HYDROGEOLOGY
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ZONAL DISTRIBUTION OF SUBSURFACE
WATER
The water that goes below the surface of land may be
found to exist in two main zones, vadose water and
phreatic water (ground water).
The vadose zone ("vadose" is from the Latin for
"shallow"), also termed the unsaturated zone, is the part of
Earth between the land surface and the top of the phreatic
zone, the position at which the groundwater is at
atmospheric pressure.
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The vadose zone extends from the top of the ground
surface to the water table.
Water in the vadose zone has a pressure head less than
atmospheric pressure, and is retained by a combination of
adhesion and capillary action
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Vadose water is distinguished into three different types,
(a) Soil Water :
It forms a thin layer confined to near surface of the land.
It may occur at depths between 1 to 9 meters
It is held up by root zone of vegetation and soil
This water is very important for the life and growth of
vegetation
It is lost to atmosphere through transpiration & evaporation
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(b) Intermediate vadose zone
It occurs immediately below soil water.
Water in this zone is moving downwards under the influence of
gravity.
It is generally of small thickness and may be absent in some
cases
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(c) Capillary water
The zone of capillary water called capillary fringe is present
only in soils and rocks of fine particle size underlying the vadose
zone
It is absent in the coarse sediments
In fine particle size zone, groundwater is drawn upwards by
capillary action above saturated zone lying underneath
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The depth of capillary zone is varying from few
centimeters to few meters.
In capillary zone, all the pores are field up with water.
However, we cannot draw water by inserting a well up to
that depth.
This is because of the negative pressure developed at this
zone due to surface tension effect. Groundwater zone
starts from the bottom edge of the capillary zone.
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The Phreatic water zone, also called as zone of
saturation lies below the capillary fringe
The water held in this zone is called groundwater
The upper surface of this zone is called water table. In this
zone, the layers or rocks which are porous and permeable
have their open spaces filled with groundwater.
the predominant movement in this zone is lateral flow
controlled by head of flow
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Methods to control subsurface water depend
on –
the type of engineering work involved, site
conditions and the purpose for controlling the
water
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Methods to control of subsurface water
Grouped into four categories;
(i) barriers, (ii) liners, (iii) wells (iv) drains
1. Barriers
Barriers are generally employed to reduce both
quantity and velocity of subsurface water
It includes:
a) Sheet pile cut off walls
b) Impervious cut off trenches
c) Grout/injection curtains
d) bored piles
e) slurry wall
f) keyed rammed piles
a) Sheet piles cut off walls
It is of relatively thin cross-section and low weight
consists of vertical cut-off walls constructed by driving
strips of steel, precast concrete, aluminium or wood into the
soil.
Corrugated sheets of iron that are shaped in such a way that
they interlock with sealable joints, is commonly used.
Interlocking sheets are assembled before installation and
driven or vibrated into the ground by about a meter at a time
until the desired depth is achieved.
Have been used in marine bulkheads and retaining walls
where space is limited.
C:\Users\user\Desktop\GEOLOGY\MODULE 2\Sheet Pili
ng Installation Animation Video.mp4
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b) Impervious cut off trenches
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An impervious cut off trench is simply a trench that is cut
along the centerline of a new dam.
This trench needs to extend, in depth, to an impervious
material.
An impervious material is any material that water cannot seep
through. This material could be rock, shale or even heavy
clay.
After this material is reached, the trench should be filled and
compacted with the heaviest clay available.
This is the most positive means of controlling the amount of
seepage and ensuring that no difficulty will be encountered by
piping through the foundation
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c) Injection/grout curtains
constructed by pushing hollow injection tubes into the
ground (unconsolidated materials) or by drilling injection
boreholes
Ground water flow is impeded by the grout that solidifies
in interstitial pore space
A variety of inorganic(OPC, bentonite and water glass)
and organic grouts(polymers of methacrylate and epoxy
resin) may be injected to fill the pore space of the soils
The possible interaction of organic grouts with organic
contaminants has to be carefully studied before
application, as the contaminants may lead to breakdown
of the sealing components.
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It is applicable to all types of soils and rocks.
sand, zirconia or other high strength spherical
materials are injected under very high pressure these
Spherical materials stabilize the open fracture while
providing a high permeability infill that allows
injection of the actual grout.
• In addition to providing a hydraulic sealant, injected
grouts can also act as sorbents for contaminants. This
effect may be more effective for metals, including
radio nuclides.
RESTEK CURTAIN WALL INJECTION GEL'S.mp4
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2. Liners
liners are used to prevent the movement and seepage of
subsurface water
This may involve preventing loss of water retained in a
canal or keeping water out of an area such as a waste
disposal site to prevent migration of contaminations.
Bentonite and related clays are often favored as liners
to prevent water from reaching isolated waste.
Some caution in relying on this method, however,
should be exercised due to questions concerned their
long term efficiency.
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3. Drains
Reduces the quantity of water and direct its movement
Effective drains depends on the relative permeability of
the drain materials and the surrounding materials.
Drain material must retain the migration of the fine
particles from the surrounding.
Such type of drains has to be drained out from affected
area and the uplift water pressures developed by the
subsurface water has to be checked.
The relative sizing of drain materials is critical to proper
operation.
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It must have a sufficiently greater permeability than the
soil it is protecting in order to intercept the subsurface
flow.
At the same time, it must not permit excessive passage of
the smaller particles in the adjacent materials to avoid
piping of the soil
filter cloth is included to prevent smaller particles in the
soil from migration into the drain.
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i)Blanket drains ii) intercept drains
i) Blanket drains are a narrow layer of drainage
material placed between the sources of
subsurface flow and the area or structure
being protected ability to carry away water
from the site
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ii) Intercept drains are some type of excavated
filled with drainage material placed to catch
and redirect the flow of subsurface water
before it reaches the area of concern.
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Subsurface drains
Subsurface drains are drains installed below the surface to
collect water from the substructure or intercept ground
water moving towards the substructure.
Usually these drains are isolated from surface water in
order to keep their size as small as possible and to
minimize the cost;
however, in special cases the subsurface drains may be
designed to capture both surface and subsurface water
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4. Wells
Dewatering and the elimination of subsurface
water is accomplished through the use of wells
Common types of wells used to dewater a site
are; i)sumps ii) well points iii) pumping well iv)
deep well.
i)sump
merely a collection trench, or hole, deeper than
the area being protected from subsurface water.
As the water collects, it is pumped away from
the area, effectively drawing down the water
table.
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Sump pumps are frequently used
to remove surface water and a small
infiltration of groundwater .
Sumps and connecting interceptor
ditches should be located well
outside the footing area and below
the bottom of footing so the
groundwater is not allowed to
disturb the foundation bearing
surface.
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Sump
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Dewatering Open Excavation by
Ditch and Sump
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ii) Well point
A well point is 5.0-7.5 cm diameter metal or plastic pipe
60 cm – 120 cm long which is perforated and covered
with a screen.
1. Coupling
2. Screen Cylinder
3. Centre Tube
4. Ring Valve
5. Ring Valve
6. Ball Seat
7. Ball Valve
8. Retainer Basket
9. Jetting Tip
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Well Point System
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C:\Users\user\Desktop\GEOLOGY\MODULE 2\Interwell
- Dewatering & Wellpoint.mp4
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Multiple closely spaced wells
connected by pipes to a strong pump.
Multiple lines or stages of well
points are required for excavations
more than 5m below the groundwater
table.
Number of stages can vary but
more than three stages of well points
don't seem practical.
More the number of stages, more
is the excavation width required.
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iii)Pumping wells
Drilled and equipped in a manner nearly
identical to a well being developed as a water
source
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iv. Deep Wells with Submersible Pumps
Pumps are placed at the bottom of the wells and the water
is discharged through a pipe connected to the pump and run
up through the well hole to a suitable discharge point.
They are more powerful than well points, require a wider
spacing and fewer well holes .
C:\Users\user\Desktop\GEOLOGY\MODULE 2\Deep Well
Installation.mp4
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Can be installed from the
surface around the construction
area.
They will lower the water
table to 30 m or more in one
single stage, with spacing from
6 to 30 meters.
One well comprises the well
itself and its casing, the well
screen, the sand filter when
needed, the pump and the
discharging piping. 47