BSC - Intro To Groundwater

Introduction to
Groundwater
Groundwater
 Occurs in porous formations that are
saturated with water
Unsaturated material
Saturated formation =
groundwater
 Permeable or porous formations contain
holes capable of containing a fluid.
 Permeable formations can be in the form of
weathered, fractured or fissured igneous
and metamorphic rocks.
 Permeable formations can be in the form of
sedimentary rocks.
Porosity
 Proportion of the total volume of a rock that
is occupied by pores or void space.
Vspace

Vtotal
where
  total porosity
Vspace  volume occupied by space
Vtotal  total volume of the rock including solid and voids
 Primary porosity = pores formed at the time
of rock formation.
 Secondary porosity = pores due to fractures
or solutions, secondary geological
processes.
 Porosity can vary from zero to 60%.
Range of values of porosity
Sedimentary
Coarse gravel 24 - 36
Coarse sand 31 - 46
Fine Sand 26 - 53
Limestone 0 - 40
Shale 0 - 10
Sandstone 5 - 30
Porosity of crystalline rocks
Basalt 3 -35%
Weathered granite 34 - 57 %
Fractured crystalline 0 - 10 %
rocks
Dense crystalline rocks 0-5%
 Can have pores which are not connected,
and therefore water can pass from one pore
to another.
 Effective porosity = percentage of
interconnected pore spaces.
 Crystalline rocks often have high total
porosity but low effective porosity.
Permeability
 Permeability is the ease with a fluid can
move through a porous rock.
 Measured in terms of rate of flow.
 Permeability has been used to classify
rocks.
 Aquifer - a porous rock which is
sufficiently permeable to allow usable
quantities of water to move into wells or
boreholes.
 Aquitard = a rock which is porous and can
contain water but does not yield usable
quantities of water into wells.
 Aquitards may allow vertical movement of
water from one formation to another.
 Important when considering regional
groundwater movement.
Formation of aquifers
 Tectonic movements.
 Physical and chemical weathering of rocks.
 Erosion and deposition of rocks by water,
wind, and ice.
Aquifers in fractured rocks
 Fractured rocks are intact rock bodies separated by
discontinuities.
 Fault –a discontinuity in between rock bodies that
have been displaced.
 Water can occur and move along discontinuities in
rock bodies.
 Density of openings and their interconnectedness
are important in determining porosity.
Weathering
 Disintegration of rocks due to physical or
chemical processes.
 Weathering can cause rocks to become porous.
 Porosity due to weathering of previously
impermeable rocks is referred to as secondary
porosity.
 Chemical weathering can create pores or increase
openings of pre-existing openings.
Erosion and Deposition
 Most important agents for erosion,
transportation and deposition of materials
are
– water
– wind, and
– ice.
 Fluvial deposits due to rivers can form
important aquifers with high porosities.
 Alluvial aquifers are generally located
along rivers or locations of former rivers
 Eolian (wind) and glacial deposits are
potential aquifers.
Basement complex aquifers
 Most parts of Africa are underlain by
crystalline basement rocks.
 Crystalline rocks lack primary porosity.
 Crystalline rocks become porous due to
tectonic movements and weathering.
 Water tends to occur within the weathered
overbudden and fractured bedrock.
 Depth of weathering influences the
thickness of aquifers.
 Shallow depths of weathering result in
shallow aquifers, e.g. less than 20 metres.
 Aquifers within the weathered and fractured
rocks generally capable of supporting small
to medium water supply systems.
Aquifers
 Confined aquifers
 Unconfined aquifers
 Perched aquifers.
Unconfined Aquifers
 A water bearing formation which is like an
underground lake with an impermeable
formation at the bottom.
 Material at the top of the impermeable rock
is permeable.
 Water table is therefore free to rise and fall.
Confined Aquifer
 A permeable formation which occurs
between 2 relatively impermeable
formations.
 Wells or boreholes tapping these aquifers
could be artesian.
 A confined aquifer is somewhere
unconfined where recharge of the aquifer
takes place.
Perched Aquifer
 A water bearing formation of limited areal
extent which is located above the main
water table.
 Common during the wet season due to
relatively impermeable sub-surface clay
lenses.
Advantages of Groundwater as
a Resource
 Generally of good quality and can be used
for drinking without water treatment.
 Can be developed with relatively small
investment.
 For rural areas with scattered settlements, it
is the only feasible source of water.
 In arid areas, it is the only source of water.
 Usually negligible evaporation losses.
 During times of emergency, e.g. drought,
refugees fleeing conflicts, potable water
supply systems utilizing groundwater can
be rapidly developed for the affected
population.
Disadvantages of groundwater
 Problem of locating aquifers with usable quantities of
water. Cannot see groundwater.
 Problem of quantifying the available resource.
 May require highly skilled personnel for evaluating the
available resource.
 In arid regions, low or no recharge, and therefore not a
long-term sustainable source of water.
 May occur at depths requiring substantial drilling and
development costs.
 Shallow groundwater is prone to pollution in areas with
high population density.
 Shallow wells considered to have water of
acceptable quality, have often been polluted
in areas with high population density and
lacking sanitation.
 Polluted shallow wells have been
responsible for the spread of water-borne
diseases, e.g. cholera.
 Not usually possible to have multiple uses
of the resources, e.g. drinking, irrigation,
livestock water supply.

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