Groundwater flow


In hydrogeology, groundwater flow is defined as the "part of streamflow that has infiltrated the ground, has entered the phreatic zone, and has been discharged into a stream channel, or springs and seepage water." It is governed by the groundwater flow equation.
Groundwater is water that is found underground in cracks and spaces in the soil, sand and rocks. An area where water fills these spaces is called a phreatic zone or saturated zone. Groundwater is stored in and moves slowly through the layers of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers. The rate of groundwater flow depends on the permeability and the hydraulic head.

Preferential flow study

Vertical flow of solute in porous media is studied and compared with Darcy's flow. The methodology used for the study is experimental. The laboratory model used is similar to Darcy apparatus with slight modification. The study has compared measured velocity of the first reach of solute with an average velocity of flow in porous media. The laboratory model consists of 150 mm diameter High-density Polyethylene pipe of 750 mm height filled uniform sand. Nine sets of experiment is conducted with 3 types of sand and 3 types of brine concentration. A brine solution is found to be 1.13 to 1.84 times faster than the average velocity of flow as a result of preferential flow.