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Specific storage (S_s), storativity (S), specific yield (S_y) and specific capacity are aquifer properties; they are measures of the ability of an aquifer to release groundwater from storage, due to a unit decline in hydraulic head. They are often determined in hydrogeology using an aquifer test.

Contents 1 Specific storage 2 Storativity 3 Specific yield 4 Specific capacity 5 See also 6 References

The specific storage is the amount of water which a given volume of aquifer will produce, provided a unit change in hydraulic head is applied to it (while it still remains fully saturated); it has units of inverse length, [L^-1]. It is the primary mechanism for storage in confined aquifers. It can be expressed as the volume of water released from storage per unit decline in hydraulic head in the aquifer, per unit volume of aquifer. The value of specific storage is typically very small, generally 0.0001 1/ft or less.

In terms of measurable physical properties, specific storage can be expressed as

)

where

γ is the specific weight of water (N•m^-3 or [ML^-2T^-2])

n is the porosity of the material (dimensionless ratio between 0 and 1)

β_p is the compressibility of the bulk aquifer material, and

β_w is the compressibility of water (m²N^-1 or [LM^-1T²])

The compressibility terms relate a given change in stress to a change in volume (a strain). These two terms can be defined as:

where

σ_e is the effective stress (N or [MLT^-2])

These equations relate a change in total or water volume (V_t or V_w) per change in applied stress (effective stress — σ_e or pore pressure — p) per unit volume. The compressibilities (and therefore also S_s) can be estimated from laboratory consolidation tests (in an apparatus called a consolidometer), using the consolidation theory of soil mechanics (developed by Karl Terzaghi).

Storativity is the volume of water released from storage per unit decline in hydraulic head in the aquifer, per unit area of the aquifer, or:

Storativity is the vertically integrated specific storage value for an aquifer or aquitard. For a homogeneous aquifer or aquitard they are simply related by:

where b is the thickness of aquifer. Storativity is a dimensionless quantity, and ranges between 0 and the effective porosity of the aquifer; although for confined aquifers, this number is usually much less than 0.01.

Values of specific yield, from Johnson (1967)

Material	Specific Yield (%)
	min	avg	max
Unconsolidated deposits
Clay	0	2	5
Sandy clay (mud)	3	7	12
Silt	3	18	19
Fine sand	10	21	28
Medium sand	15	26	32
Coarse sand	20	27	35
Gravelly sand	20	25	35
Fine gravel	21	25	35
Medium gravel	13	23	26
Coarse gravel	12	22	26
Consolidated deposits
Fine-grained sandstone		21
Medium-grained sandstone		27
Limestone		14
Schist		26
Siltstone		12
Tuff		21
Other deposits
Dune sand		38
Loess		18
Peat		44
Till, predominantly silt		6
Till, predominantly sand		16
Till, predominantly gravel		16

Specific yield, also known as the drainable porosity, is a ratio, less than or equal to the effective porosity, indicating the volumetric fraction of the bulk aquifer volume that a given aquifer will yield when all the water is allowed to drain out of it under the forces of gravity:

where

V_wd is the volume of water drained, and

V_T is the total rock or material volume

It is primarily used for unconfined aquifers, since the elastic storage component, S_s, is relatively small and usually has an insignificant contribution. Specific yield can be close to effective porosity, but there are several subtle things which make this value more complicated than it seems. Some water always remains in the formation, even after drainage; it clings to the grains of sand and clay in the formation. Also, the value of specific yield may not be fully realized until very large times, due to complications caused by unsaturated flow.

Specific capacity is a quantity that which a water well can produce per unit of drawdown. It has units of or , and is expressed as:

where

S_c is the specific capacity ([L²T⁻¹]; m²/day or USgal/day/ft)

Q is the pumping rate ([L³T⁻¹]; m³/day or USgal/day), and

h₀ − h is the drawdown ([L]; m or ft)

The specific capacity of a well is also a function of the pumping rate it is determined at. Due to non-linear well losses the specific drawdown will be greater at higher pumping rates than it is at low pumping rates. This complication makes the absolute value of specific capacity of little use; though it is useful for comparing the efficiency of the same well through time (e.g., to see if the well requires rehabilitation).

• Aquifer test
• Soil mechanics
• Groundwater flow equation describes how these terms are used in the context of solving groundwater flow problems

• Johnson, A.I. 1967. Specific yield — compilation of specific yields for various materials. U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1662-D, 74 p.
• Morris, D.A. and Johnson, A.I., 1967. Summary of hydrologic and physical properties of rock and soil materials as analyzed by the Hydrologic Laboratory of the U.S. Geological Survey 1948-1960. U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1839-D, 42 p.

v • d • e Physical aquifer properties used in hydrogeology
hydraulic head · hydraulic conductivity · storativity · porosity · water content

v • d • e Topics in geotechnical engineering
Soils	Clay · Silt · Sand · Gravel · Peat
Soil properties	Hydraulic conductivity · Water content · Void ratio · Bulk density · Thixotropy · Reynolds' dilatancy · Angle of repose · Cohesion · Porosity · Permeability · Specific storage
Soil mechanics	Effective stress · Pore water pressure · Shear strength · Overburden pressure · Consolidation · Soil compaction · Soil classification · Shear wave
Geotechnical investigation	Cone penetration test · Standard penetration test · Exploration geophysics · Monitoring well · Borehole
Laboratory tests	Atterberg limits · California bearing ratio · Direct shear test · Hydrometer · Proctor compaction test · R-value · Sieve analysis · Triaxial shear test · Hydraulic conductivity tests · Water content tests
Foundations	Bearing capacity · Shallow foundation · Deep foundation · Dynamic load testing · Wave equation analysis · Crosshole sonic logging
Retaining walls	Lateral earth pressure · Mechanically stabilized earth · Soil nailing · Tieback · Gabion · Slurry wall
Slope stability	Mass wasting · Landslide
Earthquakes	Soil liquefaction · Response spectrum · Seismic hazard · Ground-structure interaction
Geosynthetics	Geotextile · Geomembranes · Geosynthetic clay liner