RADIAL GROUNDWATER FLOW IN

CONFINED AND UNCONFINED

AQUIFERS, AND TRAVE TIME OF
GROUND WATER IN CONFINED
AQUIFER
BY GROUP 6
RADIAL GROUNDWATER FLOW
IN CONFINED AQUIFER
•It is the movement of water from the aquifer to a
well in a radial pattern.

• Occurs when water flows into a well or other

vertical excavation, causing a radial (circular) flow
pattern.
 CONFINED AQUIFERS
A confined aquifer is an aquifer below the land surface that is saturated
with water. Layers of impermeable material are both above and below
the aquifer, causing it to be under pressure so that when the aquifer is
penetrated by a well, the water will rise above the top of the aquifer.

A confined aquifer is a primary source for well tapping and is defined to

be an aquifer bounded by an upper and lower bed of material that
allows only small amounts of groundwater to penetrate through. A non-
steadystate flow is a flow in which the velocity changes direction or
magnitude at some point in time.
 RADIAL FLOW
Groundwater resources in a confined aquifer with
a nonsteady-state flow can be evaluated for the
consideration of the construction of wells.

Water flows towards the center (well) in a circular

pattern.
 FACTORS THAT AFFECT
RADIAL FLOW
Radial hydraulic conductivity: Larger hydraulic conductivities
cause groundwater to react more quickly to pumping or
injection

Well pumping: Constant pumping through a well creates a cone

of depression

Well recharge: Constant recharge through a well creates a

cone of impression
 RADIAL STEADY STATE FLOW IN A
CONFINED AQUIFER
(THIEM EQUATION)

Time-independent (steady state) groundwater flow

toward a well in a fully confined (non-leaky) aquifer is
described by the Thiem equation. It is attributed to
German engineer G. Thiem who published it in 1906 in his
doctoral dissertation on the results of experiments and
mathematical study relating to his field method of
determining aquifer parameters.
 STEADY FLOW
TO A PUMPING
WELL IN
CONFINED
AQUIFER
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE THIEM EQUATION APPLICATION IS GIVEN BY
WENZELL (1936). THE EQUATION IS BASED ON THE FOLLOWING
ASSUMPTIONS:

The well fully penetrates the confined aquifer and receives water from the
entire thickness of the aquifer.

The well is pumping water from the aquifer at a constant rate.

The flow toward the well is radial, horizontal, and laminar, i.e., the flow lines are
parallel along each radial cross-section.

The aquifer is homogeneous and isotropic and has uniform thickness and a
horizontal base.

After a certain period of pumping, the drawdown in the well does not increase
anymore (it is stabilized), and the steady state flow conditions are established.
consider the well is discharging a steady flow Q
the original piezometric head is H
the drawdowns due to pumping are S1 and S2 at the pumping well;
Piezometric head= hw
drawdown= sw
 RADIAL GROUNDWATER FLOW
IN UNCONFINED AQUIFER
•Radial groundwater flow in unconfined aquifers describes the movement
of water toward or away from a central point, typically a well. This
phenomenon is crucial in understanding how water extraction affects
aquifers and surrounding environments.

•In an unconfined aquifer, groundwater moves toward a well in a radial

pattern, forming a cone-shaped depression in the water table. This
movement is influenced by the well's pumping, whic lowers the water
table locally.
 UNCONFINED AQUIFER
A water table or unconfined aquifer is an aquifer
whose upper water surface (water table) is at
atmospheric pressure, and thus is able to rise and fall.

VISUAL ANALOGY
Imagine pressing a sponge submerged in water. The water
moves toward the pressure point, much like groundwater flows
toward a well during pumping.

Similarly, when a well pumps water from an unconfined aquifer,

it creates a CONE OF DEPRESSION, causing water to flow
radially toward the well.
Models groundwater flow to quantify
pumping effects in unconfined
aquifers. It relates the well's pumping
rate to the aquifer's properties and
the observed drawdown (the drop in
the water table) at specific distances
from the well.
 RADIAL STEADY STATE FLOW IN A
UNCONFINED AQUIFER
The analysis of flow in unconfined aquifers is more complicated
than that in confined aquifers. Thiem also derived an equation for
steady radial flow in unconfined aquifers which is discussed in this
section. Besides the basic assumptions and the assumptions of
radial symmetry and steady-state condition mentioned before, the
following additional assumptions are made in this case:

(1) The aquifer is unconfined and underlain by a horizontal

confining layer.
(2) The well is pumped at a constant rate.
 STEADY FLOW
TO A PUMPING
WELL IN A
UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS
 CONFINED
AND
UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS
 TRAVEL TIME OF GROUNDWATER IN
CONFINED AQUIFER
Groundwater in a confined aquifer can take hundreds
or thousands of years to travel through. The rate at
which groundwater moves depends on the
permeability of the aquifer, the hydraulic gradient, and
the cross-sectional area of the aquifer.

Groundwater travel time is an important consideration

for managing aquifer recharge operations.
 HOW LONG GROUNDWATER
TO TRAVEL
While groundwater does eventually flow to surface
water bodies, this takes days, weeks, or much
longer, dependent in large part on the
underground geology.

It might take years, decades, or even centuries for

water flow through some aquifers.
 FACTORS AFFECTING
GROUNDWATER TRAVEL TIME
 HYDRAULIC GRADIENT
Hydraulic gradient is the difference in the
hydraulic head over a distance along the flow
path. This gradient of mechanical energy is the
driving force of groundwater flow. The steeper
the hydraulic gradient, the faster the ground
water flows. A higher gradient means a shorter
travel time (Poeter & Woessner, 2020-a).
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY

The hydraulic conductivity can be

conceptualized as the relative ease of
fluid passage through the aquifer
material. Higher hydraulic conductivity
leads to faster flow and shorter travel
times (Poeter & Woessner, 2020-b).
THICKNESS OF THE AQUIFER
Saturated thickness is the vertical thickness of
the hydrogeologically defined aquifer in
which the pore spaces of the rock forming the
aquifer are filled with water. Thicker aquifers
generally allow for faster groundwater flow,
leading to shorter travel times, assuming other
factors remain constant (Schloss&
Buddemeier, 2000).
 EFFECTIVE POROSITY
Effective porosity is defined as the ratio of the
volume of interconnected pore spaces to the
total volume of sample. This represents the
portion of the aquifer's pore space that is
actually available for water to flow through.
Lower effective porosity leads to longer travel
times (Poeter & Woessner, 2020-c).
 GROUNDWATER RECHARGE
RATE
Groundwater recharge rate is the rate at which water
enters the aquifer from the surface. Through natural
and artificial means, water moves from surface water
to groundwater. A higher rate can lead to faster flow
in some areas, though the overall impact on travel
time is complex and depends on the aquifer's
geometry and other factors (Hay, n. d.).
Formula for Computing the Travel Time of
Groundwater in Confined Aquifer
(University of Southern Philippines).
THANK YOU!