SALT WATER

INTRUSION

Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water

into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to
contamination of drinking water sources and other
consequences

Salt water intrusion

The reversal or reduction of fresh water
discharge which allows the heavier saline
water to move into an area where only fresh
water previously existed
The accidental or inadvertant destruction of
natural barriers that formerly separated
bodies of fresh and saline waters
The accidental or inadvertant results of the
disposal of waste saline water

Causes of salt water intrusion

Encroachment of seawater in coastal areas
Seawater that entered aquifers during past
geological time
Salt in salt domes, thin beds, or disseminated in
geologic formations
Water concentrated by evaporation in tidal
lagoons, playas, or other enclosed areas
Return flows to streams from irrigated land
Human saline wastes
Intrusion in inland aquifers

Salt water intrusion can result from several

mechanisms
- The

upward movement of saline water through the aquifer

as a result of some act of man on the hydrologic regime,
such as over pumping
- Another occurs by saline water moving vertically through
wells into a fresh water aquifer
- Occur where construction of a waterway or channel
involves removal of materials which have acted as an
impermeable blanket between saline waters and fresh
water aquifers

- Destruction of natural barriers may also permit saline

water on the surface to be carried past natural geologic
barriers

Sea water intrusion in coastal aquifers

Under natural conditions fresh ground water in
coastal aquifers is discharged into the ocean at
or seaward of the coastline
Demands by man for ground water become
sufficiently large, the seaward flow of ground
water is decreased or even reversed
This allows the sea water to advance inland
within aquifer, thereby producing sea water
intrusion

Ghyben-Herzberg relation between fresh

and saline waters

Ghyben-Herzberg principle states that:

w
z x , y
h x , y
s w
z x , y Gh x , y
Where:

Z(x,y) is the depth to the saltwater interface below sea level at location (x,y) (L; ft or m)
h(x,y) is the elevation of the water table above sea level at point (x,y) (L; ft or m)
w is the density of fresh water (M/L3; g/cm3)
s is the density of salt water (M/L3; g/cm3)

Ex.
The steady fresh-saline interface is located 43 m below
sea level 500 m inland from the shoreline in an
unconfined aquifer. Determine the elevation of the water
table above this point.

Shape of the fresh-salt water interface

Glovers model

2 qx q
2

z

K K

q
xo
2K

2 qx
z
K

2qx

h f
K
q
zo
K

Ghyben-Herzberg model

Ex.
The salt-water interface 80 m from the shoreline is
located 27.5 m below sea level in an unconfined coastal
aquifer. If the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer is 11.8
m/day, determine the fresh water discharge from the
aquifer into the sea using Ghyben-Herzberg model and
Glovers model. Assume steady state conditions.

Effect of wells on seawater intrusion (Stracks

solution)

Q '0 x
Qw
x xw y 2
1
B
1 2
x
ln
2
2
2

K
4K x xw y
2

Strack

isotropic
Homogeneous aquifer

Horizontal impervious base

Horizontal fresh water flow

No flow in the salt water zone

 or G
1

f
s f

Qw
xs xw 1
; ys c
Q'0, x xw
2

1 1 / 2

21 ln
1
1 1 / 2

1

KB 2 1
2

Q'0 x xw

and

Qw

Q '0 x x w

where

Ex.
If a production well pumping at a constant rate of 5 L/s is
constructed 800 m from the shoreline of the coastal
aquifer. The hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer is 8.6
m/day and the horizontal impervious stratum is located
57 m below sea level. Determine the new location of the
toe of the fresh-saline interface under steady conditions.
Does brackish water occur?
B = 57 m, Q = 1.6 m3/day/m, Qw = 5L/s = 432 m3/day,
K = 8.6 m/day, x = 800 m, xo = 215 m

Fresh-salt water relations on oceanic islands

For an infinite-strip island:

2
w
a
a x
2
h
K 1 G

A circular island with a radius of distance R:

2
2
w
R

r
h2
2 K 1 G

Ex.
An infinite-strip island has a width of 2 km. The
permeability of the sediments is 10-2 cm/s and there is a
daily accretion of 0.13 cm/day:
- Compute a water table profile across the island;
- Then determine the interface depth.

Control of saline water intrusion

-Modification of pumping pattern
-Artificial recharge
-Extraction barrier
-Injection barrier
-Subsurface barrier

THANK YOU