42

Water Supply and Sanitary Engineering

Ch
The sand and gravel possess high porosity and hence, they form the m
important aquifers for public water supply schemes. The clay is highly poro
but it is practically impervious because of its very fine particles. The limeston
possesses small or medium porosity and it can permit the movement of water onls
if it contains cracks, fissures or faultS
It is clear that a rock which is porous may or may not be permeable. The size
of the pores should be sufficiently large to make the rock permcable
Table 3-1 shows the porosities of some of the common types of soils an
rocks
TABLE 3-1
POROSITIES OF SOILS AND ROCKS
No.
Name of soil or rock
Porosity in %
Chalk
14 to 15
2
Clay
44 to 47
Limestone
0.5 to 17
Sand and gravel of fairly uniform size and moderately compacted
4
35 to 40
Sandstone
5
4 to 30
Sand and gravel - well graded and compacted
6
25 to 30
7
Top soils
37 to 65
(5) Quality of water: The process of natural filtration takes place when rainfall
water percolates through the ground. Hence, the underground waters are generally
clear and free from impurities. They are also likely to contain very small quantity
of
bacteria. However it is advisable to prOtect them from possible sources of
contamination
The ground waters however absorb various salts during the process of percolation
The amount and character of salts present in ground waters will depend upon
the chemical composition of the strata and the length of underground travel. The
usual minerals present are calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and
sodium. It may become necessary to give treatment to the water for removing
these minerals
In general, the rocky strata will give more or less pure water. The water
through clayey soils will possess high turbidity. Some aquifers like limestones
permit
long travel of underground passage and hence, they are likely to permit polluted
water to travel for long distances. The chances of such danger are however less
in case of sandy soils since the passage of underground water is limited to about
30 metres or so in such soils.
(6) Transmissibility: The term transmissibility is used to indicate the same
physical
meaning of the permeability,but differing only mathematically. The capability of
the soil of unit width and full depth (i.e., width= l and hence, A =
known as the transmissibility
depth) is
(7) Water table: The uppermost layer of soil or top soil at ground level is
generally pervious. The rain water which is directly percolated through this top
soil is contained by it. The upper surface of free water in top soil is termed as
the ground water level or water lable.
The level of water table is variable. It rises with increase in percolation in wet
season and falls down in dry season. It is generally not horizontal but is found to
follow the profile of ground level.