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30 <br />. models are termed the conduit flow system and the diffuse <br />flow system; and they are diagrammed in figure 4. <br /> The conduit system has the water recharge localized <br /> in a few feeder pipes which may be faults or conduits <br /> formed by rock dissolution. The flow from the feeder <br /> pipes can be turbulent and the water may carry a load of <br /> suspended solids. The water chemistry of conduit systems <br /> responds to changes in the precipitation and the seasons. <br /> Discharge rate, temperature, pH, conductivity, and elemental <br /> abundances all change with the above two variables. The <br /> residence time for the water in the system is on the order <br /> of days, and the primary changes in the water chemistry of <br /> the aquifer can be related to the increase in the discharge <br /> <br /> rate following precipitation. Springs feeding from limestone <br /> caves are good examples of conduit aquifer systems. <br /> In the diffuse aquifer system, the water recharge is <br /> by seepage through small faults and voids and intergranular <br /> spaces. The movement of the water is slow and it is usually <br /> clear. The water chemistry shows little response to changes <br /> in precipitation and the seasons; all the parameters vary <br /> little throughout the year. The residence time of the water <br /> in the system is measured in months. When the discharge <br /> rate does rise a bit during the spring runoff, the abundances <br /> of the constituents in the water may increase rather than <br /> decrease, as if the aquifer were flushing trapped water from <br /> its many small pores. A sandstone or glacial moraine aquifer <br />.