HYDRAULIC HEAD LAB

You will be testing your expertise in the concept of hydraulic head

and the calculation of hydraulic gradients and directions of flow.



1. What is the direction of flow in the column above? How do you
know?

2. the above figure, place an x at the point of measurement of
each piezometer.
a) what is the distance between the two measurement points
(assume units of cm)?
b) For h1=120 cm and h2 =110 cm, what is the hydraulic
gradient? What is the direction of flow?
c) For the point in column measuring h1=120cm, what is the
elevation head? What is the pressure head?
d) For the point in column measuring h2 =110 cm, what is
the elevation head? What is the pressure head?




3. The column set up shown above, mark an x at each of the
piezometric measurement points. Assume a datum of z=0 cm
as shown on the figure.
a. What is the hydraulic head at the bottom of the column?
b. What is the hydraulic head at the top of the column?
c. What is the difference in water level between the top and
bottom of the column?
d. What is the distance between the measurement points?
e. What is the hydraulic gradient?
f. What is the direction of flow?

















Problem 4
Data from three piezometers located within a
few feet of each other is as follows:
A B C
Elevation at land
surface (ft)
335 335 335
Depth of monitoring
well (ft)
170 130 85
Depth to water (ft
below surface)
90 82 70









a. What is the
hydraulic head
(h) at each?
b. What is the
pressure head
(h
p
) at each?
c. What is the
elevation head
(z) at each?
d. What is the vertical
hydraulic gradient between
Well A and Well B?























Problem 5
Two wells are located 100 feet apart in a sand
aquifer with a hydraulic conductivity of 0.04
feet per day and 35% porosity. The head of
well 1 is 96 feet and the head of well 2 is 99
feet.


a. What is the horizontal
hydraulic gradient between the
wells?
b. What is the velocity of
water between the two wells?




6. For measurement of hydraulic gradient and application of
Darcys Law, the piezometers or wells must be screened within
the same aquifer. As we have seen, vertical nests of
piezometers can give information on vertical flow. What kind of
information will we obtain from the wells shown below? What
kind of hydraulic gradient? What type of flow would it apply to?