UEMX3653 Water and Wastewater Treatment

Topic 2.2: The Hydrologic Cycle

and Natural Water Sources

Dr. Lee Khia Min

Department of Civil Engineering

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Objectives
Discuss the availability of surface water and
groundwater sources.
Define the water budget
Introduce the GW quantity and quality
Introduce the SW quantity and quality
Indicate how water storage capacity can be
determined

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Water resources management
Water supply, safe drinking water
Flood control
Navigation
Aesthetics
Recreation

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The Hydrologic Cycle
Water resources vary in regional and local
patterns of availability.
The supply depends on the influence of
topographic, geographic, and meteorological
conditions on precipitation and
evapotranspiration.
Quantities of water stored depend on the
physical features of the Earth and on the
Earths geological structure.
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The Hydrologic Cycle
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Natural and Human-Induced
Gains and Losses
Major natural gains: Major natural losses:
Direct runoff caused by Evapotransiration
precipitation and (evaporation from open
seepage of groundwater. water and transpiration
Major human-induced from plants and soils),
and uncovered
gains: infiltration.
Diversion from other
areas, low-flow
Major human-induced
augmentation, saline- losses:
water conversion, Diversion of flows out of
induced precipitation. the watershed.

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Water Budget
The water budget: I O = S
I: inflows (all sources of water, natural and
human-made, entering the region).
O: outflows (all movements of water out of the
region, including evaporation, evapotranspiration,
groundwater flow, and surface water flow).
S: the change in storage (the increase or
decrease in storage over time for all natural
(surface and underground) and artificial
reservoirs).
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Water budget
Consumption use
water used in connection with vegetative growth, food processing, or
water that is incidental to an industrial process, which is discharged to
the atmosphere or incorporated in the products of the process.
Water that is not returned to the watershed for potential reuse.
Withdrawal use
The use of water for any purpose that requires it to be physically
removed from the source.
May be returned (after use) to the original source and be available for
reuse.
Nonwithdrawal use
The use of water for any purpose that does not require that it be
removed from the original source.
Examples: water for navigation, fish, wildlife.
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Water Quality
Municipal wastes, urban and agricultural runoff, and industrial
wastes are principle factors affecting water quality.
Vestiges of past toxic and hazardous materials being
transported by surface water and groundwater systems.
A National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program found
that contamination of nonpoint sources emanating from
pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic chemicals, naturally
occurring pollutants remains a major problem.
Waterborne pathogenic microbes (Table 3.3) and
pharmaceuticals are also potential threats to our water supplies.

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Groundwater
Major source of fresh water (public consumption, industrial uses, crop
irrigation).
GW storage volumes and transmission rates are affected by soil
properties and geologic conditions (highly variable).
Much more widely distributed than surface water.
GW quality is affected by the quality of its source, such as municipal,
commercial, industrial wastes entering an aquifer.
Harmful enteric org, is generally reduced to tolerable levels by the
percolation of water thru the soil.
As the water passes through the soil, the amounts of dissolved salts
may increase significantly. These salts are added by soluble products of
soil weathering and of erosion by rainfall and flowing water. Locations
downstream of heavily irrigated areas may find that the water is too
saline for crop production.
Removal methods are expensive.
Dilute the saline-contaminated water with water of lower salt concentration.

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Subsurface Distribution of Water
Groundwater distribution includes:

Saturation zone a zone in which all the soil voids are

filled with water under hydrostatic pressure.
Aeration zone a zone in which the interstices are
filled partly with air and partly with water, divided into
several subzones:

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Specific Retention and Yield
Specific retention
The ratio of the volume of water retained against
gravity drainage to the gross volume of the soil.
Specific yield
The ratio of the volume of water that can be
drained by gravity to the gross volume of the soil.
Depends on soil particle size, shape and
distribution of pores, and degree of soil
compaction.

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Aquifers
An aquifer is a water-bearing stratum that is capable of transmitting
water in quantities sufficient to permit development of a water
supply.
Aquifers may be classified as confined or unconfined depending on
whether or not a water table or free water surface exists under
atmospheric pressure.
In an unconfined aquifer, the change in storage volume (S):
S = Sy V
where Sy is average specific yield of the aquifer, and V is volume of
the aquifer underlying between the original water table and the
water table at a later, specified time.
In a confined aquifer, storage coefficient (Sc), defined as the volume
of water that an aquifer takes in or releases per unit surface area of
aquifer per unit change in the head normal to the surface

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Classification of aquifers
Safe Yield of an Aquifer
GW resources are finite - the quantity of GW should
be estimated prior to withdrawal.
Safe yield of the aquifer: the quantity of water that can
be withdrawn annually without ultimate depletion of the
aquifer.
To determine safe yield:
Hill method: the annual change in the GW elevation
(m) is plotted against the annual draft (m2-m). The
draft that corresponds to zero change in the elevation
is the safe yield (see Figure 3.5).
The safe yield can change over time if the conditions,
such as drafts, recharge rates, under which it was
determined do not remain constant.
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 Figure 3.5

Example of determining the safe yield by the Hill method

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Groundwater Recharge
Slow rates of movement of GW and the limited chance
for SW to penetrate the earths surface.
Artificial recharge is used to supplement the natural
recharge.
Methods:
The holding basins
The modified streambed
The injection well

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Surface Water Quantity and
Quality
SW are nonuniformly distributed over the earths surface.
The volumes of the freshwater sources depend on geographic,
landscape, temporal variations and the impact of human
activities.
Historic records of stream flows, lake levels, can climatic data
are used to identify trends and to indicate deficiencies in
database.
Models become valuable tools for estimating future water supply
scenarios based on assumed sequences of hydrologic variables,
such as precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration, etc.
Runoff is nonuniformly distributed, subject to seasonal and
annual variations influenced by climate and weather.

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Reservoirs
When natural storage in the form of ponds or lakes is not available, artificial
impoundments or reservoirs can be built to optimize the development of SW
flows.
The amount of storage needed is a function of expected demands and the
quantity of inflow to the impoundment.
S = I O
where S = change in storage volume during a specified time interval, I = total
inflow volume during this period, and O = total outflow volume during this period.
Storage calculations are based on comparing demands with a critical low flow
period such as the most severe drought on record.
Once the critical period is chosen, the required storage is usually determined
using a mass-curve analysis.
This method evaluates the cumulative deficiency between outflow and inflow (O
I) and selects the maximum cumulative value as the required storage.

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Example: Storage Capacity
Find the storage capacity required to provide a safe yield of
67,000 acre-ft/yr for the data given in Figure 3.14.

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Figure 3.14 Reservoir capacity for a specified yield as
determined by use of a mass curve. 23
Example: Storage Requirement
Consider an impounding reservoir that is expected to provide
for a constant draft of 637 million gallons/m2/yr. The following
record of monthly mean inflow values represents the critical or
design period. Find the storage requirement. Data on monthly
inflows are given in Table 3.7 in Column 2.

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Losses form Storage
Natural losses
Evaporation
Seepage
Siltation
Artificial losses
Withdraws.

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