Introduction

Groundwater has an important role in the environment: it replenishes

streams, rivers, and wetlands and helps to support wildlife habitat; it is used
as primary source of drinking water and also in agricultural and industrial
activities. Around the world, groundwater resources are under increasing
pressure caused by the intensification of human activities and other factors
such as climate changes. Reductions in groundwater stores have
implications for the water cycle because groundwater supplies the baseflow
in many rivers and it supports evapotransiration in high water table regions.
Reductions in groundwater storage also have major implications for water
quality because the salinity of the extracted water frequently increases as
the volume of the reservoir decreases.

Groundwater level is the level of the water table, the upper surface or
top of the saturated portion of the soil or bedrock layer that indicates the
uppermost extent of groundwater. It can be expressed as a height above a
datum, such as sea level, or a depth from the surface.

Groundwater level measurement

(Piezometer)
 The traditional approach to measuring groundwater levels is to
construct a piezometer or a number of piezometers in the vicinity of the
surface water feature being investigated. A piezometer is a borehole
designed to measure groundwater conditions at a single point within the
aquifer. The groundwater potential at this point is reflected in the
groundwater level within the casing of the piezometer.

A piezometer is a small-diameter observation well used to measure

the hydraulic head of groundwater in aquifers. Similarly, it may also be
astandpipe, tube, vibrating wire piezometer or manometer used to measure
the pressure of a fluid at a specific location in a column.

Piezometers should ideally have a very short screen and filter zone, so
that they can represent the hydraulic head at a point in the aquifer. If the
filter zone is located at a specific isolated depth, the piezometer is
defined punctual, or, if the piezometer has a filter on all its length, is
defined windowed. The windowed piezometer is cheaper than the punctual
one, but cannot give information on vertical flows. The main problem with
the piezometers is the time-lag between the variation of piezometric level in
the aquifer and the respective variation in the piezometer.

Pore water pressure measurement was carried out by various types of piezometers;

•Casagrande Piezometer
•Vibrating Wire (Diaphragm) Piezometer
 •Pneumatic Piezometer

Applications

Typical applications for piezometers are:

• Monitoring pore water pressures to determine safe rates of fill or

excavation.
• Monitoring pore water pressures to evaluate slope stability.
• Monitoring ground improvement systems, such as vertical drains and
sand drains.
• Monitoring pore pressures to check the performance of earthfill dams
and embankments.
• Monitoring pore pressures to check containment systems at landfills
and tailings dams.

CONTENTS
Introduction…………..

Vertical Pipe……………..

Piezometer…………………

Conclusion……………….