DARCYS LAW

Darcy Law allows an estimate of:

the velocity or flow rate moving within the aquifer
the average time of travel from the head of the aquifer to a
point located downstream

It provides an accurate description of the flow of ground

water in almost all hydrogeologic environments.
Flow in Aquifers
Darcys Experiment (1856):

Flow rate determined by Head loss dh = h1 - h2

Darcys Law
Henri Darcy established empirically that the flux of water
through a permeable formation is proportional to the change
in head and the distance between top and bottom of the soil
column.
V h, and
V 1/L
V h/L
The constant of proportionality is called the hydraulic
conductivity (K).
V = K (h/L)
and since
Q = V.A (where A = total area)
hence
Q = KA (dh/dL)
Darcy Velocity
V is the specific discharge (Darcy velocity).
() indicates that V occurs in the direction of the decreasing
head.
Specific discharge has units of velocity.
The specific discharge is a macroscopic concept, and is easily
measured. It should be noted that Darcys velocity is different
from the microscopic velocities associated with the actual paths
of individual particles of water as they wind their way through
the grains of sand.
The microscopic velocities are real, but are probably impossible
to measure.
Hydraulic Conductivity

K represents a measure of the ability for flow through

porous media:

Gravels - 0.1 to 1 cm/sec

Sands - 10-2 to 10-3 cm/sec

Silts - 10-4 to 10-5 cm/sec

Clays - 10-7 to 10-9 cm/sec

Darcys Law holds for:

1. Saturated flow and unsaturated flow

2. Steady-state and transient flow
3. Flow in aquifers and aquitards
4. Flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems
5. Flow in isotropic or anisotropic media
6. Flow in rocks and granular media
Limitations of the
Darcian Approach
1. For Reynolds Number, Re > 10 or where the flow is
turbulent, as in the immediate vicinity of pumped wells.

2. Where water flows through extremely fine-grained

materials (colloidal clay)
Darcy & Seepage Velocity
Darcy velocity is a fictitious velocity since it assumes that
flow occurs across the entire cross-section of the soil
sample.
But, flow actually takes place only through interconnected
pore channels.
Av voids
A = total area
From the Continuity Equation,
Q = A VD = AV Vs
where,
Q = flow rate; A = total cross-sectional area of material;
AV = area of voids; Vs = seepage velocity; and
VD = Darcy velocity
Hence, VS = VD (A/AV)
Multiplying by the length of the medium (L):
VS = VD ( AL / AVL ) = VD ( VT / VV )
where,
VT = total volume; and VV = voids volume
But Vv / VT = n, the soil porosity
Thus VS = VD / n
Example 1:
A confined aquifer has a source of recharge.
K for the aquifer is 50 m/day, and n is 0.2.
The piezometric head in two wells 1000 m apart is 55 m and 50 m
respectively, from a common datum.
The average thickness of the aquifer is 30 m, and the average width
of aquifer is 5 km.
Compute: (a) the rate of flow through the aquifer; and (b) the average
time of travel from the head of the aquifer to a point 4 km downstream.
Solution:
4
Cross-Sectional area, A = (30) (5 x 1000) = 15 x 10 m2

Hydraulic gradient, i = (55-50)/1000 = 5 x 10-3

K = 50 m/day
(a) Rate of Flow, Q = K.i.A = (50 m/day) (5/1000) (15 x 104 m2)
= 37,500 m3/day

(b) Darcy Velocity: VD = Q/A

= (37,500 m3/day) / (15 x 104 m2)
= 0.25 m/day
 Seepage Velocity:
Vs = VD/n = (0.25) / (0.2)
= 1.25 m/day (about 4.1 ft/day)

Time to travel 4 km downstream:

since, Velocity = Distance/Time
or Time = Distance/Velocity
Time = (4 x1000 m) / (1.25 m/day)
= 3200 days or 8.77 years

This example shows that water moves very slowly

underground.
Example 2:
A channel runs almost parallel to a river, and they are 2000 ft apart.
The water level in the river is at an elevation of 120 ft and 110 ft in the
channel.
A pervious formation averaging 30 ft thick and with K of 0.25 ft/hr joins them.
Determine the rate of seepage or flow from the river to the channel.

Confining Layer Confined Aquifer

30 ft
Solution:

Consider a 1-ft length of river (and channel).

Q = KA [(h1 h2) / L]

Where:
A = (30 x 1) = 30 ft2
K = (0.25 ft/hr) = (0.25 x 24 ft/day) = 6 ft/day

Therefore,
Q = [(6) (30) (120 110)] / 2000
= 0.9 ft3/day/ft length.9 ft2/day