Sunteți pe pagina 1din 11

See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292205522

Effectiveness of Artificial Recharge Structures in


Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study

Article in Indian Journal of Science and Technology · August 2015


DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2015/v8i20/81596

CITATION READS

1 48

2 authors, including:

S. Mohan
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
120 PUBLICATIONS 1,130 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Identification of Critical Erosion Prone Areas using RS and GIS View project

seawater intrusion modeling and management View project

All content following this page was uploaded by S. Mohan on 15 May 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.


ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846
Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 8(20), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2015/v8i20/81596, August 2015 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

Efectiveness of Artiicial Recharge Structures in


Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study
Marykutty Abraham1 and S. Mohan2*
1
Centre for Water Research, Sathyabama University, Chennai - 600119, Tamil Nadu, India;
marykutty_ab@yahoo.co.in
2
Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai - 600036, Tamil Nadu, India; smohan@iitm.ac.in

Abstract
Objectives: The efectiveness of recharge structures in enhancing the recharge process has been evaluated for diferent
recharge structures, namely, check dam and percolation pond with percolation wells, individually as well as in a combined
manner. Methods: These structures have been constructed and monitored for their efectiveness through field pilot scale
studies in a watershed in Tamil Nadu. The efectiveness was assessed in terms of increase in groundwater table, improvement
in the quality of groundwater and the percentage of recharged quantity in terms of water storage created by the recharge
structures using water level fluctuation method and mass balance approach. Natural recharge was estimated by water
balance method. Findings: An average increase in water level of the order of 2m to 3m was observed in the surrounding
areas of individual recharge structures, whereas in the area surrounding the combined recharge structures, an increase of
around 5m in the groundwater table was observed after 2 years of artificial recharge. According to mass balance study the
percentages of the volume of water contributed for recharge of the aquifer was worked out to be 79 percent and 92 percent
for check dam and percolation pond with percolation wells respectively. The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and hardness
were observed to be considerably reduced after the construction of artificial recharge structures. Percolation pond with
percolation wells was found to be the most favorable structure in the watershed studied. Applications: This paper has
demonstrated the comparison of situations with and without artificial recharge structures and these recharge structures
are highly efective in enhancing groundwater resource.

Keywords: Artificial Recharge, Check Dam Groundwater, Mass Balance, Percolation Pond, Percolation Well

1. Introduction variations in storage and outlow from the aquifer apart


from the silting of recharge well were highly dependent
Recharge can either be natural, from precipitation that on both the aquifer characteristics and the duration of
falls on the earth’s surface and moves on its way under- recharge.
ground or it can be artiicial, from human activities that he inluence of percolation pond in artiicial recharge
deliberately or inadvertently replenish an aquifer. Artiicial in a granitic gneissic terrain of a semi-arid region of India
recharge may be deined as the process of replenishing was assessed using environmental chloride method5. It
groundwater by augmenting the natural iniltration of was observed that 30-35 percent of the impounded water
rainwater or surface water into underground formations was recharged through the pond.
through various methods designed depending on the he response of two percolation ponds in Tamil Nadu,
topographic, geologic and soil conditions. India was studied6 to assess their potential inluence zones.
he previous studies1-3 showed that the most hey observed that the strongly inluenced wells were
commonly used method for natural recharge estimation located within 400m from the ponds whereas moderately
is the mass balance approach. In4 analyzed groundwater inluenced wells were located up to 800m from the ponds.
low in an unconined aquifer under seasonal artiicial Investigation of artiicial recharge basins of diferent
recharge schemes of variable duration and found that shapes and assessment of their efect on underlying

*Author for correspondence


Efectiveness of Artiicial Recharge Structures in Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study

aquifer system showed a lower groundwater build-up for 15' to 79° 45' E in Survey of India toposheet 58M/6. he
higher perimeter basin shapes7. watershed lies in one of the sub-basins of Gadilam River
In8 studied the water balance of reservoirs for Indian in Tamil Nadu state, India and has an aerial extent of 420
sites and found that 96 percent of the water in a basin km2. he general topography consists of highlands in
was recharged and 4 percent was lost to evaporation in the Northwest and a lat terrain in Southeast. Maximum
the most favorable case and 45 percent was recharged and rainfall in the region occurs during the North-East mon-
55 percent was evaporated for the worst scenario. soon (October to December) i.e. 60 percent of the average
In a numerical model developed for calculating the annual rainfall is brought by the North-East monsoon, 25
groundwater mounding for an artiicial recharge basin percent by the South-West monsoon (June to September)
of size 175m x 450m in Gaza strip in the Middle East, and the rest in summer showers. he highest rainfall has
where the unsaturated zone was about 60m thick9. From occurred in the month of November with a monthly aver-
the model it was found that the maximum rise of mound age rainfall value of 268.5 mm and the minimum rainfall
was 14m at the center of the artiicial recharge basin and usually occur in the month of February with an average
about 12m at the edges, ater 100 days of recharge. value of 10.7 mm. he climate is tropically humid. he
In10 artiicial recharge study was carried out through area is warmer in summer months (March to May) with
roof top rain water harvesting methods during 2004 to a maximum temperature of 40oC recorded during the
2007 at St Peter’s Engineering College Campus, Avadi, month of May. During the monsoon months, the normal
and Tamil Nadu. Aquifer parameters were assessed using temperature varies between 20oC and 25oC. he area is
pumping test. A three layer hydro geological model of cold in winter months (January to February) and the nor-
the aquifer was applied in Visual Mod lowver. 4.1 and mal temperature during the period varies between 18oC
signiicant increase in water level in the top aquifer was and 21oC and January is the coldest month. his sub-
recorded during 2007. he study concluded that rainwa- basin is characterized by heavy pumping for agricultural,
ter harvesting and recharges studies form important part industrial, domestic and mining purposes. he pumping
in groundwater restoration and management. is tending to exceed the average recharge rates, causing
Water quality issues in artiicial recharge became depletion of water levels in the region. For the system to
prominent in the last decade and were studied by a few be sustainable, the pumping and recharge should be bal-
researchers. In a study on geochemical transformations anced either by minimizing the pumping or by increasing
during artiicial recharge found that F, Ba and as were the recharge. he only possible alternative solution is
leached in appreciable concentrations, whereas leaching replenishing the groundwater through artiicial recharge
of B, Cr, Pb and Se were minimal11. It was also observed by diferent arrangements.
that concentrations oten peaked during the irst few days
of operation and then declined.
3. Field Experimental Work
In12 studied the removal of microorganisms by
deep well injection into a sandy aquifer in Netherlands. he watershed has two major drains and lows towards
Injection water was seeded with microorganisms for 5 North East and inally join the Gadilam river which lows
days. Within the irst 8m of soil passage concentrations of further about 30 km to reach the sea. However in this dis-
microorganisms were found reduced logarithmically. tance there is no beneicial use of the drained water than
here are many methods proposed for groundwater joining the sea without any beneicial use. hus, by pro-
recharge estimation, but there is no systematic study on viding rainwater harvesting structures, if one could speed
the comparison of diferent methods and on assessment the excess water into the aquifer, it can be beneicially
of artiicial groundwater recharge with combination of used in the aquifer, during the water-deicit season.
recharge structures including recharge wells. he artiicial recharge due to diferent structures
namely check dam, percolation pond with percolation
wells and combined structures (percolation pond with
2. Study Area
percolation wells and check dam with recharge well) have
he watershed taken up for study is located in Nadiyapattu been assessed through ield experiments. A percolation
village of Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu state, India which pond with a surface area of 15000 m2 has been constructed
falls within latitudes 11°15' to 11°45' N and longitudes 79° and three Percolation Wells (PW1, PW2 and PW3) were

2 Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
Marykutty Abraham and S. Mohan

drilled in the percolation pond area. A pond of 2800 m2 level contours to study the water level luctuations and
area with three Percolation Wells (PW4, PW5 and PW6) compared the same with the water table levels before the
was constructed in another location along with a check construction of these artiicial recharge arrangements.
dam with a Recharge Well (RW0) and called as combined Basin scale mass balance approach was used to ind the
structure area. A hus the combined structure area con- individual efectiveness of check dams, check dam with
sists of a check dam with a recharge well, one percolation recharge well and percolation pond with percolation
pond and three percolation wells. In the second phase the wells as well as combined efectiveness of various artiicial
size of the pond in the combined structure area was also recharge arrangements.
extended to 15,000 m2. A single check dam was also con- he construction of recharge structures was com-
structed on the northern side of combined structure area. pleted in April 2004 and thus the water from the rainfall
he second phase was completed in April 2005. of July 2004 onwards got collected in these structures and
Percolation wells having a diameter of 45 cm penetrated got recharged into the groundwater aquifer system. Water
up to the bottom of permeable strata (i.e., around 75 m) levels were recorded on a daily basis from September
and the pit was illed with gravels and pebbles to allow 2003. Water samples were collected seasonally from four
the free low of iltered water. Recharge well was ordinary typical observation wells (two from percolation pond area
well having 15 cm diameter and around 75 m depth with i.e., PO4, PO5 and one each from check dam area i.e.,CS7
a slotted length of 24 m. Observation wells had a diameter and Combined Structure area i.e., CS6) and analyzed in
of 10 cm and extended up to 75 m with a slotted length of the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering
24 m. To monitor the groundwater level luctuation and laboratory of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras as
quality a total of 15 observation wells were constructed. suggested by13. Water quality was analyzed for pre and
he location plan of the bore holes is shown in Figure 1. post monsoon periods in a year.
Groundwater levels were monitored and recorded on a
daily basis from all the observation wells from September
2003 to February 2006 and groundwater quality was
4. Methodology
monitored pre and post monsoon on selected observa- In the context of sustainable groundwater management, it
tion wells to study the artiicial recharge efects of check is essential to assess the efectiveness of artiicial recharge
dam, percolation pond and combined structure on the arrangements in terms of their ability to recharge the
quantity and quality of groundwater. Water level luctua- aquifer. he artiicial recharge due to diferent structures
tion data collected from the observation wells (seven for namely check dam, check dam with recharge well and
percolation pond area PO1, PO2, PO3, PO4, PO5, RO1 percolation pond with percolation wells were studied
and RO2; six for combined structure area CS1, CS2, CS3, using diferent methods. Natural recharge was estimated
CS4, CS6 and RO3; two for check dam area CS5 and CS7) by water balance method. Water level luctuation data
within the inluence zone was used to draw the water collected from wells within the inluence zone was used to
study the water level luctuations before and ater the con-
79° 24' 12" 79° 24' 24" 79° 24' 36" 79° 24' 48" 79° 25'
24'
struction of artiicial recharge arrangements. Mass balance
11° 40'
WS

KOVIL
N
11° 40'
approach was used to ind the individual efectiveness of
CS7 P05
PW3
check dam and percolation pond with percolation wells.
P03
CS5 PW2
PW1
P02 P04
P01
11° 39' 48" 11° 39' 48"

RW0 PW4
CS3
CS1
CS2
RO1
4.1 Natural Recharge Estimation
PW5
CS4 PW6 RO2

RO3
CS6
Natural recharge was estimated by conventional water
11° 39' 36" 11° 39' 36" balance method. he study of water balance is the sys-
Percolation Well [PW1 to PW6]
Recharge Well [RW0] tematic accounting of water within a geographic region
Observation Well [CS1 to CS7, PO1 to PO5 and RO1 to RO3]
Check Dam
for a speciied period. he basic elements of water bal-
SCALE

11° 39' 24"


1:2000
11° 39' 24" ance include inlows such as precipitation and outlows
79° 24' 12" 79° 24' 24" 79° 24' 36" 79° 24' 48" 25'
79° 24'

 like evapotranspiration, runof, interception losses and


Figure 1. Location of bore holes in the Artiicial Recharge soil moisture storage. In water balance model the signii-

Site. cant components were irst identiied and independently

Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3
Efectiveness of Artiicial Recharge Structures in Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study

evaluated and then substituted in the water balance recharge structures. hese diferences or the increase
equation to ind out the natural recharge. For the recharge in water levels were noted as the efect due to artiicial
estimation the soil water balance equation is written as recharge.

Re = P − R − I a − ETa ± DS (1)
4.2.2 Mass Balance Approach
where A detailed water balance study provides a quantitative
Re = Recharge (mm). estimate of the contribution of a structure to groundwater
P = Precipitation (mm). recharge. Even though it only provides a relative assess-
R = Runof (mm). ment, it would still be an immensely useful aid in making
Ia = Interception loss (mm). management decisions. At the recharge basin scale, the
ETa = Actual Evapotranspiration (mm). rise or decline in water levels over time is an indicator of
DS = Change in soil water storage (mm). the performance of the recharge structure.
If the balance is carried out annually, the change in During periods of no inlow to a pond and no outlow
soil moisture storage is negligible14. he individual com- from a pond, the decline in the pond water level is attrib-
ponents of the water balance model such as runof and utable to the algebraic sum of recharge and evaporation
interception loss were calculated using SCS method15 losses. he balance between these two losses determines,
and Evapotranspiration (ET) values were estimated by whether the structure is it for and the site is suitable for
Penman-Monteith method16.Change in soil water storage recharging purpose.
was neglected. Natural recharge values were calculated To estimate the water balance between evaporation
by substituting the diferent components in the water and recharge losses from the percolation pond/check dam,
balance model. the change in pond water level with time was monitored.
For periods without direct abstraction and rainfall, this
4.2 Artiicial Recharge Estimation is translated into groundwater recharge rates ater sub-
tracting open pan evaporation rates. he water balance
he amount of artiicial recharge through the diferent
for a reservoir can be simpliied if losses due to leakage,
structures have been estimated by two methods namely,
abstraction etc. can also be neglected and if the pond is
Water level luctuation method and the mass balance
under eluent conditions in relation to the aquifer, then
method. hese methods are briely explained below.
the water balance can be written as follows9.
4.2.1 Water Level Fluctuation Method Groundwater Recharge=Change of volume of water in
Water level luctuation data collected was used to study the pond-Evaporation (2)
the efectiveness of artiicial recharge structures. Water Under such conditions, the balance between
level luctuations in the observation wells give the com- evaporation and groundwater recharge will determine the
bined efect of artiicial and natural recharge. As already efectiveness of the artiicial recharge scheme.
explained, the natural recharge has been estimated using
the water balance method. For an efective understand-
ing about the recharge phenomena, daily water levels in
5. Results and Discussion
all observation wells were monitored for a period of one 5.1 Data Analysis
year prior to and two and half years ater the construc-
tion of the artiicial recharge structures. he irst year 5.1.1 Water Level Data Analysis
data, from September 2003 to August 2004 was taken Daily water levels in the observation wells in the vicinity
as base data i.e., water levels without artiicial recharge of the recharge structures were plotted along with the
structures. he water level recorded from each month corresponding rainfall data and the recharge pattern was
was subtracted from the base data values (water lev- analyzed. From the water level luctuation data analysis it
els for the same months in the previous year) to get the was found that there was 45 to 60 days lag time for the rain-
efect due to artiicial recharge. his way, the water level water to join the groundwater storage. hus the efective
without artiicial recharge structures was subtracted from water table increase due to artiicial recharge started from
the water level in the same observation well with artiicial September 2004. he peak water levels were obtained in

4 Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
Marykutty Abraham and S. Mohan

the months December and January in most of the cases. recharge. Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7 depict the water
Water level variations with rainfall for representative quality improvement ater artiicial recharge near check
observation wells for check dam area, percolation pond dam, percolation pond and combined structure areas
area and combined structure area are given in Figures 2, 3 respectively. here was considerable improvement in the
and 4 respectively. From these Figures, it can be observed groundwater quality especially in the case of TDS and
that there is an overall rise in water level of 2 to 3 m, ater hardness ater artiicial recharge. It was found that the
the construction of recharge structures. concentration levels did not rise ater the monsoon as the
recharge structures helped in diluting the native water by
5.1.2 Water Quality Analysis the huge volume of surface water stored in them, which
he potential for water quality improvement of an aqui- wouldn’t have been possible by natural recharge alone. It
fer is a major criterion for any artiicial recharge project. was observed that there was 50 to 80 percent reduction in
Water quality parameters were analyzed during pre-mon- the concentration of TDS in the observation wells consid-

soon and post monsoon periods before and ater artiicial ered. It was also observed that the groundwater quality

improvement was maximum near the percolation pond
area. Water quality could not be analyzed ater January
Aug-03 Dec-03 Mar-04 Jun-04 Sep-04 Jan-05 Apr-05 Jul-05 Nov-05 Feb-06
10.00 0.0 2005, as samples were not collected.
12.00 Surface water, which was used for artiicial recharge was 
50.0
also analyzed for pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total
WATER LEVEL (m)

14.00
RAINFALL (mm)

16.00 100.0

Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
18.00
150.0
20.00
800
22.00 200.0
700
24.00 600
Values, mg/l

250.0 500
Rainfall Waterlevel  400
 300
Figure 2. Water level variation in check dam area. 200
100
0

Permanent
Solids

Dissolved

Suspended

Hardness
Sulphate
Chloride

Total

Hardness

Hardness
Temp.
solids

Aug-03 Dec-03 Mar-04 Jun-04 Sep-04 Jan-05 Apr-05 Jul-05 Nov-05 Feb-06
Solids

Total
0.00 0.0

2.00
50.0 Parameters
WATER LEVEL (m)

RAINFALL (mm)

4.00
)

100.0
30-10-2003 24-12-2003 21-04-2004 05-01-2005
6.00 
8.00
150.0
Figure 5. Comparison of water quality before and ater
10.00
200.0 artiicial recharge near check dam (observation well CS7).
12.00

14.00 250.0
1,400

1,200
Figure 3. Water level variation in percolation pond area.
1,000

Values, mg/l

 800
Aug-03 Dec-03 Mar-04 Jun-04 Sep-04 Jan-05 Apr-05 Jul-05 Nov-05 Feb-06 600
15.00 0.0
400
17.00
50.0 200
WATER LEVEL (m)

19.00
RAINFALL (mm)

0
21.00 100.0
Sulphate

Permanent
Solids

Suspended
Dissolved
Chloride

Total

Hardness

Hardness

Hardness
Temp.
solids

Solids

Total

23.00
150.0
25.00

27.00 200.0 Parameters

29.00
25-07-2003 24-12-2003 21-04-2004 05-01-2005
250.0

Rainfall Waterlevel
 Figure 6. Comparison of water quality before and ater
Figure 4. Water level variation in combined structure artiicial recharge in percolation pond area (observation well
area. PO4).


Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 5
Efectiveness of Artiicial Recharge Structures in Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study

in the water quality lab of Indian Institute of Technology, 800

Rain/ Natural Recharge, mm


Madras. he samples were collected from six sampling 700
600
points and the analysis results are tabulated in Table 1. 500
400

5.2 Natural Recharge Estimation 300


200

Natural recharge was estimated by water balance method. 100


0
he various components of water balance were calculated

Oct-04

Oct-05
Nov-04

Dec-04

Jan-05

Feb-05

Mar-05

May-05

Jun-05

Jul-05

Nov-05

Dec-05

Jan-06

Feb-06

Mar-06
Sep-04

Sep-05
Apr-05

Aug-05
on a daily basis for each rainfall event and subtracted
Months
from the rainfall, as per the Equation 1. Water balance
model was applied on a daily basis and daily recharge Rain, mm Natural recharge, mm

values were calculated, and from these values, monthly
recharge quantities were calculated by summation of FigureFigure
8. 8.Monthly
Monthly Variation in Natural Recharge by Water Balance Method
variation in natural recharge by water
daily recharges. Figure 8 shows the monthly variation in balance method.
natural recharge by water balance method along with the
corresponding rainfall data. he average annual recharge at Nadiyapattu was estimated using water level luctuations
for the study area during the study period came to 256.97 method and mass balance approach.
mm which was 17.17% of the total rainfall.
5.3.1 Water Level Fluctuation Method
5.3 Artiicial Recharge Estimation he amount of artiicial recharge was estimated using
he quantity recharged ater construction of artiicial both the water level luctuation method and the mass bal-
recharge structures such as check dams, check dams with ance method, on a daily basis. Water level luctuations in

recharge well and percolation pond with percolation wells the observation wells give the combined efect of artiicial
and natural recharge. Average monthly water levels were 
Percolation Pond area (observation well PO4) calculated from the daily data. Water level data before
the construction of artiicial recharge structures was
600
500
subtracted from the water level data in the same obser-
vation well ater the construction of artiicial recharge
Values, mg/l

400
300 structures. he average increase in water levels due to
200
artiicial recharge was determined at the check dam area,
100
0 percolation pond area and the combined structure area.
he increase in groundwater level is an indication of the
Permanent
Solids

Dissolved

Suspended

Hardness

Hardness
Sulphate
Chloride

Total

Hardness
Temp.
solids

Total
Solids

volume of water added to the groundwater reservoir.


Parameters he results are discussed in the following section on the
30-10-2003 24-12-2003 21-04-2004 05-01-2005 structure wise.


Figure 7. Comparison of water quality before and ater 5.3.1.1 Check Dam Area
artiicial recharge in combined structure area (observation
he monthly water level before the construction of check
well CS6).
 dam was subtracted from the monthly water level values
ater the construction to get the efective increase in water
Table 1. Surface water quality in monsoon season in
level due to artiicial recharge. A graphical representa-
the study area
tion of rainfall, natural recharge and artiicial recharge in
Sl. No Parameters Sample Sample Sample Sample Sample Sample
the check dam area is given in Figure 9. he contribution
1 2 3 4 5 6
from natural recharge is negligibly small in the study area
1 PH 6.3 6.3 6.7 6.3 6.4 6.7
compared to the contribution from artiicial recharge.
2 EC μmho 15.3 13.5 33.8 32.9 97.8 29.5
It was observed that there was an average water level
3 TDS mg/l 9.7 8.64 21.63 21.05 62.58 18.85
increase of 1 m and 4 m due to artiicial recharge near the
4 TSS mg/l 11288 5987 1249 4232 1970 5132 check dam in the irst and second year respectively.

6 Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Marykutty Abraham and S. Mohan

5000 wells in the vicinity of the combined structure area. he


4000 small percolation pond constructed in the area dur-
Water level, mm

ing the irst phase of construction was extended in the


3000
second phase during April 2005. Due to this, the heavy
2000 rains in November 2005 could be efectively stored in the
1000 extended pond area and thus contributing for a consider-
able increase in water level in January to March during
0
Sep-04 Nov-04 Jan-05 Mar-05 May-05 Jul-05 Sep-05 Nov-05 Jan-06 Mar-06 the year 2006 shown in Figure 11. In February 2006, the
Time period contribution due to artiicial recharge went up to 5.8 m.
Rain Natural Recharge Artificial Recharge
his also explains the contribution of percolation ponds
 in recharging the aquifers.
Figure 9. Water level increase due to artiicial recharge in
check dam area. 5.3.2 Mass Balance Approach
he change in pond water level with time was monitored
5.3.1.2 Percolation Pond Area to ind the area and volume of storage which in turn
In the percolation pond area, the monthly water level used to estimate the water balance between evaporation
values of the previous year was subtracted from the and recharge from the percolation pond/check dam. For
monthly water level values ater the construction of per- periods without direct abstraction and rainfall, these
colation pond to get the efective increase in water level data was translated into groundwater recharge rates
due to artiicial recharge. A graphical representation of ater subtracting pan evaporation rates. he water bal-
rainfall, natural recharge and artiicial recharge for per-
colation pond area is shown in Figure 10. A considerable 4000

3500
increase in water level in percolation pond area could be
Water level, mm

3000
observed ater the construction of recharge structures. In 2500
the study area, the contribution from natural recharge is 2000

very small when compared to the contribution from arti- 1500

icial recharge. It can be seen that water table rise due to 1000

artiicial recharge is much more than the depth of rain- 500

0
fall in the locality. he rainwater from the nearby areas Sep-04 Nov-04 Jan-05 Mar-05 May-05 Jul-05 Sep-05 Nov-05 Jan-06 Mar-06

also got collected in these structures and got recharged Time period
into the aquifer. It was observed that there was an aver- Rain Natural Recharge Artificial Recharge
age recharge in the range of 2 to 3 m in the observation
wells in the vicinity of the percolation pond. he natu- Figure 10. Water level increase due to artiicial recharge in
ral recharge process lasted only for a short period ater percolation pond area.
the rains whereas the efect due to artiicial recharge per-
7000
sisted for several months ater the rains. he heavy rain
6000
in November 2005 had remarkable contribution for arti-
Water level, mm

5000
icially recharging the aquifer. he rise in water level due
4000
to artiicial recharge reached nearly 4 m in February 2006
3000
and March 2006, which is two years ater the construction 2000
of the structures. 1000

0
5.3.1.3 Combined Structure Area Sep-04 Nov-04 Jan-05 Mar-05 May-05 Jul-05 Sep-05 Nov-05 Jan-06 Mar-06

Time period
In the combined structure area, the observed contribution
Rain Natural Recharge Artificial Recharge
due to artiicial recharge was less compared to that of
percolation pond area in the irst year. he monthly Figure 11. Water level increase due to artiicial recharge in
recharge in 2004 was around 1 m only in the observation combined structure area.

 
Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 7
Efectiveness of Artiicial Recharge Structures in Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study

ance for a pond can be simpliied if losses due to leakage, he basin scale study showed that on an average 80-90
abstraction etc. can also be neglected. If the pond is under percent of the change in volume of water got iniltrated
eluent condition in relation to the aquifer, then the water and about 10-20 percent only was lost due to evaporation.
balance can be written as follows9. his shows that these structures are efective in recharging
the aquifer and the site is favorable for artiicial recharge.
Re = DVP / DVCD − E (3) Recharge efect of diferent structures by mass balance
approach is given in Table 2. he efect of check dam
Re = Groundwater Recharge.
was less compared to the percolation pond with three
∆Vp= Change in volume of water in the pond.
percolation wells in recharging the aquifer.
∆VCD = Change in volume of water in the check dam
E = Evaporation.
Under such conditions, the balance between 5.4 Performance Evaluation of Various
evaporation and groundwater recharge will determine the Structural Arrangements
efectiveness of the artiicial recharge scheme on a basin Individual performances of check dam, percolation pond
scale. he responses of individual structural arrangements with three percolation wells and combined structure were
were evaluated based on the data collected once in two evaluated with the help of water level luctuations and water
days. Recharge was assumed to be distributed uniformly balance method. Head values before and ater the construc-
within the recharge structure at rates speciied in m3/day/ tion of artiicial recharge structures were compared for
m2 of ponding area. he model then calculated water lev- diferent time periods and the increase in head was noted.
els in the aquifer and volume balances. his basin scale he water level rise obtained ater rains due to check
analysis was done for check dams and percolation pond. dam, percolation pond with percolation wells and com-
bined structure in the 1st and 2nd year ater the construction
5.3.2.1 Check Dams of the structures was compared individually with that of
he response of check dam was evaluated based on the the water level before the construction of the recharge
data collected once in two days and the average monthly structures. he increase in head due to check dam in
details were obtained. he efect of the check dam in the 1st and 2nd year ater artiicial recharge is obtained as
recharging the aquifer was computed per unit of pond- 1 m and 4 m respectively. In percolation pond area, an
ing area of the recharge structure. he efectiveness of increase of 2 m and 4 m was observed during the same
check dam is found to be 0.30 m3/square meter of pond- time period. he increase in head at combined structure
ing area/month with 79 percent of the stored water being area was found to be 1 m in the irst year and around 5 m
used for recharging the aquifer. his gives individual in the end of second year. In percolation pond area, the
efectiveness of check dam in the study area. Since check increase in water table due to artiicial recharge arrange-
dams remain dry during several months in a year the ment was visible ater the irst rains ater the construction
eiciency of check dams in recharging the aquifer was of the recharge structures. he increase in water level near
comparatively low. the combined structure area was not considerable in the
irst year. It may be due to the fact that the size of the
5.3.2.2 Percolation Pond with Percolation Wells
he response of percolation pond with three percolation Table 2. Efectiveness of various recharge
wells were evaluated for data collected once in two days arrangements by mass balance approach
and the average monthly details were tabulated. he Sl. No. Recharge Efectiveness Inference
efect of the percolation pond arrangement was assessed arrangement
per unit of ponding area of the recharge structure. he 1 Check dam 0.30 m3/sq.m here is no other recharge
average efect of percolation pond with three percolation of ponding structure in the proximity
wells arrangement was obtained as 0.69 m3/square meter area/month of the check dam.
of ponding area/month. he volume of water contributed 2 Percolation 0.69 m3/sq.m Percolation pond with
for the recharge of the aquifer was worked out to be 92 pond with 3 of ponding percolation wells had good
percent of the ponding water in the case of percolation percolation area/month impact on increasing the
pond with percolation wells arrangement. wells recharge capacity.

8 Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
Marykutty Abraham and S. Mohan

initial pond in the combined structure area was small in collected from wells within the inluence zone and the
the irst year and extended to the size of the other pond luctuations were analyzed before and ater artiicially
only in the second year. Unlike the pond area, the mound recharging the aquifer. Water level luctuations and water
below the check dam went down ater a short period, as balance approaches were used to quantify the individual
the ponding was not perennial. and combined efectiveness of various artiicial recharge
he performances of check damand percolation pond structures in recharging the groundwater aquifer.
with three percolation wells in recharging the aquifer From the results of the study, it can be concluded that
were evaluated using a mass balance approach, by sub- among the diferent artiicial recharge structures studied,
tracting the evaporation losses from the change in volume the percolation pond with percolation wells was found
of ponding in the recharge structure. he efectiveness of to be more efective in recharging the surface water into
artiicial recharge due to a single check dam was found the aquifer. Combined structure was also very efec-
to be 0.30 m3/square meter of ponding area/month. he tive ater the expansion of the percolation pond. It was
efect of percolation pond with three percolation wells was observed that groundwater quality has considerably
obtained as 0.69 m3/square meter of ponding area/month. improved by artiicial recharge as evident from the anal-
he percentages of the volume of water contributed for ysis of diferent water quality parameters, namely total
recharge of the aquifer was worked out to be 79 percent dissolved solids and hardness. Maximum water quality
and 92 percent for check dam and percolation pond with improvement was near the percolation pond area. he
percolation wells respectively. Mass balance study showed average annual natural recharge was found to be 17.17%
that the structures were efective in recharging the aquifer of rainfall during the study period. he maximum water
and the sites were favorable. he efect of check dam was level increase was found to be around 4 m, 4 m and
less compared to the percolation pond with three percola- 5.8 m respectively for check dam, percolation pond with
tion wells in recharging the aquifer. three percolation wells and combined structure arrange-
Groundwater quality improvement ater artiicial ment ater two years of artiicial recharge. he recharge
recharge near check dam, percolation pond and combined rate of a check dam alone and percolation pond with three
structure areas were analyzed from samples collected percolation wells were estimated as 0.30 m3/m2 of pond-
during pre and post monsoon period. Remarkable water ing area/month and 0.69 m3/m2 of ponding area/month
quality improvement was noticed ater artiicial rechar- respectively. Mass balance approach showed that on an
gein the case of TDS and hardness. It was found that the average 80-90 percent of the change in volume in the case
concentration levels did not rise ater the construction of ponding structures was contributing to the recharging of
of recharge structures even in the dry months. From the the aquifer rather than being lost to evaporation. An aver-
samples analyzed it was found that quality improvement age increase in water level of 2 to 3 m was noticed ater two
was maximum near the percolation pond area followed years of artiicial recharge in most places in the study area.
by check dam area and combined structure area. Quality It was also observed that there was considerable variation
parameters could be collected only up to one year ater of water level with time and location. From the study it was
the construction of recharge structures. his can be the found that artiicial recharge is a viable solution for sus-
reason for the poor groundwater quality improvement in tainable development of water resources in general and for
the case of combined structure areas where water level rise the development of groundwater resources in particular.
was considerable in the second year. It was observed that
there was 50 to 80 percent reduction in the concentration
of TDS in most of the observation wells considered. 7. References
1. Sophocleous MA. Combining the soil-water balance and
6. Conclusions water-level luctuation methods to estimate natural ground-
water recharge-practical aspects. Journal of Hydrology.
he efectiveness of diferent artiicial recharge 1991 May; 124(3-4):229–41.
arrangements, namely check dam, percolation pond with 2. Stone DB, Moomaw CL, Davis A. Estimating recharge by
percolation wells and combined structure were evaluated incorporating runof from mountainous areas in an alluvial
through the ield pilot scale experimental studies and basin in the Great Basin regions of the South Eastern United
reported in this paper. Water level and quality data were States. Ground Water. 2001 Nov-Dec; 39(6):807–18.

Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 9
Efectiveness of Artiicial Recharge Structures in Enhancing Groundwater Storage: A Case Study

3. Rushton KR, Eilers VHM, Carter RC. Improved soil 10. Sayana VBM, Arunbabu E, Mahesh Kumar L, Ravichandran
moisture balance methodology for recharge estimation. S, Karunakaran K. Groundwater responses to artiicial
Journal of Hydrology. 2006 Mar; 318(1-4):379–99. recharge of rainwater in Chennai, India: A case study in an
4. Latinopoulos P. he response of groundwater to artiicial educational institution campus. Indian Journal of Science
recharge schemes. Water Recourses Research. 1981 Dec; and Technology. 2010; 3(2):124-30.
17(6):1712–4. 11. Johnson SJ, Baker LA, Fox P. Geochemical transformations
5. Sukhija BS, Reddy DV, Nandakumar MV, Rama. A method during artiicial Groundwater recharge: Soil water interac-
for evaluation of artiicial recharge through percolation tions of inorganic constituents. Water Research. 1999 Jan;
tanks using environmental chloride. Groundwater. 1997 3(1):196–206.
Jan; 35(1):161–5. 12. Schijven JF, Medema G, Vogelaar AJ, Hassanizadeh SM.
6. Jothiprakash V, Mohan S, Elango K.Artiicial recharge Removal of microorganisms by deep well injection. Journal
through percolation ponds. International Conference on of Contaminant Hydrology. 2000 Aug; 44(3-4):301–27.
Sustainable Development and Management of Groundwater 13. Clesceri LS, Greenberg AE, Trussell RR. American Public
Resources in Semi-Arid Regions with Special Reference to Health Association. Standard methods for examination of
Hard Rock. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. water and wastewater. 17th ed. Washington, DC: American
Pvt. Ltd.; 2002. p. 194–7. Public Health Association; 1989.
7. Rastogi AK, Pandy SN. Modeling of artiicial recharge basins 14. De Silva RP. Estimating groundwater recharge in the dry
of diferent shapes and the efect on the underlying aquifer sys- zone of Srilanka using weekly, 10 daily or monthly evapo-
tem. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering. 1998 Jan; 3(1):62–8. transpiration. Journal of Environmental Hydrology. 1999;
8. Neuman I, Baeker J, MacDonald D, Gale I. Numerical 7(4):1–11.
approaches for approximating technical efectiveness of arti- 15. Chow VT, Maidment DR, Mays LW.Applied Hydrology.
icial recharge structures. Groundwater Systems and Water New York city, New York, USA: McGraw-Hill; 1988.
Quality Programmed Commissioned Report. CR/04/265N 16. Allen RG, Pereira LS, Raes D, Smith M.Crop
British Geological Survey; 2004. p. 1–55. evapotranspiration: Guidelines for computing crop water
9. Aish A, Smedt F. Modeling of a groundwater mound requirements. Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, Food
resulting from artiicial recharge in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations,
Water for Life in the Middle East. 2006; 2:779–87. Rome; 1998. p. 1–15.

Appendix

Notation
E Evaporation RO Observation well at Recharge area
EC Electrical Conductivity RW Recharge Well
ET Evapotranspiration Re Recharge
l liter TDS Total Dissolved Solids
m Meter TSS Total Suspended Solids
mg milligram ∆VP Change in volume of water in the Pond
PO Percolation pond area Observation well ∆VCD Change in volume of water in the Check
PW Percolation Well Dam

10 Vol 8 (20) | August 2015 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology

View publication stats

S-ar putea să vă placă și