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