Learning Objectives
• Identify and classify water resources
• Describe the hydrologic cycle
• Differentiate between surface water and groundwater resources
• Describe confined and unconfined aquifers
• Derive Darcy's law and apply it to relevant groundwater scenarios
• Determine yields, permeabilities, hydraulic conductivities and flow velocities of groundwater through confined and unconfined aquifers
• Describe different types of wells, their methods of construction and conditions for their use
• Identify sources of groundwater contamination and their transport in the subsurface
• Identify potential sources of contamination for surface water bodies
• Classify surface water bodies based on CPCB standards
• Calculate pollutant or nutrient loading to a water body
• Design and describe different types of surface water intakes and wells
• Identify sources of contamination, their constituents and concentrations in surface water bodies
• Describe and design infiltration wells and galleries and the conditions under which they can be used
Freshwater is only 3 percent of the total water on the planet, and includes groundwater which is almost 30 percent of this, while surface water is a meager 0.3 percent. Glaciers and icecaps comprise the remaining, at slightly less than 70 percent of the total, freshwater resources of the planet.
The movement of water in any of its three states (solid, liquid, or gaseous) through different parts of the planetary environment is termed the hydrologic cycle and is shown in Figure 1.1
It can be broadly defined in terms of six major processes:
Precipitation is the sum total of all water that falls over land and surface water bodies including rivers, seas, and oceans and includes rain, ice, snow, hail, and sleet.
Condensation is that part of water vapor in the atmosphere that condenses on particles to form clouds. When these clouds are supersaturated, the water vapor is released in the form of precipitation.
Evapotranspiration is the release of water to the atmosphere from various water bodies by evaporation and from plants during the process of transpiration or respiration.
Surface runoff is defined as the amount of water that flows over land towards any surface water body. Any and all surface water bodies from small ponds and lakes to seas and oceans can serve as sinks for surface runoff. Some of these water bodies are transient (seasonal) while others are permanent.
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