Hydrologic Principles and Hydrologic

Analysis – Chapters 1, 2 & 8

From Bedient et al. Book
CIVE 6361
Some slides are adapted from others
and are provided here strictly for
educational purposes
Hydrology
The study of the occurrence, circulation, storage,
and distribution of water (surface water and
ground water) on earth
• Hydrologic Cycle
• Meteorology
• Ground Water Flow and Contaminant Transport
• Statistical Hydrology & Extreme Events
• Rainfall/Runoff & Land Use Effects
• Hydraulics & Open Channel Flow
• Flood Routing in River Systems
• Flood Policy & Climate Change
• Water and environmental quality
The Hydrologic Cycle
• Continuous process in which water is evaporated from water surfaces and
oceans, moves inland and precipitation generates runoff
• Runoff infiltrates and recharges ground water aquifers
Global Context
National Academy of Engineers
Global Context – United Nations SDGs
Components of Hydrologic Cycle
• Precipitation rainfall
• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Infiltration / recharge
• Runoff
• Groundwater flow
• Water is critical for life (water quantity, water quality,
water use are all inter-related aspects of hydrologic cycle)
• Too much water causes flooding
• Drought, hurricanes, severe storms and extreme heat
connected to water/hydrology
• Urbanization, water and waste water treatment, and
water well pumpage alter hydrologic cycles
U.S. Weather Disasters

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/
Quantitative units in Hydrology
• Depth: in, cm, ft, m (example: water is 2 inches deep in
the parking lot)
• Volume: cubic ft, acre-ft (example: 1 foot of water
spread over an acre of land = 1 acre-ft of water)
– 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft
– 1 cubic m ~ 35.3 cu ft
• Rate: cm/sec (velocity example: the minimum flow
velocity in a channel should be 3 ft/sec)
• Flow rate: cubic ft per sec
– Example: Average flow rate out of a household faucet: 1-1.5
gallon per minute
– 1 gallon ~ 3.78 liters
• Daily drinking water guidance (2 L/person/day)
• Water use average (US) 3,000 gallons/person/month
Water Perspective for Hydrology
• Cost of drinking water (City of Houston)
– From 7,000 to 12,000 gallons the rate is $5.66 per 1,000
gallons (.5 cents/gallon), regardless of meter size. Starting
at 13,000 gallons, the rate is $9.32 per 1,000 gallon
– 3,000 gallons per person is <$20 per month
• Cost of bottled water
– 1-20 ounce bottle is $1.5 (or $9.6 per gallon)
– 1 plastic gallon of water ~$1-1.5
– 1 gallon of refined gasoline ~ $3 in TX
• Harvey losses in TX ~ 20 billion, TX population ~ 30
million ($667 per person over a 2-wk period)
• Drinking water, wastewater and stormwater are
connected in Hydrology but not understood by most
Underlying Framework for Hydrology -
Water Balance
• I – Q = ΔS = (dS/dt)
• I = Inflow (L3/t)
• Q = outflow (L3/t)
• dS/dt = change in storage (L3/t)

• Conversion from depth-volume to flow rate-time

• 1.0 ac inch = 1.008 cfs – hr
• 1.008 cubic feet per second for 1 hour =
1.008 ft3/sec x 1 hour x 60 min/hr x 60 sec /min x 12 inches /ft
divided into 43,560 ft2 / acre
= 1.0 acre inch
 Water Balance
P – F –R –E – T = ΔS
ž Precipitation (P) – Rainfall, snow, etc.
ž Infiltration (F) – water entering the soil system, function of soil moisture, soil
type
ž Runoff (R) – Overland flow, portion of precipitation that does not infiltrate
ž Evapotranspiration (ET)
— Evaporation (E) – conversion of water to water vapor from a water surface
— Transpiration (T) – loss of water vapor through plant tissue and leaves

Where is groundwater? If we account for infiltration as recharge of groundwater

then it is already accounted for in the water balance
Example Lake Problem
Solution
Rainfall Measurement
• Why measure rainfall?
– Water resources planning (annual & daily)
– Large scale water supply studies (annual)
– Long term climate planning
– Urban drainage studies (5 min to 60 min)
• Reduce localized flooding
• Need intensity and duration of rainfall
• Spatial variation inside watershed
 Point Measurement
• Rainfall gage networks
– Maintained by NWS, USGS
or local organizations
• Methods of representation
– Accumulated total rainfall
• “Cumulative mass curve”
– Rainfall Intensity vs. time
• “Hyetograph”
Point Measurement with Gages

Recording – continuous precipitation measurements

Non-recording gages – 24 hour total

Typically installed near bridges

Areal Precipitation
• The average depth of precipitation over a
specific area (watershed)
• Use point measurements to determine
average rainfall
• Three Methods
– Arithmetic Mean
– Thiessen Polygon Method
– Isohyetal Method
Point Measurements in Watersheds
Gaged Rainfall Data Association with
Stream Flow
Areal Precipitation
• The average depth of precipitation over a
specific area (watershed)
• Use point measurements to determine
average rainfall
• Three Methods
– Arithmetic Mean
– Thiessen Polygon Method
– Isohyetal Method
Arithmetic Mean
• Takes arithmetic mean of rainfalls from
available gages
• Not accurate for large areas with variable
distribution
• Only works if gages are uniformly distributed
Thiessen Polygon Method
• Areal weighting of rainfall for each gage
• Series of polygons created by connecting each
gauge and drawing perpendicular bisectors
– ratio of polygon area to total area of interest
• Most widely used method
Isohyetal Method
• Draw contours of equal precipitation based on
gauge data
• Needs an extensive gauge network
• Most accurate method
Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD)
• Allows for measurement of rainfall rates and
cumulative totals
• Gridded rainfall data used
– Rainfall data not lumped and applied over entire
watershed
• Benefits of radar
– Provides a more complete coverage than gages alone
– Can be very accurate when compared to gauge
network
Distributed Radar Rainfall
Topics and Terms from Lecture 1
• Hydrology – Hydraulics – Hydrodynamics
• Units: acre-ft, cfs-hour
• Stormwater, runoff, groundwater, stream flow
• Precipitation, infiltration, evaporation,
transpiration, evapotranspiration
• Water balance: Inflow, outflow, storage
Precipitation is a Continuous Random
Variable
• Can be discretized into hourly intervals
Intensity
= RF2-RF1/△time

Example for time 1 >>

Time 2 (0 hr to 0.25 hr)

0.02-0 inches/0.25-0 (hr)

= 0.08 inches/hr

Gage records
Continuously so
This is cumulative

Example from book

Ch 1
Watershed
• Contiguous topographic area that drains to a single
outlet
• Basic hydrologic unit within which all
measurements, calculations and predictions are
made
Mississippi River Watershed
Houston watersheds

UH is in Brays Bayou watershed

San Jacinto River - #6
The Galveston Bay Watershed
Parameters that affect Watershed
Response to rainfall
• Rainfall
• intensity and duration
• Size, Slope, Shape, Soil
• Channel morphology
• Channel type
• Land use/land cover
• Imperviousness
Simplest Rainfall Runoff Model
• Rational Method
QP = CiA
• QP = peak flow (cfs)
• C = runoff coefficient
• i = rainfall intensity (in/hr) for a duration equal to time
of concentration (tc)
• tc = time for a wave of water to propagate from the
most distant point of a watershed to the outlet
• A = area of watershed (acres)
Response to Development
Impacts of Development Types - Example

43
Problem 1.8
In a given month, a watershed with an area of 1500
sq.m received 100cm of precipitation. During the
same month, the loss due to evaporation was 15
cm. Ignore losses due to transpiration and
infiltration due to groundwater.

What would be the average rate of flow measured

in a gage at the outlet of the watershed in cu
m/day?
Given and needed
• A= 1500 m2
• P= 100cm
• E= 15cm
• T= 0
• G= 0
• ΔS = 0 (no storage occurs)
• R= ?
Solution
• Water Balance
P – F –R –E – T = ΔS
• P-E=R
• = 100cm-15cm
• = 85 cm
• Need to convert to m3/day
• Outflow (m3/day) = (1500m2)*(0.85m) /
(1month)*(30days/month)
= 42.5 m3/day
Infiltration
Simplistically we can
assume the process to be
constant:

- 0.25 inches /hr

- ⏀ index method

Realistically, the process is complex and depends

On:
- Rainfall intensity
- Antecedent moisture conditions
- Soil type
- Soil cover
- Random spatially and temporally variable
Keeping in mind the multiple paths for infiltrated water
Simple infiltration mathematical
expressions
Horton’s Equation:

Constant loss - ⏀ index method

 GREEN AND AMPT
INFILTRATION
Reflects other variables and antecedent moisture conditions
Antecedent moisture condition refers to how wet or dry the soil storage is
when it starts to rain
NATURAL VS DEVELOPED WATERSHED
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION
 VARIOUS SOIL TYPES
Loam is soil composed mostly of sand, silt, and a smaller amount of clay

Sand Loam Clay

 SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE SOIL
AS A POROUS MEDIUM

Porosity is the
void space in the
soil matrix. It can
contain air, water,
oil, gas. Flow in
porous media is
generally thought
of as potentially
multi-phase flow
when the soil is
not fully saturated
and behaves as a
flowing ground
water system
 INFILTRATION THROUGH THE SOIL

Dry surface soil means

rainfall will infiltrate and
will not pond or runoff
provided the soil has good
infiltration properties (sand
for example)

What happens when

surface soils are moist/wet?
• Less infiltration?
• Ponding?
• When water ponds,
does it push more water
to infiltrate??

What happens if clay not

sand?
WATER FLOW DUE TO HEAD
DIFFERENCE (PRESSURE+ELEV)
 GREEN AND AMPT METHOD (1911)

Used to predict cumulative infiltration as a function of time and readily available soil parameters.
 SOIL PROPERTIES - TERMINOLOGY

F(t) = L (η - θi) = L Md
F(t) is volume of infiltration to Depth L
Moisture content (θ) = ratio of the volume of water to the total
volume of a unit of porous media.
Md = the difference between the porosity and the initial moisture
content
Porosity (η) = ratio of interconnected void volume to total sample
volume.

Hydraulic conductivity (K) = volume of water that will flow through

a unit soil column in a given time. Md

Capillary suction head (ψ) = measure of the combined adhesive η

forces that bind the water molecules to solid walls and the cohesive
forces that attract water molecules to each other.
Darcy’s Law
q = -K(θ) ∂h/∂z
q = Darcy velocity 1

z = depth below surface

h = potential or head = z + ψ
K(θ) = unsaturated K
Ks = saturated K
2
K(θ) =Ks when soil is saturated
f = Ks (f is rate of infiltration)
BUT
There are 3 variables to consider:
I rate of rainfall (intensity), f rate of infiltration, Ks -
saturation hydraulic conductivity
 THREE INFILTRATION SCENARIOS

Case 1: i < Ks (line A)è f = i. Runoff

will never occur and all rainfall will
infiltrate regardless of the duration

Case 2: Ks < i < f (line B)è f = i until it

reaches ponding time, tp

Case 3: Ks < i and i > f (curve C)è

Runoff can occur.
!"#
f = Ks $
+1
Ponding Time
HORTON VS GREEN AND AMPT
Horton Green and Ampt
/0 1
! = !# + !% − !# ' ()* ! = +, (1 − )
2

Empirically derived to describe the Based on theoretical derivation of

exponential decay of infiltration Darcy’s Law
rate over time

Decay coefficients difficult to Parameters can be determined from

determine measurable soil parameters

Allows for calculation of ponding

Assumes ponding regardless of time
actual rainfall intensity
PRINCIPLES (ASSUMPTIONS):

1. Soil is homogeneous and stable.

2. The supply of ponded water at the surface is not limited

3. Capillary suction is uniform and constant

4. A sharp wetting front exists and advances at the same rate as water
infiltrates

5. The soil is uniformly saturated above the wetting front, the vol. water
contents remain constant and below the advancing wetting front.
 EQUATION FOR GREEN & AMPT
INFILTRATION

f(t) = i for t ≤ tp
f(t) = Ks(1 + Mdψ/F) for t > tp

where:
f(t) = infiltration rate at t
Ks = vertically saturated K
Md = moisture deficit
Ψ = capillary suction
F = cumulative depth of water infiltrated into the soil
i = rainfall rate or intensity
tp = the time it takes to have water begin to pond at the surface
GREEN AND AMPT PARAMETERS

Parameters Ks, ψ, and Md can be determined from physical

measurements in the soil.

Data Sources:
U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Data Mart.
Note: There are two different data sets available: State Soil
Geographic (STATSGO) and Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO).
SSURGO is more detailed.
See Rawls’ work to convert soil info to Green-Ampt parameters
(Rawls, Brakensiek, & Saxton, 1982; Rawls, Brakensiek, & Miller,
1983).
GREEN AND AMPT PARAMETERS
 DOUBLE RING INFILTROMETER

Inner
Outer
Ring
Ring

1-D
Flow

• Measures infiltration rate or hydraulic conductivity based on constant or falling

head

• Outer ring forms a buffer zone to ensure a 1-D vertical flow within the inner ring
for accurate infiltration measurements
 SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE SOIL
AS A POROUS MEDIUM

Porosity is the
void space in the
soil matrix. It can
contain air, water,
oil, gas. Flow in
porous media is
generally thought
of as potentially
multi-phase flow
when the soil is
not fully saturated
and behaves as a
flowing ground
water system
EXAMPLE 2-11
Use the rainfall data below to determine the Phi-index for a
watershed that is 0.875 sq miles, where the runoff volume is
228.7 ac-ft.

Rainfall
Time (hr) Rainfall (in/hr)
0-2 1.4
2-5 2.3
5-7 1.1
7-10 0.7
10-12 0.3

69
 0-2 1.4
2-5 2.3
SOLUTION 5-7
7-10
1.1
0.7
10-12 0.3
2(1.4-phi)+3(2.3-phi)+2(1.1-phi) +3(0.7-phi)+
2(0.3-phi)=net rainfall=direct runoff = 4.9 in

Runoff vol = 228.7 acre-ft

Area=0.875 sq mi = 640*.875 acre/sq mi
= 560 acres

In inches, 228.7 acre-ft/560 acres * 12 in / ft

= 4.9 inches

Trial and error yields

Phi of 1 inch /hr

70
 APPLICATIONS

• Agriculture: irrigation

• Urban planning: green infrastructure

• Hydrology: watershed/drainage
studies, hydrologic models
ž Aquifer systems for water supply
ž GW used heavily in western areas of the U.S.
as well as Fl and Miss.
ž U.S. attention for GW has focused on
ground water contamination
ž In the late 70’s and 80’s GW contamination
became prominent issue with 1500 sites
placed on the National Priority List by the
EPA.
Hydrology and Floodplain
Analysis, Chapter 8.1
Shallow Groundwater – Surface Interaction
Layered Aquifer Features
• Ground water occurs when water recharges
the subsurface through cracks and pores in soil
and rock
• Aquifer – from the Greek to store water
• Shallow and deeper aquifers (major aquifers)
• Shallow water level is called the water table
n = porosity
Vv = Volume of Voids
V = Total Volume
ρb = Bulk density
Ρm = Mass or particle
density
 Table 8-1

Copyright ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Fourth Edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
By Philip B. Bedient, Wayne C. Huber, and Baxter E. Vieux
All rights reserved.
 Table 8-2

Copyright ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Fourth Edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
By Philip B. Bedient, Wayne C. Huber, and Baxter E. Vieux
All rights reserved.
ž To calculate both Darcy’s velocity or
seepage, you need the hydraulic
conductivity, K.
ž Unconfined – A aquifer without any
impermeable layer above it.

ž Confined – An aquifer with an

impermeable or semi-impermeable layer
above it.

ž Leaky – A confining stratum that allows

some amount of water to pass through.
ž Perched Water Table – An unconfined
water body sits on top of a clay lens,
separated from the main aquifer.

ž Artesian Well – A well were the

piezometric surface is above the ground
surface.

ž Piezometric Surface – The level of the

hydrostatic pressure of a confined
aquifer.
 ž Darcy discovered that the flow rate through
porous media is proportional to the head
loss and inversely proportional to the length
of the flow path.

V = Velocity
Q = Flow (cfs)
A = Area
K = Hydraulic conductivity
dh/dL = change in head
over length
Precipitation Estimation
ž Darcy’s velocity is an average discharge
through the entire cross section of the
column.
ž The actual flow is limited to pore channels
only.
ž Seepage velocities should always be used
to calculate contaminant transport.

Vs = Seepage velocity
Q = Flow (cfs)
N = Porosity
A = Area
ž The product of K and and the average
saturated thickness of the aquifer.

T = Kb
T = Transmissivity
K = Hydraulic Conductivity
b = Average Saturated Thickness
ž Property of the medium, independent of
the fluid properties.

k = Intrinsic Permeability
K = Hydraulic Conductivity
µ= Dynamic Viscosity
ρ= Fluid Density
g = Gravitational Constant
ž Wells are lined holes used for a variety of
purposes
› Ground water pumping
› Artificial recharge
› Waste disposal
› Water level observation
› Water quality monitoring
› Cable tool
– A bit is raised and dropped
over and over
– Simple and cheap for
shallow wells
– Up to 600m

› Rotary (hollow stem auger)

– Uses a hollow bit
– Can exceed 150m

› Jetting – High pressure

hydraulic drilling
– Very fast construction, often
used for observation.
› Push tool
– Uses hammer or
weight
– Simple and cheap for
shallow wells
– Up to 100 ft

› Cone penetrometer
– Pushes with weight of
truck
– Insitu testing
– Can insert small well
– Can exceed 150 ft
ž Once a well is drilled it must
be completed so that it
remains efficient
ž A well must be cased to
provide structural support
ž Screens are installed with
gravel packs around them
ž Cement grout is then
introduced into the annular
space.
Steady state and transient

When pumping starts, water

levels will change,
however, eventually they
stabilize overall and only
change in response to other
hydrologic drivers such as
recharge or an increase in
water level due to recharge
Important Aspects of
GW and its
Connection to
Surface Water
 Figure 8-10

Copyright ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Fourth Edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
By Philip B. Bedient, Wayne C. Huber, and Baxter E. Vieux
All rights reserved.
 The steady-state drawdown s’ at any point (x,y) is
Sum of drawdowns to that point from multiple wells

600 ft

500 ft
X, Y
 Figure P8-19

Copyright ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Fourth Edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
By Philip B. Bedient, Wayne C. Huber, and Baxter E. Vieux
All rights reserved.
 Measurement of Properties
• For GW:
– Soil type
– Geology
– Porosity
– Hydraulic conductivity
– Water levels
– Organic carbon content
– Microorganisms
– Contaminant levels
 Simple Porosity Measurement
• Collect soil sample as near
undisturbed as possible
• Place in beaker to measure Keep in mind that
porous spaces have
volume to be connected for
• Add water only to the top of flow to occur

the soil sample

• Calculate volume of water
that filled up the pore
spaces
• Calculate porosity (voids
volume over total volume)
n = porosity
Vv = Volume of Voids
V = Total Volume
ρb = Bulk density
Ρm = Mass or particle
density
 Table 8-1

Copyright ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Fourth Edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
By Philip B. Bedient, Wayne C. Huber, and Baxter E. Vieux
All rights reserved.
 Table 8-2

Copyright ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Fourth Edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
By Philip B. Bedient, Wayne C. Huber, and Baxter E. Vieux
All rights reserved.
ž To calculate both Darcy’s velocity or
seepage, you need the hydraulic
conductivity, K.
Example of Darcy’s Law
• A confined aquifer has a source of recharge.
• K for the aquifer is 50 m/day, and n is 0.2.
• The piezometric head in two wells 1000 m
apart is 55 m and 50 m respectively, from a
common datum.
• The average thickness of the aquifer is 30
m, and the average width of aquifer is 5 km.
 Compute:
• a) the rate of flow through the aquifer
• (b) the average time of travel from the head of the
aquifer to a point 4 km downstream
• *assume no dispersion or diffusion
 The solution
• Cross-Sectional area=
30(5)(1000) = 15 x 104 m2
• Hydraulic gradient =
(55-50)/1000 = 5 x 10-3
• Rate of Flow for K = 50 m/day
Q = (50 m/day) (75 x 101 m2)
= 37,500 m3/day
• Darcy Velocity:
V = Q/A = (37,500m3/day) / (15
4
x 10 m2) = 0.25m/day
And • Seepage Velocity:
Vs = V/n = (0.25) / (0.2) =
1.25 m/day (about 4.1 ft/day)

• Time to travel 4 km downstream:

T = 4(1000m) / (1.25m/day) =
3200 days or 8.77 years

• This example shows that water moves

very slowly underground.
Limitations of the
Darcian Approach
1. For Reynold’s Number, Re, > 10 or where the flow
is turbulent, as in the immediate vicinity of pumped
wells.

2. Where water flows through extremely fine-grained

materials (colloidal clay)
Darcy’s Law:
Example 2
• A channel runs almost parallel to a river, and they
are 2000 ft apart.
• The water level in the river is at an elevation of 120
ft and 110ft in the channel.
• A pervious formation averaging 30 ft thick and with
K of 0.25 ft/hr joins them.
• Determine the rate of seepage or flow from the
river to the channel.
Confined Aquifer

Confining Layer Aquifer

30 ft
Example 2
• Consider a 1-ft length of river (and channel).
Q = KA [(h1 – h2) / L]

• Where:
A = (30 x 1) = 30 ft2
K = (0.25 ft/hr) (24 hr/day) = 6 ft/day

• Therefore,
Q = [6 (30) (120 – 110)] / 2000
= 0.9 ft3/day/ft length = 0.9 ft2/day
 Measuring Hydraulic Conductivity

• Relate K to soil properties (particle

size for example)
• Measure K at a point (lab or field:
permeameter tests or slug tests)
• Measure overall transmissivity over a
larger area (pump tests for water flow
and tracer tests for chemical
transport)
 Soil Classification Based on
Particle Size
(after Morris and Johnson)

Material Particle Size, mm

Clay <0.004
Silt 0.004 - 0.062
Very fine sand 0.062 - 0.125
Fine sand 0.125 - 0.25
Medium sand 0.25 - 0.5
Coarse sand 0.5 - 1.0
 Soil Classification…cont.
Material Particle Size, mm
Very coarse sand 1.0 - 2.0
Very fine gravel 2.0 - 4.0
Fine gravel 4.0 - 8.0
Medium gravel 8.0 - 16.0
Coarse gravel 16.0 - 32.0
Very coarse gravel 32.0 - 64.0
Particle Size Distribution
Graph
 Particle Size Distribution
and Uniformity
• The uniformity
coefficient U indicates
the relative sorting of
the material and is
defined as D60/D10
U is a low value for
fine sand compared
to alluvium which is
made up of a range
of particle sizes
 Example relationship of hydraulic
conductivity as a function of particle size

Where C is a correlation
factor and D10 is the 10
per cent particle size
taken from the particle
size distribution curve
Permeameters

Constant Head Falling Head

Constant head
Permeameter
• Apply Darcy’s Law to find K:
V/t = Q = KA(h/L)
or:
K = (VL) / (Ath)
• Where:
V = volume flowing in time t
A = cross-sectional area of the sample
L = length of sample
h = constant head
• t = time of flow
Site Assessment Procedures
Subsurface Soil Sampling

Drill
Rig
Hydrogeologist:
Ready for Core
Logging

Drums
for Soil
Cuttings
Site Assessment
Procedures

Monitoring Well
Drilling
(Hollow Stem
Auger Method)
 Site Assessment Procedures
Monitoring Well Well
Screen
Installation
Centralizer

Wire-Wrap
Well Screen
Driller’s
Knee

Driller’s
Helper
Sand-Gravel
Filter Pack
Site Assessment Procedures
Monitoring
Well Wet-Rotary
Drilling
Installation Set-up

At-grade Completed
completion Monitoring Well
Site Assessment Procedures
Groundwater Sample Collection

Samples
preserved
on ice

Samples for
VOC testing
Technical Drivers

Industrialization
-Fossil Fuels
-Chemicals
-Others (explosives, mining)

Waste Disposal
-No knowledge of impact to groundwater
-OK to spill on ground or put in pits

Analytical
-Gas Chromatagraph (GC)
-Mass Spectrophotometer (GS-MS)
Potential Remediation Sites

Upstream Oil & Gas Facilities

Potential Remediation Sites
Refineries and Chemical Plants
Potential Remediation Sites
Pipelines and Terminals
 Potential Remediation Sites

Abandoned
“Superfund” Sites
 Potential Remediation Sites

“Midnight Dump” Sites

Potential Remediation Sites

Transportation Spill Sites

Potential Remediation Sites

Retail Fuel
Marketing Facilities
Slug Tests
• More representative Pump Tests
for larger area
• Average K
• Costlier to
undertake
• Water discharged is
an issue
• Data analysis
• How long should
the test be?
• How many
observation points
are needed
 Tracer Tests
(chemical transport)

• Introduce a
tracer
• Track its
concentrations
as they show up
in observation
wells
BTEX Compounds
 Typical DNAPL From a Cleaners

Storage Areas Process Area

Process Area
DRY CLEANERS Lint Trap

Residual Tank

Sewer Lines

Dissolved
Plume Clay Lens
Clay Lens
Flow

DNAPL
PCE, TCE & Solvents
Bedrock

DNAPL
Spill Migration in Environment:
Groundwater to Wells

Lateral flow of
affected groundwater
to water supply well.
Spill Migration in Environment:
Groundwater to Wells

Lateral flow of
affected groundwater
to water supply well.
Spill Migration in Environment:
Groundwater to Wells

Lateral flow of
affected groundwater
to water supply well.
Spill Migration in Environment:
Groundwater to Wells

Lateral flow of
affected groundwater
to water supply well.
Spill Migration in Environment:
Groundwater Cleanup

Groundwater
“Pump and Treat”:
Just pump out
contaminated
groundwater
(takes only 2-5
flushes?)
 Variability of K
• Hydraulic conductivity highly
variable and has 3 components (x, y,
and z)
• How many points would be
necessary to define range for a given
aquifer?
Residual NAPL:
Long-Term Source

Fresh water Residual NAPL Dissolved

Plume

GW Flow

• NAPL Dissolution: NAPL droplets dissolve into

groundwater flow, creating dissolved plume.
• Remedy Impact: NAPL very difficult to remove, acts as
long-term source.
Head – reminder of term

1
Head is the same for all 3
points hence no flow
from 1 to 3 or 3 to 1
2
Head is pressure + elev
relative to datum

3 Datum
Wells in Unconfined and Confined Aquifers

Unconfined
Thickness B changes

Confined
Thickness B unchanged as
Well is pumped