Contents

1. Ground water 1

2. Hydraulic head 2

3. Types of potential head 2

3.1 Pressure potential – Pressure head 2

3.2 Elevation potential – Elevation head 3

3.3 Kinetic potential – Kinetic head 3

4. Calculation of Hydraulic Head using Darcy’s Law 4

5. Potential Energy and Hydraulic Head 4

6. Potentiometric Surface and Ground water flow 5

7. Hydraulic Head and the Direction of Groundwater Flow 6

8. REFRENCE 8

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 List of Figures

Figure 1. Hydrological cycle. 1

Figure 2. Hydraulic head. 3
Figure 3. Two components of hydraulic head measured at point "A”. 5
Figure 4.Artesian and flowing well in confined aquifer. 6
Figure 5. Ground water flow direction and potentiometric surface. 7

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 Interpretation of Hydraulic Head and Groundwater Conditions

1. Ground water

Ground water is the part of precipitation that enters the ground and percolates
downward through unconsolidated materials and openings in bedrock until it reaches the
water table .The water table is the surface below which all openings in the rock or
unconsolidated materials are filled with water. Aquifer properties that affect ground-
water availability include aquifer thickness and the size, number, and degree of
interconnection of pore spaces within the aquifer material. These properties affect the
ability of an aquifer to store and transmit ground water. The water-transmitting
characteristics of an aquifer are expressed as hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity.
Hydraulic conductivity is a measure of the rate that water will move through an aquifer.
Transmissivity is equal to the hydraulic conductivity multiplied by the saturated thickness
of the aquifer. The storage characteristic of an aquifer is expressed as the storage
coefficient. (Larry W. Mays, 2011)
Reliable groundwater level measurements are fundamental to all hydrogeological
investigations. They are used to establish groundwater flow patterns (Freeze and
Cherry,1979), to determine the response of an aquifer to stresses such as pumping or
recharge (Von Asmuth et al. 2008; Healy and Cook 2002), to characterize the interactions
between subsurface and surface-water bodies (Rosenberry, and to identify hydrogeologic
units. (Meyer et al. 2008).

Figure 1. Hydrological cycle.

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2. Hydraulic head

In general, the hydraulic head, or total head, is a measure of the potential of fluid
at the measurement point. It represents the mechanical energy per unit weight of fluid in
the system. It can be used to determine a hydraulic gradient between two or more points.
Hydraulic head is one of the most important metrics in hydrogeology as it
underlies the interpretation of groundwater flow, the quantification of aquifer proper-ties
and the calibration of flow models. Heads are determined based on water-level
measurements in wells and piezometers to determine a hydraulic gradient between two or
more points. (Meyer et al. 2008).

In an aquifer, it can be calculated from the depth to water in a well, and given
information of the well elevation and screen depth. Hydraulic head can similarly be
measured in a column of water using a standpipe piezometer by measuring the height of
the water surface in the tube relative to a common factor. The hydraulic head can be used
to determine a hydraulic gradient between two or more points. (Freeze and Cherry,1979)
In fluid dynamics, head is a concept that relates the energy in an incompressible
fluid to the height of an equivalent static column of that fluid. The units for all the
different forms of energy in the Bernoulli’s equation can be measured also in units of
distance, and therefore these terms are sometimes referred to as “heads” (pressure head,
velocity head, and elevation head). Head is also defined for pumps. This head is usually
referred to as the static head and represents the maximum height (pressure) it can deliver.
Therefore the characteristics of all pumps can be usually read from its Q-H curve (flow
rate – height). (Vukovic, M. and A. Soro, 1992)

3. Types of potential head

3.1 Pressure potential – Pressure head

The pressure head represents the flow energy of a column of fluid whose weight
is equivalent to the pressure of the fluid.

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3.2 Elevation potential – Elevation head
The elevation head represents the potential energy of a fluid due to its elevation
above a reference level.

3.3 Kinetic potential – Kinetic head

The kinetic head represents the kinetic energy of the fluid. It is the height in feet
that a flowing fluid would rise in a column if all of its kinetic energy were converted to
potential energy.
The sum of the elevation head, kinetic head, and pressure head of a fluid is called
the total head. Thus, Bernoulli’s equation states that the total head of the fluid is constant.
(Meyer et al. 2008).

Figure 2. Hydraulic head

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4. Calculation of Hydraulic Head using Darcy’s Law

Darcy’s law allows us to estimate groundwater flow rate if we know the hydraulic
gradient. Hydraulic head is the most readily measurable parameter of groundwater flow.
It is a measure of the energy per unit volume possessed by the water. Hydraulic head is
calculated as the sum of an elevation term, a pressure term, and a kinetic energy
term.Equation for calculating hydraulic head is h=z+pρg+v22g, here h is the hydraulic
head, z is the height of the water above an arbitrarily chosen reference elevation [L], p is
the gauge pressure(pressure above atmospheric pressure) of the pore water [M/LT2], ρ is
the water density [M/L3], g is the acceleration due to gravity [L/T2], and v is the velocity
of the water [L/T].
Within a continuous, nonmoving body of water, the kinetic energy is zero. In such
a water body, the hydraulic head does not change with depth, because the pressure
term, p/ρg, increases with depth at exactly the same rate that the elevation term, z,
decreases. (McGraw-Hill, 2002)

5. Potential Energy and Hydraulic Head

The flow of both surface water and groundwater is driven by differences in

potential energy. In the case of surface water, flow occurs in response to differences in
gravitational potential energy, due to elevation differences – in other words, and
unsurprisingly, water flows downhill, from high potential energy to low potential energy.
In groundwater systems, things are a bit more interesting. Unlike surface water, which is
in contact with the atmosphere and therefore rarely under pressure, water in groundwater
systems is isolated from the land surface, with the consequence that the water can also
have potential energy associated with pressure. In extreme cases, water in confined
aquifers may be under sufficient pressure to drive flow upward, against gravity. Artesian
wells are one manifestation of this. (Fetter, 1994)

To define the flow direction, we need two types of potential energy. The potential
energy of the water cannot be measured directly but we can measure a proxy for the
potential energy by measuring the hydraulic head, or level to which water rises in a well.

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The hydraulic head combines two components, one is potential energy contained by the
water by virtue of its elevation above a reference datum, typically mean sea level; and
second one is additional energy contributed by pressure. In a well, the value of hydraulic
head represents the potential energy of the water at a particular point in three dimensions
at the depth where the well is open to the aquifer. (Fetter, 1994)

Figure 3. Two components of hydraulic head measured at point "A”

6. Potentiometric Surface and Ground water flow

The potentiometric surface is the level to which water rises in a well, In a

confined aquifer this surface is above the top of the aquifer unit; whereas, in an
unconfined aquifer, it is the same as the water table. As on the surface of the earth, water
flows from high elevation, or potential, to low elevation. Thus a potentiometric map
indicates which direction water is moving in the subsurface. A potentiometric map is a
contour map of the potentiometric surface. The following figure depicts an aquifer with
an unconfined section on the left and a confined section on the right (Fetter, 1994).

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 Figure 4.Artesian and flowing well in confined aquifer

7. Hydraulic Head and the Direction of Groundwater Flow

When following groundwater flow paths from a hill to an adjacent stream, water
discharges into the stream from all possible directions, including straight up from the
bottom of the channel. This curving path can be explained as a compromise between the
force of gravity and the tendency of water to flow laterally in the direction of the slope of
the water table. The tendency toward lateral flow is actually the result of the movement
of water toward an area of lower pressure, the stream channel. The resulting movement is
neither directly downward nor directly toward the channel but is, rather, along curving
paths to the stream. Groundwater can actually move upward or downward. Groundwater
can move upward against gravity because the hydraulic head at any point is a
combination of both elevation and pressure. Hydraulic head is the level to which
groundwater will rise in a well. Groundwater flows from high hydraulic head to low
hydraulic head. The gauge pressure at the water table (or at any other interface between
free-standing water and the atmosphere, such as the water surface in a pond), is by
definition equal to zero because the water pressure at such locations is equal to
atmospheric pressure. Except in certain special situations, the kinetic energy term is
neglected because groundwater velocities are so low. Therefore, the head of groundwater

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at the water table of an unconfined aquifer is equal to the elevation of the water table
relative to an arbitrarily chosen reference elevation. Hydraulic head differences are
described by the head gradient (dh/dx), also known as the hydraulic gradient, which is the
rate at which hydraulic head (h) changes with distance. (Fetter, 2014)

Figure 5. Ground water flow direction and potentiometric surface.

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References
https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~martins/isohydro/gwf.html
https://www.eeducation.psu.edu/earth111/node/932?fbclid=IwAR2T8H_eNZ1vH
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/hydraulic-
head
https://www.academia.edu/37428450/C._W._Fetter_Applied_Hydrogeology_Pear
son_Education_2014_
Fetter, C.W. 1994. Applied Hydrogeology. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Co., 691p.
https://www.pei.org/wiki/hydraulic-head