EXPLOITATION OF

AQUIFERS

tzel Almache Joseph Hernandez Carol Pacheco Alexandra

Teran

Purpose of the research

Main calculations:
Examining the basic parameters that have to be
determined and analyzed prior an aquifer exploitation

Access to water sources

is an increasing need :

Population growth
Polluted superficial
water
Global warming:
Pollution
Deforestation
CO2 emissions
Imbalance of
ecosystems
Ecuador Data:
Groundwater abstraction: 0.09% of
total water consumption
Highly productive intergranular
aquifers and fissure aquifers: Over 20%

Blue: Lithological units permeable

intergranular porosity
Green: Lithological units permeable
by cracking
Brown: Lithological units virtually no
exploitable groundwater

POPULATION DEMAND

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

Feasibility of exploiting an aquifer

Hydrological cycle: INPUTS, OUTPUTS and THROUGHPUTS
Water quality
Water quantity

AQUIFER
Water bearing geological formation that can store and
yield usable amounts of water and are identified by
characteristics such as type, areal extent, depth form
the land surface, thickness, yield, and direction of
groundwater movement.

AQUIFER FORMATION
Medium for the
transmission of
groundwater: Saturated
formations below the surface
Infiltration and movement
Returning to the surface
UNSATURATED ZONE (vadose
zone)
From water table to
ground surface
SATURATED ZONE
Water-filled pores
that are assumed to
be at hydrostatic
pressure

A: Unconfined aquifer: Water table function as its upper

boundary
B-C: Confined aquifer: Delimited from above and below by
impermeable formations
Artesian Aquifer: Water occupies the total amount of
pores or voids of the geological formation, a well in this type
of aquifer will flow freely without pumping.

TYPES OF AQUIFERS

GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT
The direction and rate of movement are determined by
the lithology stratigraphy and structure of geological
deposits, represented by hydraulic properties

GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT
Porosity
Permeability
Hydraulic
conductivity
Hydraulic
head (h)

p=Vv/Vt
Vv : Volume of the pores of a rock or soil sample
Vt : Total volume of both pores and solid
material
Ability of porous materials to allow fluids to
move through it
Rate of flow of a fluid through porous material
Expressed in meters per day
Driving force that moves groundwater. It
combines fluid pressure and gradient
h= Z+P/ g
Z is the elevation head
P is the fluid pressure at the point exerted by
the column of water above the point.

GROUNDWATER MOVEMENT
Transmissivi
ty (T)

Ability of an aquifer to transmit groundwater

T=Kb
K is the hydraulic conductivity (m/day), and b is
saturated thickness of an aquifer (m).

Specific yield
(Sy)

Amount of water that can be available for supply

or consumption
= g /Vt
Vg is the volume if water drained by gravity,
and Vt the total volume. For unconfined
aquifers (Sy is between 0.05 and 0.3)

Darcys Law

Q=-KA (dh/dl)
Q is the volumetric flow rate, K is the Hydraulic
conductivity, and A is the cross-sectional area of
flow

AQUIFER
STORAGE

Volume of water released

from storage with respect to
water level and surface area
of the aquifer

STORAGE OF UNCONFINED
AQUIFERS
Water released
Gravity drainage as the aquifer
materials are dewatered during
pumping

Sum of the specific yield and

the specific storage
multiplied by the thickness
of the aquifer

Storage coefficient
0.01 to 0.30.
STORAGE OF CONFINED
AQUIFERS
Water released
Compression of the aquifer and
expansion of the water when
pumped.
Storage coefficient
1 x 10-5 to 1 x 10-3

INPUT
Lateral subsurface inflowS
(QLS)
Rainfall recharge (QRR)
Recharge from nearby rivers (QRN)
Recharge due to irrigation (QIR)
Sewage return (QSR).

OUTPUTS
Natural discharges such as springs
(QSQ)
Lateral subsurface outflow (QLA)
Evaporation from groundwater table
(QEGT)
Groundwater usage through wells: such
as domestic and industrial (QDI) water
uses
One of the most important analyses
is water
balance,
Irrigation
water uses (QIW)

WATER
WATER BALANCE
BALANCE

which includes recovering the total inputs and outputs

during a period of time, In the example a month of
analysis

A well with a radius of 0.5

meters
completely
penetrates an unconfined
aquifer gravel with a
hydraulic conductivity K
= 30 m/day and a height
H = 50 meters. The well
is pumped until the water
level inside the object is
40 meters from the
background. Assume that
the pump does not affect
the pressure head greater
and equal to 500 meters
radius, and the loss in the
well are negligible.

Determine which the

pumping flow rate is.

EXAMPLE
Case:
Unconfined
Aquifer.

EXAMPLE
Case: Confined
Aquifer.
A well fully penetrates a 25 m thick confined aquifer. After a
long period of pumping at a constant rate of 0.05 3/ the
drawdowns at distances of 50 and 150 m the well were
observed to be 3 and 1.2 m, respectively. Determine the
hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity.

Determine the hydraulic conductivity

and transmissivity.

Figure 4. Hydraulic Conductivity

(Heath, 1983)

CONCLUSION.
Aquifers have been and are one of
the most important hydric resources
to supply the society.
Permeability is analyzed for many
different reasons such as: letting us
know about the water flow inside the
aquifer, and to get information about
the exploitation flow.
Transmissibility depends on the
permeability coefficient and the
aquifer thickness, which let us know
about the water flow.

The exploitation of aquifers has

turned one of the most important
topics in the world with a lot
research work.

REFERENCES.

Bear, J. (2007). Hydraulics of Groundwater. New York , NY, USA: Courier

Corporation .
Cech, T. V. (2009 ). Principles of Water Resources: History, Development,
Management, and Policy. Hoboken , New Jersey, US: John Wiley & Sons.
Delleur, J. W. (2006). The Handbook of Groundwater Engineering,
Second Edition (Second edition ed.). Boca Raton, Florida, US: CRC
Press.
USACE, Genetti, Albert J., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1999)
Engineering and Design: Groundwater Hydrology. EM 1110-2-1421
INAMHI. (2011). Introduccin a la hidrogeologa del Ecuador. QuitoEcuador.
Kasenow, M. (2001). Applied Ground-water Hydrology and Well
Hydraulics (Second Edition ed.). Highlands Ranch , Colorado, US: Water
Resources Publication .