INFILTRATION AND

PERCOLATION
INFILTRATION
• Water entering the soil at the ground surface is
called infiltration which results from the combined
forces of capillarity and gravity acting on water in
the soil matrix of micro and macropores.
• Micropores relate to the size of pores attributed to
soil texture, whereas macropores are larger and
occur in soils as a result of several factors.
INFILTRATION
• The maximum rate at which the soil in any given
condition is capable of absorbing water is called its
infiltration capacity (fp).
• Infiltration (f) often begins at a high rate (20 to 25
cm/hr) and decreases to a fairly steady state rate
(fc) as the rain continues, called the ultimate
fp(=1.25 to 2.0 cm/hr)
INFILTRATION
• The infiltration rate (f) at any time t is given by
Horton’s equation.
INFILTRATION
INFILTRATION
The infiltration depends upon
• the intensity and duration of rainfall,
• weather (temperature),
• soil characteristics,
• vegetal cover,
• land use,
• initial soil moisture content (initial wetness),
• entrapped air and depth of the ground water table.
Methods of Determining
Infiltration
The methods of determining infiltration are:
(i) Infiltrometers
(ii) Observation in pits and ponds
(iii) Placing a catch basin below a laboratory sample
(iv) Artificial rain simulators
(v) Hydrograph analysis
(vi) Double-ring infiltrometer.
 Infiltrometers

a. Mariotte’s Bottle
b. Single Ring Infiltrometer
c. Double Ring Infiltrometer
Infiltrometer
Double-ring infiltrometer.
Infiltrometer
Tube infiltrometer.
Observation from infiltration pits
and ponds.
By noting the depression in the level of water
in the pits and ponds and deducting the loss
due to evaporation, an idea about the
infiltration rates in such soils can be obtained.
Placing a catch basin below a
laboratory sample
By placing a catch basin called a lysimeter
under a laboratory sample or at some depth
below the land surface, the infiltrating water
can be measured and the infiltration rate in
the soil can be obtained.
Artificial rain simulators
Artificial rain simulators on a small area of
land of 0.1 to 50 m2, water is applied by
artificial showers at a uniform rate. The
resulting surface runoff is measured and the
infiltration capacity of the soil is determined.
Hydrograph analysis.
By knowing accurately the varying intensities
of rainfall during a storm and the continuous
record of the resulting runoff, the infiltration
capacity can be determined.
Percolation Test
Hydrogeologic Investigations
• Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with
the distribution and movement of groundwater in
the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in
aquifers).
Hydrogeologic Investigations
• When is a hydrogeologic investigation
required?
• DENR’s LWMD requires investigation from
the following actions:
• excavation for gravel pits or manmade lakes
• re-routing streams or drains
• analyzing impacts to wetlands
• determining whether a wetland is hydrologically
connected to surface water bodies or
groundwater
Hydrogeologic Investigations
NASA explains, "In the 1960s, the Soviet Union
undertook a major water diversion project on the
arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and
Turkmenistan. The region's two major
rivers...were used to transform the desert into
farms for cotton and other crops. Before the
project, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers
flowed down from the mountains...and finally
pooled together in the lowest part of the basin.
The lake they made, the Aral Sea, was once the
fourth largest in the world."
Hydrogeologic Investigations
Hydrogeologic Investigations
Hydrogeologic Investigations
• Why are hydrogeologic investigations
required?
• projects may alter the local hydrologic
conditions either by
• diverting water
• changing the groundwater level and flow
direction
• impacting water quality
Groundwater assessment and
exploration
• Aquifer system
• the geometry (extent and thickness) of the
aquifer or aquifer system and possible
interlayered aquitards,
• the boundary conditions: head controlled, flow
controlled or no-flow boundaries
• the aquifer type(s)
• the hydraulic parameters are derived from the
properties of the aquifer material (porosity,
intrinsic permeability, compressibility of the rock
matrix)
Groundwater assessment and
exploration
• Types of Aquifer
Groundwater assessment and
exploration
• Types of Aquifer
Groundwater assessment and
exploration
• Types of Aquifer
Groundwater assessment and
exploration
• Groundwater system
• The groundwater system comprises many
components:
• the quantity of groundwater stored in the
aquifer system and its quality,
• water table (phreatic) levels and their
fluctuations over time
• groundwater head (piezometric level)
• recharge and discharge sources
• groundwater budget
• chemical composition.
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
• A groundwater monitoring network is an
organised system for the continuous or frequent
measurement and observation of the actual,
dynamic state of the underground environment,
often used for warning and control (definition
adapted from UNESCO, 1992).
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
• The first operational procedures for hydrological
data collection in networks were proposed by
Langbein (1954).
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Two different types of groundwater monitoring
activities
• Background Monitoring
• Specific Monitoring
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Background monitoring networks
• Background monitoring, or primary, networks are
introduced because of the need to start monitoring
before significant human interference occurs.
• applied to large areas without significant human
interference (low technology).
• Its objective is to identify the actual state of the
aquifer system.
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Background monitoring networks
• Before groundwater monitoring
• An understanding of the land and water policy
must be clear
• Before Monitoring System Design
• Understand the groundwater flow in the area
• Describe available data
• collection of time-independent data, e.g. about
geological framework, hydraulic properties,
boundary conditions and hydrochemistry resulting in
a definition of the prevailing groundwater flow
systems
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Background monitoring networks
• After system identification phase
• Systematic measurements of heads and
chemical composition of groundwater in existing
and abandoned wells should start
• groundwater monitoring should be supported
by the collection of meteorological data, data on
the vadose zone, and spring flow and stream
flow data in similar networks
• initial version of the background monitoring
network should be thoroughly analysed
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Specific monitoring networks
• Specific or secondary monitoring networks
follow what happens in the underground
environment when it is substantially
exploited for particular purposes
• characterises the transient state of the
aquifer
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Specific monitoring networks
• The monitoring is restricted to those areas
where effects are expected
• Potential problems
• reduction of spring flow
• falling groundwater heads
• falling well yields
• deterioration of water quality
• land subsidence
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Specific monitoring networks
• A specific monitoring network should be set
up after it has been decided to develop
groundwater resources in a particular region
or when contamination of the water
resources is expected. The specific network
should be designed on the basis of a
comprehensive analysis of background
monitoring data.
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Specific monitoring networks
• The groundwater simulation model must
specify the consequences of different
abstraction scenarios or remediation
measures in terms of
• groundwater heads
• groundwater flow lines
• residence times
• changes in recharge conditions
• chemical composition
• spring flow and streamflow
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Specific monitoring networks
• Formulation of Specific Monitoring Aspects
• boundary of the affected area
• type of hydrological variables to be monitored
• sampling density and frequency
Groundwater networks and
observation methods
Eventually the ideal situation is to have a
background monitoring network that
covers the whole country and specific
monitoring networks in regions where
groundwater resources are significantly
exploited or where pollution occurs
(nested monitoring networks).
REVIEW QUESTIONS (5 points per
question)
Write your name, section, date, subject & activity,
use 1 short bond paper.
• What are the groundwater components that should
be monitored? (give 5)
• When do we conduct a groundwater background
monitoring network? (give 2 examples/situations))
• When do we conduct a specific monitoring
network? (give 2 examples/situations)