Groundwater is water that exists in the pore spaces and fractures in rocks and sediments beneath the Earth’s surface. It originates as rainfall or snow, and then moves through the soil and rock into the groundwater system, where it eventually makes its way back to the surface streams, lakes, or oceans. ● Groundwater makes up about 1% of the water on the Earth (most water is in oceans) ● But, groundwater makes up to 35 times the amount of water in lakes and streams. ● Groundwater occurs everywhere beneath the Earth’s surface, but is usually restricted to depth less than about 750 meters. ● The volume of groundwater is equivalent to a 55-meter thick layer spread out over the entire surface of the Earth.
Technical note: Groundwater scientists typically restrict the use of the term “groundwater” to underground water that can flow freely into a well, tunnel, spring, etc. This definition excludes underground water in the unsaturated zone. The unsaturated zone is the area between the land surface and the top of the groundwater system. The unsaturated zone is made up of earth materials and open spaces that contain some moisture but, for the most part, this zone is not saturated with water. Groundwater is found beneath the unsaturated zone where all the open spaces between sedimentary materials or in fractured rocks are filled with water and the water has a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. To understand the ways in which groundwater occurs, it is needed to think about the ground and the water properties. ➢ Porosity, which is the property of a rock possessing pores or voids. ➢ Saturated and unsaturated zones. ➢ Permeability, which is the ease with which water can flow through the rock. ➢ Aquifer, which is a geologic formation sufficiently porous to store water and permeable enough to allow water to flow through them in economic quantities. ➢ Storage coefficient, which is the volume of water that an aquifer releases from or takes into storage per unit surface area of aquifer per unit change in the component of area normal to surface.
1.2 Origin of Groundwater
The origin of groundwater is primarily one of the following:
➢ Groundwater derived from rainfall and infiltration within the normal hydrological cycle. This kind of water is called meteoric water. The name implies recent contact with the atmosphere. ➢ Groundwater encountered at great depths in sedimentary rocks as a result of water having been trapped in marine sediments at the time of their deposition. This type of groundwater is referred to as connate waters. These waters are normally saline. It is accepted that connate water is derived mainly or entirely from entrapped sea water as original sea water has moved from its original place. Some trapped water may be brackish. ➢ Fossil water if fresh may be originated from the fact of climate change phenomenon, i.e., some areas used to have wet weather and the aquifers of that area were recharged and then the weather of that area becomes dry.
1.3 The Occurrence of Subsurface Water
The subsurface occurrence of groundwater may be divided into zones of aeration and saturation. The zone of aeration consists of interstices occupied partially by water and partially by air. In the zone of saturation all interstices are filled with water, under hydrostatic pressure. One most of the land masses of the earth, a single zone of aeration overlies a single zone of saturation and extends upward to the ground surface, as shown in Figure 1.1. In the zone of aeration (unsaturated zone), Vadose water occurs. This general zone may be further subdivided into the soil water zone, the intermediate Vadose zone (sub-soil zone), and capillary zone (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 A schematic cross-section showing the typical distribution of subsurface waters in a simple “unconfined” aquifer setting, highlighting the three common subdivisions of the unsaturated zone and the saturated zone below the water table.
The saturated zone extends from the upper surface of saturation down to underlying impermeable rock. In the absence of overlying impermeable strata, the water table, or phreatic surface, forms the upper surface of the zone of saturation. This is defined as the surface of atmospheric pressure and appears as the level at which water stands in a well penetrating the aquifer. Actually, saturation extends slightly above the water table due to capillary attraction; however, water is held here at less than atmospheric pressure. Water occurring in the zone of saturation is commonly referred to simply as groundwater, but the term phreatic water is also employed. 2.1 Types of Geological Formations and Aquifers
There are basically four types of geological formations (Aquifers, Aquitard, Aquiclude, and Aquifuge)
2.1.1 Aquifer
An aquifer is a ground-water reservoir composed of geologic units that are saturated
with water and sufficiently permeable to yield water in a usable quantity to wells and springs. Sand and gravel deposits, sandstone, limestone, and fractured, crystalline rocks are examples of geological units that form aquifers. Aquifers provide two important functions: (1) they transmit ground water from areas of recharge to areas of discharge, and (2) they provide a storage medium for useable quantities of ground water. The amount of water a material can hold depends upon its porosity. The size and degree of interconnection of those openings (permeability) determine the materials’ ability to transmit fluid.
Types of Aquifers
Most aquifers are of large areal extent and may be visualized as underground storage reservoirs. Water enters a reservoir from natural or artificial recharge; it flows out under the action of gravity or is extracted by wells. Ordinarily, the annual volume of water removed or replaced represents only a small fraction of the total storage capacity. Aquifers may be classed as unconfined or confined, depending on the presence or absence of a water table, while a leaky aquifer represents a combination of the two types.
(i) Unconfined Aquifer. An unconfined aquifer is one in which a water table varies in undulating form and in slope, depending on areas of recharge and discharge, pumpage from wells, and permeability. Rises and falls in the water table correspond to changes in the volume of water in storage within an aquifer. Figure 1.1 is an idealized section through an unconfined aquifer; the upper aquifer in Figure 1.2 is also unconfined. Contour maps and profiles of the water table can be prepared from elevations of water in wells that tap the aquifer to determine the quantities of water available and their distribution and movement. A special case of an unconfined aquifer involves perched water bodies, as illustrated by Figure 1.2. This occurs wherever a groundwater body is separated from the main groundwater by a relatively impermeable stratum of small areal extent and by the zone of aeration above the main body of groundwater. Clay lenses in sedimentary deposits often have shallow perched water bodies overlying them. Wells tapping these sources yield only temporary or small quantities of water.
Figure 1.2 A schematic cross-section of Aquifer Types
(ii) Confined Aquifers. Confined aquifers, also known as artesian or pressure aquifers, occur where groundwater is confined under pressure greater than atmospheric by overlying relatively impermeable strata. In a well penetrating such an aquifer, the water level will rise above the bottom of the confining bed, as shown by the artesian and flowing wells of Figure 1.2. Water enters a confined aquifer in an area where the confining bed rises to the surface; where the confining bed ends underground, the aquifer becomes unconfined. A region supplying water to a confined area is known as a recharge area; water may also enter by leakage through a confining bed. Rises and falls of water in wells penetrating confined aquifers result primarily from changes in pressure rather than changes in storage volumes. Hence, confined aquifers display only small changes in storage and serve primarily as conduits for conveying water from recharge areas to locations of natural or artificial discharge.
(iii) Leaky Aquifer. Aquifers that are completely confined or unconfined occur less frequently than do leaky, or semi-confined, aquifers. These are a common feature in alluvial valleys, plains, or former lake basins where a permeable stratum is overlain or underlain by a semi-pervious aquitard or semiconfining layer. Pumping from a well in a leaky aquifer removes water in two ways: by horizontal flow within the aquifer and by vertical flow through the aquitard into the aquifer (Figure 1.3). Figure 1.3 Different types of aquifers; A. Confined aquifer, B. Unconfined Aquifer, C. and D. Leaky aquifers, E. Multi-layered leaky aquifer system. 2. 1.2 Aquitard
An aquitard is a partly permeable geologic formation. It transmits water at such a slow
rate that the yield is insufficient. Pumping by wells is not possible. For example, sand lenses in a clay formation will form an aquitard.
2.1.3 Aquiclude
An aquiclude is composed of rock or sediment that acts as a barrier to groundwater
flow. Aquicludes are made up of low porosity and low permeability rock/sediment such as shale or clay. Aquicludes have normally good storage capacity but low transmitting capacity.
2.1.4 Aquifuge
An aquifuge is a geologic formation which doesn’t have interconnected pores. It is
neither porous nor permeable. Thus, it can neither store water nor transmit it. Examples of aquifuge are rocks like basalt, granite, etc. without fissures.
