EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Permeability is the most important variable in groundwater. Permeability describes how easily water can flow through the rock or unconsolidated sediment and how easy it will be to extract the water for our purposes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Water moving below ground depends on the permeability (how easy or difficult it is for water to move) and on the porosity (the amount of open space in the material) of the subsurface rock.

Detailed explanation-3: -Permeability is a measure of the interconnectedness of pores. The connection between pore spaces allows groundwater to flow through the sediment or rock. The combination of water storage (porosity) and flow (permeability) makes a good aquifer-a rock unit or sediment that contains usable groundwater.

Detailed explanation-4: -For groundwater to be able to get into a rock with good porosity it must also have good permeability. For a rock to be permeable and for water to move through it, the pore spaces between the grains in the rock must be connected. Permeability is therefore a measure of the ability of water to move through a rock.

Detailed explanation-5: -After entering an aquifer, water moves slowly toward lower lying places and eventually is discharged from the aquifer from springs, seeps into streams, or is withdrawn from the ground by wells. Groundwater in aquifers between layers of poorly permeable rock, such as clay or shale, may be confined under pressure.