Thiem- Equation for Unconfined Aquifer
𝑄 𝑟2
𝐾= 2 2 log 𝑒 𝑟
𝜋 (𝑍2 − 𝑍1 ) 1
Where 𝑍1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑍2 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑟1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟2
𝑄 𝑟2 𝐾𝜋(𝑍22 − 𝑍12 )
𝐾= 2 2 log 𝑒 𝑟
𝑄= 𝑟
𝜋 (𝑍2 − 𝑍1 ) 1 𝑙𝑛( 2 )
𝑟1
Taking the entire radius of influence into account:
𝑟1 = 𝑟𝑤 = 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙
𝑟2 = 𝑅 = 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 (𝑓𝑎𝑟 − 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒)
𝑍1 = 𝑍𝑤 = 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙
𝑍2 = 𝑍 = 𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑅
𝐾𝜋(𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2
)
𝑄=
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤
Numerical problem 1:
A well of 30 cm diameter completely penetrates into an unconfined aquifer of saturated depth of 40
m. After a long period of pumping at a steady rate of 1500 lpm, the drawdown in two observation
well are 25 m & 75 m from the pumping well and we found to be 3.5 and 2 m respectively.
Determine
a) The transmissivity of the aquifer
b) Drawdown in the pumping well
𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛:
𝑄 = 1500 𝐿/ min = 0.025 𝑚3 /𝑠
Static water level (initial saturated thickness) =40 m
𝑟1 = 25 𝑚, 𝑆1 = 3.5 𝑚, 𝑍1 = 40 − 3.5 = 36.5 𝑚
𝑟2 = 75 𝑚, 𝑆2 = 2.0 𝑚, 𝑍2 = 40 − 2.0 = 38 𝑚
𝑄 𝑟2
𝐾= 2 2 log 𝑒 𝑟
𝜋 (𝑍2 − 𝑍1 ) 1
𝐾 = 7.823 × 10−5 𝑚/𝑠 = 6.7593 𝑚/𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑘𝑐𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑏 = 40𝑚)
𝑇 = 𝐾𝑏 = 7.82 × 10−5 𝑚2 /𝑠 = 270.3 𝑚2 /𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝐾𝜋(𝑍22 − 𝑍12 ) 𝐾𝜋(𝑍12 − 𝑍𝑤
2
)
𝑄= 𝑟 𝑄= 𝑟
𝑙𝑛( 2 ) 𝑙𝑛( 1 )
𝑟1 𝑟𝑤
𝜋 × 7.823 × 10−5 (36.52 − 𝑍𝑤
2
)
0.025 =
25
𝑙𝑛( )
0.15
𝑍𝑤 = 28. 49 𝑚
𝑆𝑤 = 𝑍 − 𝑍𝑤 = 40 − 28. 49 = 11.46 𝑚
Numerical problem 2:
A well of 45 cm diameter in an unconfined aquifer of saturated depth of 45 m yield 600 lpm under a
drawdown of 3m at pumping well. Calculate:
a) What will be the discharge under a draw down of 6 m
b) What will be the discharge in a 30 cm well under a draw down of 3m
Assume radius of influence to remain constant at 500 m
𝐾𝜋(𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2)
𝑄=
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤
Given:
Aquifer full thickness, Z= 45 m
Initial case: Well diameter = 45 cm, 𝑟𝑤 = 0.225 𝑚
𝑄1 = 600 𝐿/ min = 0.01 𝑚3 /𝑠
𝑆1 = 3𝑚, 𝑍𝑤1 = 42 𝑚
𝑅 = 500 𝑚
𝑅 500
𝑙𝑛 = 𝑙𝑛 = 7.706263
𝑟𝑤1 0.225
𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2 = 452 − 422 = 261𝑚
𝐾 = 9.40 × 10−5 𝑚/𝑠 =8.12 m/day
1) What will be the discharge under a drawdown of 6 m (same 45 cm well)
𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑍𝑤2 = 45 − 6 = 39 𝑚 , 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐾 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑤
2
𝐾𝜋(𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤2 )
𝑄2 =
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤1
2
𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤2 = 452 − 392 = 504
𝑄2 = 0.019310 m3 /s
𝑄2 = 1158.6 L/min
1) What will be the discharge in a 30 cm well under a drawdown of 3 m
𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 30 𝑐𝑚 , 𝑟𝑤2 = 0.15 𝑚, 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐾, 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑍𝑤 = 42 𝑚
𝐾𝜋(𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2)
𝑄2 =
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤2
𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2 = 261 𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒
𝑅 500
𝑙𝑛 = 𝑙𝑛 = 8.111696
𝑟𝑤2 0.15
𝑄2 = 0.009500 m3 /s
𝑄2 = 570 L/min
• Doubling the drawdown from 3 to 6 m does not simply double Q because the governing term is 𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2 (
Quadratic head)
𝑅
• Reducing the well radius from 45cm to 30 cm increase the logarithmic denominator 𝑙𝑛 𝑟 so for the same
𝑤2
drawdrawn discharge decrease
Approximate equation:
𝑆𝑤 = 𝑍 − 𝑍𝑤 ,
where Sw is drawdown , Z is the height of aquifer and Zw is the depth of water in the well
We have,
𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2
= Z + Zw Z − Zw
If drawdown is small compared to Z (i.e., 𝑆𝑤 ≪ 𝑍), then
Z + Zw ≈ 2𝑍
Hence 𝑍 2 − 𝑍𝑤
2 ≈ 2𝑍S
w
𝐾𝜋2𝑍Sw
𝑄=
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤
𝐾𝜋2𝑍Sw
𝑄=
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤
𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑇 = 𝐾𝑏,
Here being unconfined b= Z ,
So instead of KZ we can write T
2𝜋𝑇Sw
𝑄=
𝑅
𝑙𝑛
𝑟𝑤
Numerical problem 3:
For conducting test on 30 cm diameter well in an unconfined aquifer two observation well A & B are bored
at a distance of 25 m and 40 m respectively from the center of the pumping well. When water is pumped
at a rate of 10 liters/sec the water depth in the pumping well is 10 m above the horizontal impervious
layer up to which the well is driven. The median grain size of the aquifer is 25 mm and the permeability is
known to be 0.1 cm/s. Calculate
a) The depth of water above the impervious layer in the observation wells A & B
b) The Reynold’s number of flow at the pumping and observation well A & B
Assume Kinematic viscosity of water= 0.01 cm2/s
