Water Table

If you are like me, when you hear the term "water table", you think of the upper limit of abundant groundwater. (In the vadose zone, above the water table, the interstices between particles of earth are filled by air, or by air and water (with the exception of the capillary fringe). Below it, every available space is saturated with water. The definition of the water table is surface where the pressure head is equal to atmospheric pressure (where gauge pressure = 0).) However, now that I am a parent I have learned otherwise. A Water Table is a really fun toy. Click on the picture below to see Bradley demostrate both the correct and incorrect way to use the table.