Aquifer tests (pumping tests, slug tests and constant-head tests) are performed to estimate the hydraulic

properties of aquifers and aquitards including horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity, storativity, specific
yield and porosity.
The following sections present representative hydraulic property valuesreported in the literature. Use these
values when no site-specific field testing results are available for your investigation or as a means of realitychecking the results of your own field tests.

Hydraulic
Conductivity (K)

Hydraulic conductivity is
the rate of flow under a unit hydraulic gradient through a unit cross-sectional area of aquifer (opening A).
Transmissivity is the rate of flow under a unit hydraulic gradient through a unit width of aquifer of thickness m
(opening B). Diagram from Ferris et al. (1962).
Hydraulic conductivity is a measure of a material's capacity to transmit water. It is defined as a constant of
proportionality relating the specific discharge of a porous medium under a unit hydraulic gradient in Darcy's law:

=Ki
where is specific discharge [L/T], K is hydraulic conductivity [L/T] and i ishydraulic
gradient [dimensionless]. Coefficient of permeability is another term for hydraulic conductivity.
Note that hydraulic conductivity, which is a function of water viscosity and density, is in a strict sense a
function of water temperature; however, given the small range of temperature variation encountered in most
groundwater systems, the temperature dependence of hydraulic conductivity is often neglected.
Transmissivity is the rate of flow under a unit hydraulic gradient through a unit width of aquifer of given
saturated thickness. The transmissivity of an aquifer is related to its hydraulic conductivity as follows:

T=Kb
where

T is transmissivity [L /T] and b is aquifer thickness [L].

2

The following tables show representative values of hydraulic conductivity for various unconsolidated sedimentary
materials, sedimentary rocks and crystalline rocks (from Domenico and Schwartz 1990):
Unconsolidated Sedimentary Materials
Hydraulic Conductivity
(m/sec)
3x10-4 to 3x10-2
9x10-7 to 6x10-3
9x10-7 to 5x10-4
2x10-7 to 2x10-4
1x10-9 to 2x10-5
1x10-12 to 2x10-6
1x10-11 to 4.7x10-9
8x10-13 to 2x10-9

Material
Gravel
Coarse sand
Medium sand
Fine sand
Silt, loess
Till
Clay
Unweathered marine clay
Sedimentary Rocks

Hydraulic Conductivity
(m/sec)
1x10-6 to 2x10-2
1x10-9 to 6x10-6
3x10-10 to 6x10-6
1x10-11 to 1.4x10-8
1x10-12 to 1x10-10
4x10-13 to 2x10-8
1x10-13 to 2x10-9

Rock Type
Karst and reef limestone
Limestone, dolomite
Sandstone
Siltstone
Salt
Anhydrite
Shale
Crystalline Rocks

Hydraulic Conductivity
(m/sec)
4x10-7 to 2x10-2
8x10-9 to 3x10-4
3.3x10-6 to 5.2x10-5
5.5x10-7 to 3.8x10-6
2x10-11 to 4.2x10-7
3x10-14 to 2x10-10

Material
Permeable basalt
Fractured igneous and metamorphic rock
Weathered granite
Weathered gabbro
Basalt
Unfractured igneous and metamorphic rock
To Convert
m/sec
m/sec
m/sec

Multiply By
100
2.12x106
3.2808

To Obtain
cm/sec
gal/day/ft2
ft/sec

Hydraulic
conductivity of selected consolidated and unconsolidated geologic materials (from Heath 1983).

Hydraulic Conductivity Anisotropy Ratio (Kz/Kr)

An anisotropy ratio relates hydraulic conductivities in different directions. For example, vertical-to-horizontal
hydraulic conductivity anisotropy ratio is given by Kz/Kr where Kz is vertical hydraulic conductivity [L/T] and Kr is
radial (horizontal) hydraulic conductivity [L/T]. Anisotropy in a horizontal plane is given
by Kx/Ky where Kx and Ky are horizontal hydraulic conductivities in the x and y directions, respectively [L/T].
Todd (1980) reports values of Kz/Kr ranging between 0.1 and 0.5 for alluvium and possibly as low as 0.01 when
clay layers are present.
The following table shows representative values of horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivities for selected rock
types (from Domenico and Schwartz 1990):
Material
Anhydrite
Chalk
Limestone,
dolomite
Sandstone
Shale
Salt

Horizontal Hydraulic Conductivity

(m/sec)
10-14 to 10-12
10-10 to 10-8

Vertical Hydraulic Conductivity

(m/sec)
10-15 to 10-13
5x10-11 to 5x10-9

10-9 to 10-7

5x10-10 to 5x10-8

5x10 to 10
10-14 to 10-12
10-14
-13

Storativity (S)

-10

2.5x10-13 to 5x10-11
10-15 to 10-13
10-14

Storativity of a confined
(artesian) aquifer (from Ferris et al. 1962).
The storativity of a confined aquifer (or aquitard) is defined as the volume of water released from storage per unit
surface area of a confined aquifer (or aquitard) per unit decline in hydraulic head. Storativity is also known by the
terms coefficient of storage and storage coefficient.
In a confined aquifer (or aquitard), storativity is defined as

S=Ssb
where S is storativity [dimensionless], Ss is specific storage [L-1] and b is aquifer (or aquitard) thickness [L].
Specific storage is the volume of water that a unit volume of aquifer (or aquitard) releases from storage under a
unit decline in head by the expansion of water and compression of the soil or rock skeleton.
Specific storage is related to the compressibilities of the aquifer (or aquitard) and water as follows:

Ss=g(+ne)
where is mass density of water [M/L3], g is gravitational acceleration (= 9.8 m/sec2) [L/T2], is aquifer (or
aquitard) compressibility [T2L/M], neis effective porosity [dimensionless], and is compressibility of water (=
4.4x10-10 m sec2/kg or Pa-1) [T2L/M].

Storativity of an
unconfined (water-table) aquifer (from Ferris et al. 1962).
In an unconfined aquifer (or aquitard), storativity is given by

S=Sy+Ssb
where Sy is specific yield. Because Ssb is typically small in comparison to
often simply equated with specific yield.

Sy, storativity in an unconfined aquifer is

The storativity of a confined aquifer, which varies with specific storage and aquifer thickness, typically ranges
from 5x10-5 to 5x10-3 (Todd 1980); in unconfined aquifers, storativity ranges from 0.1 to 0.3 (Lohman 1972).
The following table provides representative values of specific storage for various geologic materials (Domenico and
Mifflin [1965] as reported in Batu [1998]):
Material
Plastic clay
Stiff clay
Medium hard clay
Loose sand
Dense sand
Dense sandy gravel
Rock, fissured
Rock, sound
To Convert
ft-1

Ss (ft-1)
7.8x10-4 to 6.2x10-3
3.9x10-4 to 7.8x10-4
2.8x10-4 to 3.9x10-4
1.5x10-4 to 3.1x10-4
3.9x10-5 to 6.2x10-5
1.5x10-5 to 3.1x10-5
1x10-6 to 2.1x10-5
< 1x10-6
Divide By
0.3048

To Obtain
m-1

Freeze and Cherry (1979) provided the following compressibility values for various aquifer materials:
Material
Clay
Sand
Gravel
Jointed rock
Sound rock

Compressibility, (m2/N or Pa-1)

10-8 to 10-6
10-9 to 10-7
10-10 to 10-8
10-10 to 10-8
10-11 to 10-9

Pa-1 = m2/N = m sec2/kg

Example Calculations
1.

Use compressibility data to estimate the storativity of a 35-ft thick confined sand aquifer (assume
1000 kg/m3 and ne = 0.3).

S=Ssb=g(+ne)b = (1000 kg/m )(9.8 m/sec ) [10

3

-8

m2/N + (0.3) (4.4x10-10 m2/N)](35 ft)(0.3048 m/ft)

= 1.1x10-3
How much does the expansion of water contribute to the total storativity in this example?

Sw=gneb = (1000 kg/m )(9.8 m/sec )(0.3) (4.4x10

3

2.

-10

m2/N)(35 ft)(0.3048 m/ft) = 1.4x10-5

Use specific storage data to estimate storativity for the same aquifer given in the preceding example.

S=Ssb = (5x10

-5

ft-1)(35 ft) = 1.8x10-3

Specific Yield (Sy)

Specific retention (S ), specific yield (S ) and

r

total porosity (n) (from Heath 1983).

Specific yield is defined as the volume of water released from storage by an unconfined aquifer per unit surface
area of aquifer per unit decline of the water table.
Bear (1979) relates specific yield to total porosity as follows:

n=Sy+Sr
where n is total porosity [dimensionless], Sy is specific yield[dimensionless] and Sr is specific retention
[dimensionless], the amount of water retained by capillary forces during gravity drainage of an unconfined aquifer.
Thus, specific yield, which is sometimes called effective porosity, is less than the total porosity of an unconfined
aquifer (Bear 1979).
Heath (1983) reports the following values (in percent by volume) for porosity, specific yield and specific retention:
Material

Porosity (%)

Soil
Clay
Sand
Gravel
Limestone

55
50
25
20
20

Specific
Yield (%)
40
2
22
19
18

Specific
Retention (%)
15
48
3
1
2

Sandstone (unconsolidated)
Granite
Basalt (young)

11
0.1
11

6
0.09
8

5
0.01
3

The following table shows representative values of specific yield for various geologic materials (from Morris and
Johnson 1967):
Material
Gravel, coarse
Gravel, medium
Gravel, fine
Sand, coarse
Sand, medium
Sand, fine
Silt
Clay
Sandstone, fine grained
Sandstone, medium grained
Limestone
Dune sand
Loess
Peat
Schist
Siltstone
Till, predominantly silt
Till, predominantly sand
Till, predominantly gravel
Tuff

Specific Yield (%)

21
24
28
30
32
33
20
6
21
27
14
38
18
44
26
12
6
16
16
21

Porosity (n)

Void
volume, total volume and porosity (from Heath 1983).
Porosity is defined as the void space of a rock or unconsolidated material:

n=Vv/Vt
where

n is porosity [dimensionless], Vv is void volume [L ] and Vt is total volume [L ].

3

The following tables show representative porosity values for various unconsolidated sedimentary materials,
sedimentary rocks and crystalline rocks (from Morris and Johnson 1967):
Unconsolidated Sedimentary Materials
Material
Gravel, coarse
Gravel, medium
Gravel, fine
Sand, coarse
Sand, medium
Sand, fine
Silt
Clay
Sedimentary Rocks
Rock Type
Sandstone
Siltstone
Claystone
Shale
Limestone
Dolomite
Crystalline Rocks
Rock Type
Basalt
Weathered granite
Weathered gabbro

Porosity (%)
24 - 37
24 - 44
25 - 39
31 - 46
29 - 49
26 - 53
34 - 61
34 - 57

Porosity (%)
14 - 49
21 - 41
41 - 45
1 - 10
7 - 56
19 - 33

Porosity (%)
3 - 35
34 - 57
42 - 45