PilarCrespo11941671December14,2011

WaterInfiltration
ClassProjectforVadoseZoneHydrology
Introduction
Briefdiscussionofthetopic
During the rainy season, a superficial pond forms above the path of a tunnel under construction.
Accordingtotheconstructionplanofacertaincompany,thediggingofthetunnelisgoingtopass
30mbeneaththepondbedin98days;whichconcedeswiththeendoftherainyseasonandthe
pond has filled completely resulting in high probability for the construction to concede with the
infiltrated water. Therefore the construction of the tunnel depends on the time when the water
frontreachesthe30mdepth.
Objectives
Goal: As a consultant in a construction company, the assignment is to determine whether water
infiltrationwillaffectornotthediggingofatunnelwhenitreachesthepointbelowthepond.
Itcanbeexpectedthatwaterwillalreadybepresentatasoildepthof30min98daysorearlier.
Solution approach: Depending on the depth and the time at which the water front reaches such
depth, the construction of the tunnel will continue at a rate of 1m/day, will need to speed up or
stop.
Problemformulation
Mainquestions:
Isthewaterfrontgoingtobeat20morlessdeeperin98days?
Isthewaterfrontgoingtobeat15min30daysorlater?
Scope of work: Water flow simulation in Hydrus ID. To keep it simple: no hysteresis, no
temperature dependence, no evaporation, no dual porosity/dual permeability, no microbial
contribution to water content and conductivity. By using the Richards equation, air phase and
thermalgradientsareneglected.
Methods

Governingequations
TheRichardsequationgovernstheuniformwaterflowsimulationanditderivesasfollows:
o Darcyslawforsaturated,steadystatesoils
[
w
= - K
s

E
z

E = b + z
Where;
[
w
=waterflow
K
s
=saturatedhydraulicconductivity
E=hydraulicheaddifference
z=gravitationalheaddifference
b=pressureheaddrivingforce
z=gravitationalhead
PilarCrespo11941671December14,2011
o EdgarBuckinghamextendedDarcysLawforunsaturatedandsteadystatesoils
[
w
= -K(b) _
E
z
_ = -K(b) _
(b +z)
z
_ = -K(b) _
b
z
+ 1_
Where;
b=matricheaddrivingforce
1=pressuregradient

o Duetofluxdivergence,BuckinghamDarcyisnotsufficientforunsaturated,unsteady
state soils. The continuity equation equates flux divergence with changes of
volumetricwatercontentintime.
o0

ot
=
o[
w
oz

Where;
o[
w
=changesinwaterflow

o Richards equation combines Buckingham Darcy continuity equations. It is for

unsaturated, unsteady state soils. It assumes a uniform temperature, no swelling or
shrinkingofthesoilandnoresistancebytheairphase.
o0
ot
=
o
oz
_K(b) _
ob
oz
+ 1]_
Where;
o0=changesinwatercontent
ot =changesintime
oz=changesingravitationalhead
ob=changesinpressurehead
K(b)=unsaturatedhydraulic conductivityasa
functionofmatrichead
1=pressuregradient

The unsaturated hydraulic properties of the soil are included into the simulation by the Van
Genuchten Model (1980) which relates the volumetric water content with the matric
potential
0
c]]-s
=
0 - 0

0
s
- 0

= _
1
1 + (o|
m
|)
n
_
m

m = 1 -
1
n

K(S
c
) = K
s
S
c
1
2
_1 - _1 - S
c
1
m
]
m
_
2

Where;
0
c]]-s
=effectivesaturation
0=volumetricwatercontent
0

=residualwatercontent
0
s
=watercontentatsaturation
o,n , m=shapeparameters

m
=matricpotential
S
c
=effectivewatercontent
K
s
=saturatedhydraulicconductivity
Geometryoftheproblem
Thefollowingfig.1showsthegeometry
oftheproblem.

Figure1:Constructionofatunnel
underneathapond.

PilarCrespo11941671December14,2011
Numberofsoillayers:1
Depthofthesoilprofile:30m
Therunningtimeofthesimulation:98days
TheiterationcriteriawasunchangedinHYDRUS1D.
Horizontaldistancefromthetunnelfronttothepond:98m
Lengthofthetunnelthatwillexactlypassunderthepond:15m
Constructionrateofthetunnelbeforethewaterinfiltrationsimulation:1m/day
Timevariable boundary condition (Fig. 2): After 3 days, the pressure head at the bed of
thepondis1m,after6daysitis0.5m,after9daysitis0.25mandattheendofthe98
days it is 0.125 m. This means that the water level in the pond decreases due to
infiltration.Thesevalueswerechosenbecausethehydrostaticheadrapidlychangesatthe
beginning of the infiltration and slowly starts to cease at the end. This is because it
depends on the infiltration rate which is higher when the water first enters the soil and
slowlydecreasesuntilaconstantfinalrateisreached.

Figure2:Variablehydrostaticheadatthetop

Time
[days]
hTop[m]
3 1
6 0.5
9 0.25
98 0.125
KeyParameters
Soil type: Silt loam was chosen
becausethewaterretentionproperty
of the clay content allows the pond
formation,andthewaterconductivity
property of the silt allows infiltration
in a moderate rate and not as fast as
in sand (therefore low sand content
was chosen). See Fig. 3: Water
retentioncurveforsiltloam
Figure3:Waterretentioncurveforsiltloam
Soil texture: 60% silt, 20% clay, 20%
sand
WaterFlow:1D,verticaldownward(fromthepondontoptothetunnelbeneath).
Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity: In reality soil pores are filled with water and air
simultaneously.Waterisrestrictedtoflowthroughconnectedwaterporesonly.Usingthe
Richardsequationthispropertycanbetakenintoconsiderationinthesimulation.

0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time [days]
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
Theta [-]
PilarCrespo11941671December14,2011
VanGenuchtenvaluesforsiltloamtakenfromthesoilcataloginHYDRUS1D:
Qr=0.067,Qs=0.45,=2,n=1.41,Ks=0.108,I=0.5
Assumptions:
o Groundwaterisverydeep,at130mfromthesoilsurface.
o Plantuptakenorevaporationcontributetowaterconsumptionfromthepond.
o Homogenoussoil
Initialconditions
Soilstate:unsaturated,unsteady Figure4:Initialconditioninthesoilprofile

Matricheadatthetopofthesoilprofileis
130 m and at the tunnel site 100 m, meaning
thatbeforetheformationofthepond,thesoilis
verydryatthesurfaceandlessdry(butstillvery
dry) at the tunnel site because it is closer to the
groundwater, although groundwater is 100 m
belowthispoint.SeeFig.4
Boundaryconditions
Upperboundarycondition:variablepressurehead,meaningthatitchangesintime.See
Fig.2
Lowerboundarycondition:freedrainage,becausethedrivingforceisgravityonlyandthe
groundwaterisverydeep(130m).
SimulationResultandAnalysis

Theanswerstothemainquestionsandsolutionapproachare:
Isthewaterfrontgoingtobeat20morlessdeeperin98days?
InFig.5,itcanbeobservedthatin98daysthewaterfrontwillbeatadepthofapproximately34
m,meaningthatitwillaffecttheconstructionofthetunnel.Thismeansthatthetunnelneedsto
adaptitscurrentconstructionrateof1m/daydependingonthefollowinganswer.

Isthewaterfrontgoingtobeat15min30daysorlater?
Fig.5indicatedthatthewaterfrontisgoingtobeatadepthof15min40daysmeaningthatthe
constructionofthetunnelcanbespeededupatarateof1.2m/dayatleast.Thetunnelcanreach
+117.6
1
mandhaveenoughtimelefttopassbelowthepondbeforethewaterfrontreachesthe
30mdepth.

Figure5innextpageshowstheresultofthesimulation.

1
Whatisthedistancethefrontofthetunnelwillreachata1.2m/dayconstructionrateand98days?
98m+15m=+113m
1.2m/day*98days=117.6m>113m
PilarCrespo11941671December14,2011
Figure5:ProfileInformation.DepthWaterContent
Legend:fromtoptobottomofthe
graph
Line Day
1 3
2 6
3 9
4 12
5 20
6 30
7 40
8 60
9 80
10 98
Conclusion

Significanceforapplication:
This water infiltration simulation can be extended to other construction objectives like
undergroundparking,basementsandsubways.

Influenceoftheassumptions:
The simulation does not consider water uptake by plants or evaporation which may
influence on the final water front depth by decreasing the amount of water available for
infiltration.
Infiltration in homogenous soils (silt loam only) happens differently as in heterogenous
soils(siltloamplusanothersoiltypes)becausethelatterpresentdifferentsoilproperties
thatwilltakepartintheinfiltrationrate.
As the groundwater is very deep it does not get in contact with the infiltrated water.
Therefore,thedrivingforceofinfiltrationisgravityonly.
Limitationsoftheresult:
Richards equation should be used for small scales only, however this simulation is large
scale.Asthesimulationisanexerciseonly,theresultscanbeaccepted.
It is possible that the simulation is overestimated. In reality it might be uncommon to
have 30 m thick silt loam profiles and it might not be feasible to construct tunnels in silt
loamduetothesoilsstructure.
LiteratureCited
Or,D.,Tuller,M.,Wraith,J.M.,2010.VadoseZoneHydrology/EnvironmentalSoilPhysics.
imnek, J., ejna, M., Saito, H., Sakai, M., and van Genuchten, M. Th., 2009. The
HYDRUS1D Software Package for Simulating the OneDimensional Movement of Water,
Heat, and Multiple Solutes in VariablySaturated Media. Version 4.08. Department of
EnvironmentalSciences,UniversityofCaliforniaRiverside,Riverside,California.11,2223
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
Theta [-]