WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING

SITE SELECTION AND CRITERIA OF

WATER SOURCE
Module 3

DANILO B. PULMA
College of Engineering
Eastern Visayas State University
Tacloban City
SELECTION OF A WATER SOURCE

• Water Quantity
• Water Quality
• Distance from the source to the
service area
• Investment and O & M Costs
• Environmental Considerations
• Hierarchy of choice
1- Spring
2 - Well/groundwater
3 - Surface Water

Water sources
SELECTION OF A WATER SOURCE

 SPRINGS
– Confirmed
sufficient
(dependable)yield
– Water quality
– Elevation
– Distance to service
area
– Protected
watershed
– On site sanitation
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Water sources
Spring sources are evaluated based on
observations within at least one hydrologic
year.

 Easily influenced by seasonal changes especially

those existing in limestone formations.
 Hard to find nowadays and, if ever, at considerable
distances and difficult terrains.
 Statistically, yields diminish over time.
SELECTION OF A WATER SOURCE
GROUNDWATER –
Dug Well, Bored Well, Shallow
Well, Deep well

 Site, depth, diameter and

expected yield from
hydrogeological data
 Geophysical investigation
 Test well drilling or aquifer
pumping test
 Water quality tests
 Elevation and distance to service
area
 Environmental sanitation
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Water sources
 Influent and Effluent Streams

An Influent stream contributes

water to the water table

An Effluent stream gains water

from the water table
 TYPES OF GROUND WATER AQUIFER:
(Unconfined or free and artesian or Confined
conditions.)

RECHARGE WATER TABLE WELL

AREA ARTESION WELL
NON-FLOWING
GROUND SURFACE
PIEZOMETRIC SURFACE

FREE FLOWING
WATER

WATER
WATER TABLE TABLE
UNCONFINED
AQUIFER
CONFINING
STRATUM

IMPERMEABLE
CONFINED
STRATA AQUIFER
 Unconfined Aquifer
A horizontal (static) water table
penetrated by a well that is not
being pumped. The water table
remains static until pumping
begins.

The water table in a pumping well

is drawn down an amount
determined by the rate of pumping
and the permeability of the aquifer.
The development of a cone of
depression created a hydraulic
gradient, which cause water to
flow toward the well and enable
continuous water production. The
amount of water the well yields per
unit of time pumped depends upon
the aquifer’s hydrologic properties.
Confined Aquifer:
The hydraulic head in the
hose lowers as water flows
out the low end. Eventually a
static condition prevails

A confined aquifer (commonly

called an artesian aquifer. The
potentiometric surface is the
level to which water will rise in a
well at specific points along the
aquifer.

Special case: Artesian

aquifer – water flows freely
w/o aid of pump
 Wells
• Based on Aquifer Tapped
– Shallow (<20 m depth)
– Deep (>20m depth)
– Artesian ( from confined aquifer)

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 Water Source Development

Well Classification
 Dug Well (circular or rectangular in shape with
diameter ranging from 1 to 1.5 meters)
 Shallow well (depth is less than (<) 20 meters.
E.g. pitcher pump/champion)
 Deep well (depth is more than (>) 20 meters.
E.g. Malawi type, Magsaysay type, Afridev
type)
 TYPICAL WELL

SHALLOW WELL DEEP WELL

(LESS THAN 20M) (LESS THAN 60M)
5 Basic Methods of Well Construction

 Hand Dug
 Bored Well
 Driven Well
 Jetted Well
 Percussion or Rotary
5 Basic
Methods
of Well
Drilling
 PERCUSSION RIG

BOREHOLE
(Percussion or Rotary)
ROTARY RIG
 Well Development:

• These are procedures designed to maximize well yield.

• Done thru over pumping, backwashing, mechanical surging
and jetting.
• Why well development
– Reduce compaction and intermixing of
grain sizes by removing fine materials
from pore spaces.
– Remove drilling fluid coating the
borehole
– Stabilize the formation so well will yield sand free water

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 Pumping Test Analysis:

• Pumping Tests are used to determine the

– Performance characteristics of a well
– Hydraulic parameters of the aquifer

– These tests should be done by an expert in order to predict

the safe yield of the well and long term effects.

• A rough test for determining safe yield is to pump the well at a

minimum of 1.3 design requirement until the PWL stabilizes
(min 24 hrs test pumping). Safe yield can be taken at 70% of
stabilized pumping rate.

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 Well Discharge Exercise:

• Q = 0.001739 (d2) x
y 1/2
Where: d = pipe diameter in mm
x = carry distance in meters
y = drop in meters
Q = lps

• Find the flow in a 62.7mm (2 ½ inch) pipe flowing full where

the drop is 0.50 m (y axis) and the carry is 0.824 meters (x axis).

• Solution: Q = 0.001739 x (62.7)2 x 0.824 = 7.9

lps 0.501/2

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SELECTION OF A WATER SOURCE
SURFACE WATER –
Weir and Diversion works, infiltration
well or gallery, intake box

 hydrologic study to confirm

water availability
 water quality tests
 watershed characteristics
 flood flows
 river bed material & thickness
of pervious strata
 relative location and elevation
to the service area
 water rights
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 Surface Water

• Its use depends mostly on the regime,

discharge, water quality, solid load,
turbidity and its distance from the
service area.

• It is highly vulnerable to pollution,

hence the need for more stringent
water treatment processes.

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An Intake Structure for a River
Water Source - Tapping at its
Headwaters

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 Surface Water
Salient data needed in considering surface
water as source of supply:
 Streamflow yield (minimum and maximum
flows)
 Reservoir yield
 Surface water/groundwater interrelations
 Sediment which will be deposited in the
reservoir
 Water treatment requirements
 Watershed condition
 Sources of pollution 24
 Surface Water

 Easily contaminated
 Season dependent
 Requires expensive treatment process
 Usually power/energy dependent

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Float Method Procedure:

 Measure float velocity @ 5x (the 2 pts should be 2-3 channels

apart)
 Use a float that sinks at least halfway the depth
 Measure the distance between the 2 points and use a timer to
get the average time.
 V=m/sec
 Determine channel cross section area between the 2 pts
 Q=0.85 AV

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 Rainwater
• Can be collected from roofs of structures and conducted
to cisterns or storage tanks.
• Unless the catchment area is unusually large,
cisterns are applicable for level I only.
• One mm of rain falling on one
m2 of roof will yield 0.8-0.9 liters (c-value)
• Yield (liters per year)
= Annual rainfall (mm) x c-value x surface area (m2)

• With an Annual Rainfall of 2,360 mm and a surface area

of 50 sqm, what is yield/day?

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SELECTION OF A WATER SOURCE

Factors Springs Groundwater Surface Water

Water Quality Moderate High Poor
Flocculation,
Water Treatment Chlorination & Chlorination Sedimentation,
Filtration Filtration
Reliability Reliable Highly reliable Moderately
Reliable
Personnel Minimum skills Minimum skills Moderate to high
skills
Other Factors Water quality Water tastes Water quality
normally OK uniformly good affected by
Chlorine only Minimum material season –
Minimum O & M required for O & treatment,
M, chlorine only chemicals, energy

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Water sources
 IS THERE AN EXISTING yes DOES THE SOURCE YIELD yes PROTECT EXISTING
SOURCE? ENOUGH WATER WATER SOURCE
no no

ARE RAINFALL PATTERN &

CAN PEOPLE AFFORD THE
ROOF DESIGN SUITABLE yes yes RAINWATER
STORAGE TANKS NECESSARY
FOR RAIN WATER CATCHMENT
FOR RAINWATER CATCHMENT?
CATCHMENT?
no
no

IS GROUNDWATER yes ARE PERENNIAL SPRINGS yes PROTECTED SPRING

DOES IT YIELD ENOUGH WATER
DRINKABLE AVAILABLE? SOURCE
no
no
IS WATER TABLE yes yes yes
WITHIN 15 M IS THE GROUND SOFT? ARE WELL POINTS AVAILABLE? DRIVEN WELL
no no
no
IS WATER TABLE yes yes
IS THE GROUND SOFT? BORED WELL
WITHIN 25 M
no
no

IS WATER TABLE yes yes ARE WATER & JETTING yes

IS THE GROUND SOFT? JETTED WELL
WITHIN 60 M EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE?
no
no no

IS EXPERTISE FOR HAND- yes EXPERTS TO FIND yes

DUG WELL
DUG WELLS AVAILABLE? SUITABLE LOCATION
no

IS EXPERTISE & yes EXPERTS/DRILLERS TO FIND yes

EQUIPMENT FOR DRILLING DRILLED WELL
SUITABLE LOCATION?
AVAILABLE?

no TAP PERENNIAL SURFACE yes SURFACE SOURCE

WATER SOURCES
SELECTION OF A WATER SOURCE 29
(from small water supplies, the ROSS institute)
Choice of Water Source

• The choice of water resource to be

tapped for water supply purposes
should be one that is of acceptable
quality at sufficient quantity,
economically sound and most
advantageous to the intended
beneficiaries.

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End of Presentation