Static water level is the water level in a well located in an unconfined aquifer when the pump is not operating and no water has been discharged from the well for several days. Unconfined aquifers often are called water table aquifers because they have no layers that restrict water movement into the saturated zone from above. Unsaturated zones are the soil and geologic materials located between the land surface and the saturated zone. The voids, spaces or cracks are filled with a combination of air and water. Figure 3 locates the unsaturated zone within a typical geologic formation.
Water table is the level in the geologic formation below which all voids or cracks are saturated.
The water table also can be thought of as the upper surface of the groundwater and top of the saturated zone for an unconfined aquifer. Kenneth R. Bolen, Director of Cooperative Extension, University of Nebraska, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.