Seepage

In soil mechanics, seepage is the movement of water through soil. If fluid pressures in a soil deposit are uniformly increasing with depth according to ${\displaystyle u=\rho _{w}gz_{w}}$, where ${\displaystyle z_{w}}$ is the depth below the water table, then hydrostatic conditions will prevail and the fluids will not be flowing through the soil. However, if the water table is sloping or there is a perched water table as indicated in the accompanying sketch, then seepage will occur. For steady state seepage, the seepage velocities are not varying with time. If the water tables are changing levels with time, or if the soil is in the process of consolidation, then steady state conditions do not apply.