Q. What do you understand by Percolation of water?
Percolation of water into the ground or embankment takes place, causing rise in water table and / or saturation of the body. The percolation results in seepage force in the form of pore water pressure. Thee seepage may result in to in piping through the body of an embankment in the long run. If measures are not taken to drain the water safely out of the body, failure of bank or embankment slopes during floods can take place very quickly. In the preliminary stage, signs of such failure can be seen as slips, sink holes, boils, settlement, etc.