A ground water model allows students to observe and simulate, in real time, the interactions of precipitation, streams, lakes, landfills, buried storage tanks, and water wells with ground water. A ground water model makes it easy to imagine the three dimensional subsurface world of ground water and to recreate many ground water behaviors and pollution scenarios.
Some specific ground water concepts that can be demonstrated.
- Aquifer
- Recharge
- Zone of areation
- Saturated zone
- Cone of depression
- Drawdown
- Principles of artesian flowing wells
- The piezometric surface above a zone of saturation
- Hydrostatic head
- Ground water stress
Some physical properties of an aquifer that can be shown.
- Confined aquifer
- Unconfined aquifer
- Unconsolidated aquifer
- Consolidated aquifer
- Transitivity
- Cone of depression
- Rain recharge effects on contaminant depth
- Contaminant dispersion and dilution in an aquifer
- Leakage of lagoons, landfills etc., into groundwater
- Well interference effects
- Two directional flow to a river
- Salt water intrusion
List and phone numbers of County Soil and Water Conservation offices
whom may have models for loan.
More information from the makers web site.