Print this page Groundwater Engineering for Water Supplies - Geohydrology Fundamentals
Conrad G. Leszkiewicz, PhD, PE, PG
Course Outline
The dominant application of groundwater engineering is the provision of water supplies for municipalities, agriculture, and industries. Groundwater is the earth’s most abundant available fresh water source, exceeding that in all of the fresh surface water bodies on earth. With increasing demands for water from growing world populations, agriculture, and industry, as well as growing intermittent, if not long-term, shortages of surface water due to droughts, groundwater is becoming an even more important source of fresh water for society.
This 10-hour course is the first part of a three-part series that provides essential tools necessary for effective groundwater engineering for the development of water supplies. It will introduce the reader to the fundamentals of groundwater hydrology. It describes the hydrologic cycle, the subsurface groundwater environment, what aquifers are, characteristics of the saturated and unsaturated zones, and how groundwater moves within and between aquifers and confining beds.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to
enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
At the conclusion of this course, the student would have achieved an understanding of the following:
- The field of groundwater hydrology and its importance;
- What underground water is and how it is found in the subsurface;
- The hydrologic cycle and its role in groundwater;
- Aquifers, confining beds, and groundwater systems;
- Porosity, specific yield and retention, hydraulic conductivity, and seepage velocity;
- Hydraulic gradients, groundwater flow directions and how to determine them;
- Functions of groundwater systems;
- What capillarity is and its importance in the subsurface;
- The difference between unsaturated and saturated flow;
- How to construct flow nets and describe groundwater flow patterns;
- How groundwater moves in stratified aquifer systems;
- The concept and importance of transmissivity in aquifers for water-supply; and
- The storage coefficient and the difference for unconfined and confined aquifers.
The subject matter of this course will be of benefit to professionals involved in water resource development including civil-environmental engineers, geohydrologists, and others concerned with groundwater resources.
Benefit to Attendees
The course serves as both a succinct, yet comprehensive, introduction to groundwater hydrology and as a refresher to more experienced professionals.
Course
Introduction
In this course you will learn about one of the world’s most important natural resources and understand how it exists in its subsurface environment. You will learn the basics of groundwater origin, the environment in which it moves, factors affecting its movement, and how it moves.
Course Content
In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following documents: US Geological Survey (USGS) Water Supply Paper No. 2220, Basic Groundwater Hydrology, 2004 Revised; Ralph C. Heath, Preface and pages 1-29; the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Ground Water Manual, 2nd edition, 1995; Glossary, pages xxix to xxxii, Chapter I, pages 1-26, Chapter II, pages 51-64, Chapter III, pages 73-78, Chapter V, pages127-152, and Chapter IX, pages 303-306. These documents can be found at the Related Links below.
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
The information provided in this course covers the basic essential for understanding water in the subsurface (groundwater) and how it moves in the subsurface as a part of the hydrologic cycle.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
