Gollis University

Course : Hydrogeology
Lecturer: Eng. M.M.Qawdhan
Water Engineer/Hydrologist

Chapter Two
:Wells

A. GENERAL PLAN OF ACTION

The first step in considering the use of wells as the sources of

water supply is to calculate the total capacity of the existing
wells, and compare this capacity to the demand for water
based on the population to be served.
The supply-demand analysis shows whether the existing
wells can still be utilized or if new wells are needed.

1. Utilize Existing Wells

If wells already exist, they should be checked for:
Problem
Solution
Capacity
Improve Yield
Water quality.
Provide Treatment

2. New Well Sources

For new wells, the following steps are called for:
1. Determine the best possible well sites
2. Prepare preliminary well design
3. Select the method of construction
4. Construct the well.
5. Test for safe yield and water quality

 B. WELL HYDROLOGY
A well is a hole which has been dug, bored, driven or drilled beneath

the ground for the purpose of extracting ground water.

Beneath the ground, most rocks and soil contain voids, pores or
fissures. Subsurface water, which fills these voids and pores, occurs
in two zones. One zone is called the unsaturated one.
The other zone is called the saturated zone, where the voids are all
filled with water. Water in the saturated zone is referred to as
groundwater.
The water table is the boundary between the unsaturated zone and
the saturated zone. The water table is not stationary. It moves up
during rainy season when percolation is high and moves down during
dry season when groundwater discharge is higher. In general, the
shape of the water table tends to follow the topography of the land.

 The saturated zone is also called the aquifer. There are two main

types of aquifers.
One is the unconfined aquifer or water table aquifer whose upper
limit is the water table. Unconfined aquifers are often shallow and
the hydraulic pressure at its surface water level or water table is
equal to atmospheric pressure.
Where an aquifer is sandwiched between an upper impermeable
layer and a lower impermeable layer, the aquifer is said to be a
confined aquifer or an artesian aquifer.
One difference between a confined and unconfined aquifer is that
the hydraulic pressure in a confined aquifer is greater than the
atmospheric pressure. This hydraulic pressure, sometimes called
artesian pressure, will cause the groundwater in a well to rise
above the confining layer or even above the ground surface.

 C. CLASSIFICATION OF WELLS BASED ON AQUIFER

TAPPED
Aquifers are recharged with rainwater that seeps down to the soil
and through the permeable layers.
1. Shallow Wells
Generally, a well is considered shallow if it is less than 20 meters
deep. Shallow wells tap the upper water-bearing layer underground.
This permeable layer, however, usually has limited safe yield due to
its great dependence on seasonal rainfalls. Therefore, the supply
capacity of shallow wells could be unreliable and sometimes
intermittent.

 2. Deep Wells.
Deep wells, which are over 20 meters deep, tap the deeper

unconfined aquifer. This aquifer is not confined by an

overlying impermeable layer and is characterized by the
presence of a water table. A deep well is less susceptible to
surface contamination because of the deeper aquifer.

Also, its yield tends to be more reliable since it is

less affected by seasonal precipitation.

3. Artesian Wells
Artesian wells are much like the deep wells except that the water
extracted is from a confined aquifer. The confining impermeable
layers are above and below the aquifer. Groundwater recharge enters
the aquifer through permeable layers at high elevations causing the
confined groundwater at the lower elevations to be under pressure.
In some cases, the hydraulic pressure of the aquifer is sufficient for a
well to flow freely at the well head.

1. Typical Causes of Reduced Well Flow

The most common is the plugging of holes along the well
screen or incrustations forming on the well screens.
a. Mechanical Blockage
b. Chemical Encrustation
c. Bacteriological Plugging

Typical Methods of Well Rehabilitation

Contractors will often use a combination of several methods
to rehabilitate a well. Typical methods include:
Using chemicals to dissolve the incrusting materials so
that they can be pumped from the well;
Cleaning the well with a brush attached to a drilling rig;
High pressure jetting and well surging, in which water is
injected into the well at high pressures.

Assignment
TYPES OF WELLS BASED ON DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS

Wells can be designed and constructed in a number of ways depending on the

geologic condition, budget for the construction, and desired capacity of the well.
The following are the types of wells based on the construction method employed.
1. Dug Wells
2. Driven Wells
3. Bored Wells
4. Drilled Wells

Hydrologic Equation
Hydrologic cycle is a network of inflows and outflows,
expressed as
Input - Output = Change in Storage (1)
Eq. (1) is a conservation statement: ALL water is
accounted for, i.e., we can neither gain nor lose water.
On a global scale
atmosphere gains moisture from oceans and land areas E
releases it back in the form of precipitation P.
P is disposed of by evaporation to the atmosphere E,
overland flow to the channel network of streams Qo,
Infiltration through the soil F.
Water in the soil is subject to transpiration T, outflow to the channel

network Qo, and recharge to the groundwater RN.

The following basic tests are needed to assess whether a well is suitable as a source
for a Level II or Level III water supply system.

Example, contd.
Write an equation to describe water balance.

SOLUTION:
Water balance equation:
Water input from precipitation evapotranspiration of
precipitation evapotranspiration of groundwater
stream flow discharging to the sea groundwater
discharging to the sea spring flow = change in storage
P ETp ETgw Qswo Qgwo Qso = S

Example, contd
Is the system in steady state?

Substitute appropriate values in above

equation:

2475 1175 -25 -525 -25 = S 0=

1. Basic Hydrology Concept

1.1. Introduction
Water is vital for all living organisms on
Earth.
For centuries, people have been investigating
where water comes from and where it goes,
why some of it is salty and some is fresh, why
sometimes there is not enough and
sometimes too much. All questions and
answers related to water have been grouped
together into a discipline.
The name of the discipline is hydrology and
is formed by two Greek words: "hydro" and

What is Hydrology?
It is a science of water.
It is the science that deals with the occurrence,
circulation and distribution of water of the
earth and earths atmosphere.
A good understanding of the hydrologic

processes is important for the assessment of

the water resources, their management and
conservation on global and regional scales.

In general sense hydrology deals

with
Estimation of water resources
The study of processes such as

precipitation, evapotranspiration,
runoff and their interaction
The study of problems such as
floods and droughts and strategies
to combat them

1.2 Hydrologic Cycle

Water exists on the earth in all its three

states, viz. liquid, solid, gaseous and in

various degrees of motion.

Hydrologic cycle.
Water, irrespective of different states,

involves dynamic aspect in nature.

The dynamic nature of water, the

existence of water in various state with

different hydrological process result in a
very important natural phenomenon called

Hydrologic cycle.

Hydrologic cycle.
Evaporation of water from water bodies, such

as oceans and lakes, formation and movement

of clouds, rain and snowfall, stream flow and
ground water movement are some examples of
the dynamic aspects of water.

Cycle

Hydrologic

Hydrologic cycle.
Evaporation from

water bodies
Water vapour
moves upwards
Cloud formation
Condensation
Precipitate
Interception
Transpiration
Infiltration
Runoffstreamflow
Deep percolation
Ground water flow

Hydrologic cycle.

The hydrologic cycle has importance influence

in a variety of fields agriculture, forestry,

geography, economics, sociology, and political
scene.
Engineering application of the knowledge are
found in the design and operation of the
projects
dealing
with
water
supply,
hydropower, irrigation & drainage, flood
control, navigation, coastal work, various
hydraulic structure works, salinity control and
recreational use of water.

1.3 Water Budget Equation

Catchment area
The area of land draining in to a stream

or a water course at a given location is

called catchment area / drainage area /
drainage basin / watershed.
A catchment area is separated from its
neighbouring areas by a ridge called
divide / watershed.

1.3 Water Budget Equation

Catchment area.
A watershed is a geographical unit in

which the hydrological cycle and its

components can be analysed. The
equation is applied in the form of waterbalance equation to a geographical
region, in order to establish the basic
hydrologic characteristics of the region.
Usually a watershed is defined as the
area that appears, on the basis of
topography, to contribute all the water
that passes through a given cross

Watershed and watershed divide

Watersh
ed/
catchme
nt

Watershed/
catchment

Wa
te

rsh
ed

div
id

Catchment area.
If a permeable soil covers an impermeable
substrate, the topographical division of
watershed will not always correspond to the
line that is effectively delimiting the
groundwater.

Watershed characteristics

Water Budget Equation

For a given catchment, in an interval of time

t, the continuity equation for water in its

various phases can be given as:

Mass inflow Mass outflow = change in mass

storage
If the density of the inflow, outflow and storage

volumes are the same:

Vi Vo

Vi - Inflow volume in to the catchment, Vo - Outflow

volume from the catchment and S - change in the
water volume

Water Budget Equation

Therefore, the water budget of a catchment for a

time interval t is written as:

P R G E T = S
P = Precipitation, R = Surface runoff, G = net ground water flow
out of the catchment, E = Evaporation, T = Transpiration, and
S = change in storage

The above equation is called the water budget

equation for a catchment

NOTE: All the terms in the equation have the

dimension of
volume and these terms can be
expressed as depth
over the catchment area.

Components of hydrologic cycle

Evapo
transpiration

Precipitati
on

Stream
flow
(Runof
)

Inter flow

Infiltratio
n
Base flow
Groundwater
flow

1.3 World Water Budget

Total quantity of water in the

world is estimated as 1386 M

km3
1337.5 M km3 of water is

contained in oceans as saline water

The rest 48.5 M km3 is land water
13.8

M km3 is again saline

34.7 M km3 is fresh water
10.6

M km3 is both liquid and fresh

24.1 M km3 is a frozen ice and glaciers in
the polar regions and mountain tops

Global annual water balance

S
N

1
2

3
4

Item

Ocean

Land

Area (km2)
Precipitation
(km3/year)
(mm/year)
Evaporation (km3/year)
(mm/year)
Runoff to ocean

361.3
148.8
458,000 119,000
1270
800

Rivers (km3/year)
Groundwater (km3/year)

44,700
2,200

Total Runoff (km3/year)

47,000

505,000
1400

72,000
484

Water Balance of Continents

Water Balance .

Drop of water
..
Matter..

Water Balance of Oceans

1.4 Application in Engineering

Hydrology finds its greatest application in

the design and operation of water resources

engineering projects
The capacity of storage structures such as

reservoir
The magnitude of flood flows to enable safe
disposal of the excess flow
The minimum flow and quantity of flow
available at various seasons
The interaction of the flood wave and
hydraulic structures, such as levees,
reservoirs, barrages and bridges

Chapter Headings
The hydrologic cycle
Precipitation
Runoff
Climate and weather
Surface and
Climate
groundwater storage
Monitoring climate
Evaporation
change
Condensation
Weather
Weather modification
Floods
Drought

Groundwater Storage

Fetter, Applied Hydrology

Groundwater Storage
Groundwater recharge
Water added to groundwater usually through
percolation down through the soil to the water
table
Groundwater discharge
Water lost from groundwater usually through
springs, streams, and rivers

Groundwater Storage

Fetter, Applied Hydrology

Introduction
Precipitation is any form of solid or liquid water

that falls from the atmosphere to the earths

surface. Rain, drizzle, hail and snow are examples
of precipitation.
Evapotranspiration is the process which returns
water to the atmosphere and thus completes the
hydrologic cycle. Evapotranspiration consists of
two parts, Evaporation and Transpiration.
Evaporation is the loss of water molecules from
soil masses and water bodies. Transpiration is the
loss of water from plants in the form of vapour.

Precipitation types
The can be categorized as.
Frontal precipitation
This is the precipitation that is caused by the expansion of air on
ascent along or near a frontal surface.
Convective precipitation
Precipitation caused by the upward movement of air which is
warmer than its surroundings. This precipitation is generally
showery nature with rapid changes of intensities.
Orographic precipitation
Precipitation caused by the air masses which strike the mountain
barriers and rise up, causing condensation and precipitation. The
greatest amount of precipitation will fall on the windward side of the
barrier and little amount of precipitation will fall on leave ward side.

Measurement of rainfall
One can measure the rain falling at a place by placing a

measuring cylinder graduated in a length scale, commonly

in mm. In this way, we are not measuring the volume of
water that is stored in the cylinder, but the depth of
rainfall.
The cylinder can be of any diameter, and we would expect
the same depth even for large diameter cylinders provided
the rain that is falling is uniformly distributed in space.
In practice, rain is mostly measured with the standard nonrecording rain gauge the details of which are given in Bureau
of Indian Standards code IS 4989: 2002. The rainfall
variation at a point with time is measured with a recording
rain-gauge, the details of which may be found in IS 8389:
2003. Modern technology has helped to develop Radars,
which measures rainfall over an entire region

Variation of rainfall

Rainfall measurement is commonly used to estimate the

amount of water falling over the land surface, part of which

infiltrates into the soil and part of which flows down to a
stream or river. For a scientific study of the hydrologic cycle,
a correlation is sought, between the amount of water falling
within a catchment, the portion of which that adds to the
ground water and the part that appears as streamflow.
Some of the water that has fallen would evaporate or be
extracted from the ground by plants.

Variation of rainfall

In Figure 1, a catchment of a river is shown with four rain

gauges, for which an assumed recorded value of rainfall

depth have been shown in the table. It is on the basis of
these discrete measurements of rainfall that an estimation
of the average amount of rainfall that has probably fallen
over a catchment has to be made. Three methods are
commonly used, which are discussed in the following
section.

Average rainfall depth

Average rainfall depth
The time of rainfall record can vary and may typically range from 1

minute to 1 day for non recording gauges, Recording gauges, on

the other hand, continuously record the rainfall and may do so
from 1 day 1 week, depending on the make of instrument. For any
time duration, the average depth of rainfall falling over a
catchment can be found by the following three methods.
The Arithmetic Mean Method
The Thiessen Polygon Method
The Isohyetal Method
Arithmetic Mean Method
The simplest of all is the Arithmetic Mean Method, which taken an
average of all the rainfall depths as shown in Figure 2.

Average rainfall depth

Average rainfall as the arithmetic mean of all the records of the

four rain
gauges, as show in below:
The Theissen polygon method
This method, first proposed by Thiessen

in 1911, considers the representative area

for each rain gauge. These could also be
thought of as the areas of influence of each
rain gauge, as shown in Figure 3.

Average rainfall depth

Average rainfall depth

These areas are found out using a method consisting of the

following three steps:

1. Joining the rain gauge station locations by straight lines to
form
triangles
2. Bisecting the edges of the triangles to form the so-called
Thiessen polygons
3. Calculate the area enclosed around each rain gauge
station
bounded by the polygon edges (and the catchment
boundary,
wherever appropriate) to find the area of influence
corresponding to
the rain gauge.

Average rainfall depth

The Isohyetal method
This is considered as one of the most accurate methods, but

it is dependent on the skill and experience of the analyst.

The method requires the plotting of isohyets as shown in the
figure and calculating the areas enclosed either between the
isohyets or between an isohyet and the catchment
boundary.
The areas may be measured with a planimeter if the

catchment map is drawn to a scale.

Average rainfall depth

Average rainfall depth

For the problem shown in Figure 4, the following may be assumed to be the
areas enclosed between two consecutive isohyets and are calculated as
under:
Area I = 40 km2
Area II = 80 km2
Area III = 70 km2
Area IV = 50 km2
Total catchment area = 240 km 2
The areas II and III fall between two isohyets each. Hence, these areas may
be thought of as corresponding to the following rainfall depths:
Area II : Corresponds to (10 + 15)/2 = 12.5 mm rainfall depth
Area III : Corresponds to (5 + 10)/2 = 7.5 mm rainfall depth
For Area I, we would expect rainfall to be more than 15mm but since there is
no record, a rainfall depth of 15mm is accepted. Similarly, for Area IV, a
rainfall depth of 5mm has to be taken. Hence, the average precipitation by the

isohyetal method is calculated to be

Average rainfall depth

Please note the following terms used in this section:
Isohyets: Lines drawn on a map passing through places

having equal amount of rainfall recorded during the same

period at these places (these lines are drawn after giving
consideration to the topography of the region).
Planimeter: This is a drafting instrument used to measure

the area of a graphically represented planar region.

Conti..InshALLAh