Two models for calculating precipitation recharge have been evaluated. 1) A simple water balance model, and 2) a numerical simulation model. Two models differ broadly in their assumptions and in their conceptualization of unsaturated flow. Application of the two models to hypothetical unsaturated domains indicated that for homogeneous soil conditions in the unsaturated zone, the recharges calculated by the water balance model is comparable to those obtained by the numerical simulation model. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify the effect of moving water table on recharge estimates. Errors involved in the assumption of a fixed water table were determined as a function of the hydrogeological parameters. The results showed in the paper will play a very important reference and application value in the systematic calculation of unsaturated-saturated or drainage models under the condition of given hydrogeology.