Determination of Hydraulic Properties of Locally Available Soils using Double Ring Infiltrometer

Abstract

Groundwater has always been considered as an unsustainable resource, provided abstraction is balanced by recharge. Intensive groundwater exploitation, it’s considerable withdrawal for various purposes and drainage measures, selfish human activities have crucially high-lighted to work out scientific bases and techniques to find out ways for a viable groundwater management. Thus, this paper attempts for a hydrological study of the soil and to determine
the hydraulic parameters of soil like the infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity, sorptivity, and porosity using double ring infiltrometer which is an efficient concern for the ground-water recharge purpose. For the already-stated critique, the field infiltration tests were implemented at ten distinct sites of NIT Rourkela campus encompassing around 150-200 observations by using double ring infiltrometer which incorporates two types of cylindrical
diameters 30cm and 60cm to prevent wastage of water. Data is collected until the soil turns out to be saturated and a steady state infiltration rate is gained. The novelty in this research work resides in the fact of finding out the saturation point of the soils and concluding the best-suited soil for the use in groundwater recharge. Thus, the results of the so-mentioned performance analysis proved to be an efficient method to determine the infiltration rate and
the hydraulic properties of the locally available soils for the effective use in groundwater recharge.