Steady upward flow from water tables
Date
1965
Authors
Anat, Arbhabhirama, author
Duke, Harold R. (Harold Ray), 1940-, author
Corey, A. T. (Arthur Thomas), 1919-, author
Colorado State University, publisher
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Abstract
Steady upward flow from water tables was investigated experimentally and theoretically under conditions in which the flow rate is controlled by the capacity of the soil to transmit liquid to a dry surface layer. Under these conditions the flow rate was found to depend upon whether the soil-liquid system was on a drainage (falling water table) or an imbibition (rising water table) cycle. For a given depth of water table, the flow rate on the drainage cycle can be at least 100 times greater than on the imbibition cycle. It was also found that whenever the rate of removal of liquid from the surface layer exceeds the rate at which it can be supplied from the soil below, the flow rate is reduced substantially compared to the flow rate which would otherwise exist on a drainage cycle. A differential equation was developed which relates the upward flow rate to the depth of the water table in terms of measureable soil parameters. A Fortran program for a IBM computer was developed to solve the differential equation for a wide range of soil parameters. An algebraic expression was also developed which approximates the computer solution very closely. The use of either the computer program or the algebraic approximation depends upon an accurate measurement of the soil parameters on the appropriate cycle, i.e., drainage or imbibition. The paper explains how this can be done.
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Subject
Fluid dynamic measurements
Water table
Porous materials