INFILTRATION

• Infiltration is the process by which precipitation or

water on the ground surface enters the soil and
moves into rocks through cracks and pore
spaces. Infiltration rate in soil science is a
measure of the rate at which soil is able to absorb
rainfall or irrigation
• It is measured in inches per hour or millimeters per
hour.
Rainwater that soaks into the ground
and may reach the groundwater table.
During the rain infiltration loss occurs quickly almost
exclusively from the water that has reached the
ground surface. The water infiltrating into the soil
moves downward through larger soil pores under the
force of gravity. The smaller surface pores take in
water by capillarity. The downward moving water is
also sucked in by capillary pores.
The gravitational water moves towards the ground
water following the path of least resistance. When
the capillary pores at the surface are filled and
intake capacity reduced infiltration rate decreases.
As a trend the rate of infiltration is high in the
beginning. It decreases rapidly in the initial stages
and then slowly till it approaches a nearly constant
rate in about 30 to 90 minutes depending upon the
type of soil.
Base flow: Where Groundwater Meets
Surface Water
• Base flow is the portion of stream flow that comes from
subsurface flow: water infiltrated but returned to the
surface in a stream channel.
• Streams run even when it hasn’t rained.
• Base flow is very important for fish, invertebrates, aquatic
plants and other life during dry spells.
Factors
Affecting
Infiltration
 (i) Soil Texture and Structure:
The continuity of non-capillary or
large pores provides easy paths for
percolating water. If the subsoil
formation has coarse texture the
water may infiltrate into the soil so
quickly that no water will be left for
runoff even if rainfall is quite heavy.
On the contrary clayey soils after
soaking some water in the initial
stages of the rainfall may swell
considerably. It makes the soil
almost watertight and infiltration
may get reduced to practically
negligible extent.
(ii) Conditions at Soil
Surface:
Even if the subsoil has excellent under drainage but
at the surface soil pores are sealed due to turbid
water or by in wash of fine soil particles it may
prevent entry of water into the soil and infiltration
rate will be low.
(iii) Soil-Moisture Content:

When the soil is fairly dry the rate of infiltration into

the soil is quite high. The infiltration rate diminishes as
the soil-moisture storage capacity is exhausted. After
this infiltration rate equals transmission rate. The rate
of infiltration in early phases of a rainfall will be less if
the soil pores are still filled from previous rain storm.
(iv) Type of Vegetative
Cover:
Vegetative cover affects surface entry of water
significantly. The vegetation or mulches protect the
soil surface from impact of rain drops. The lengthy
and extensive root system penetrate the soil and
increases its porosity. Organic matter from crops
promotes a crumbly by structure and improves soil
permeability. Forest canopy protects soil surface
whereas row crops provide less protection to soil.
(v) Soil Temperature

If saturated soil mass gets frozen due to severe low

temperature it becomes nearly impermeable. It
affects the infiltration.
(vi) Human Activities on
Soil Surface:
If the soil surface gets compacted due to
construction of roads, operation of tractors and
other farm implements and machinery the porosity
of the soil is decreased. As a result bigger pores are
almost eliminated making soil impermeable. It
reduces the infiltration rates appreciably.
The effect of infiltration is
to:
1) reduces flood magnitude
2) delays the time of arrival of water to the channel
3) reduce the soil erosion
4) recharge to the ground water reservoir
5) fill the soil pores with water to its field-capacity,
which subsequently supply water to the plants
6) avail the ground water during the non-rain
periods in the channels
7) help to supply water to plants
Measurements of
Infiltration
Measurements of
Infiltration:
1. FIELD MEASUREMENT METHOD
a) Single Tube Infiltrometer
b) Double Tube Infiltrometer
2. RAINFALL SIMULATOR
3. RAINFALL RUN-OFF ANALYSIS
Single Tube lnfiltrometer
It consists of a hallow metal
cylinder 30 cm in diameter
and 60 cm long driven into
the ground such that 10 cm of
it projects above ground level.
Water is poured at the top
such that a head of 7 cm
within the infiltrometer is
maintained above ground
level. A graduated jar or
burette is used to add water, to give directly the volume of water
added over time.
- Measures a combination of the horizontal and vertical flow
 Double Tube lnfiltrometer
To overcome the objections of
a single ring infiltrometer a set
two concentric hollow
cylinders of same length are
used. Water is added to both
the rings to maintain the same
height. Reading of the burette
for the inner cylinder is taken as
infiltration capacity of the soil.
The outer cylinder is
maintained to prevent
spreading of water from the
inner one.
 Field Tests

24 inch double ring infiltrometer with Mariotte Tubes http://www.hilbec.com/STORMWATER.htm

Infiltration is measured in the field with bottomless rings.

Mariotte Tubes allow for measurement of liquid flow during the infiltration
test by providing a constant water level in the 24 inch Infiltration Rings
Double-ring Infiltrometer

• Two rings eliminates overestimating the hydraulic conductivity

• Outer ring contributes to lateral flow , so
• Inner ring is contributing mostly to downward flow.
•Water from Mariotte bottles to rings via tap at base of bottles.
Ring water height equals that of the base of the bubble tube.
•When water moves into the soil, reducing the height of ring
water to below that of the bubble tube, more water is fed into
the ring.
Estimation
Estimates 1: Horton’s Equation

Horton: The infiltration capacity decreases exponentially with

time and ultimately reaches a constant rate
Infiltration capacity
• Where ft is the infiltration rate at time t;
• f0 is the initial infiltration rate or maximum infiltration rate;
• fc is the constant or equilibrium infiltration rate after the
soil has been saturated or minimum infiltration rate;
NOTE e is a number, ~ 2.718
• k is the decay constant specific to the soil.
• the f’s have units in/hr and k is a time constant hr -1
 Horton’s Infiltration Model for soil capacity
Infiltration starts at a constant rate, f0, and is decreasing
exponentially with time, t. After some time when the soil
saturation level reaches a critical value, the rate of infiltration
will level off to the rate fc.
 Estimates 2: F index

Infiltration Volume = total rainfall volume – runoff volume

as measured in the rain gages and at the outlet gage,
respectively.
F assumes infiltration volume resulted from a constant
infiltration rate. It assumes a high initial infiltration is
balanced by a low later infiltration.
 Example: Guessing F

We will find F in this problem by guessing a value for F ,

calculating the total runoff that would result, and
comparing our answer to the known runoff.