A REPORT

ON
WELL
COURSE TITLE: HYDROGEOLOGY
COURSE CODE: CEC 207
LEVEL: ND 2 FT
GROUP: 7 (SEVEN)

LECTURER IN CHARGE:
MR. A. E AKINDELE

PREPARED BY:
CV20220102975
CV20220101134
CV20220101264
CV20220106767
CV20220100016
CV20220104592
CV20220100136
CV20220100623
CV20220103494
CV20220106736

THE DEPARMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY,
THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC EDE
 INTRODUCTION

D omestic wells are defined herein as privately owned water wells

supplying a household’s domestic water, including the water used for
drinking, cooking, flushing and bathing. These wells are also sometimes
referred to as private wells or residential wells.

In Canada and the United States, it is estimated that more than one tenth of its
population relies on domestic wells for household water supply, while globally,
about half of the world’s population relies on groundwater for drinking water
(Margat and van der Gun, 2013). Unfortunately, we do not have sound global
estimates of the population supplied by domestic wells, but it is likely that
hundreds of millions of people rely on domestic wells for their household water
supply.

Collection of information about the construction of domestic water wells is

widely considered an important component of groundwater and drinking water
management programs. Well construction records are usually compiled in a
database that is made available to various users of the information who use the
records for a wide range of purposes. For example, well records are used by
homebuyers to confirm an adequate water supply, government regulators to
ensure proper well construction for safe drinking water and groundwater
protection, groundwater managers to estimate groundwater utilization, public
health officials to investigate potential exposure to groundwater contaminants,
and researchers to better understand aquifer characteristics.

Well record databases are arguably the largest and most important archive of
information on groundwater and geological conditions worldwide, and in many
jurisdictions, they are the only groundwater data collected and published by
government organizations.

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 WATER WELL BASICS

A
water well is a hole, shaft, or excavation used for the purpose of extracting
ground water from the subsurface. Water may flow to the surface naturally
after excavation of the hole or shaft. Such a well is known as a flowing
artesian well. More commonly, water must be pumped out of the well.

Most wells are vertical shafts, but they may also be horizontal or at an inclined angle.
Horizontal wells are commonly used in bank filtration, where surface water is extracted
via recharge through river bed sediments into horizontal wells located underneath or
next to a stream. The oldest known wells, Qanats, are hand-dug horizontal shafts
extending into the mountains of the old Persian empire in present-day Iran.

Some wells are used for purposes other than obtaining ground water. Oil and gas wells
are examples of this. Monitoring wells for groundwater levels and groundwater quality
are other examples. Still other purposes include the investigation of subsurface
conditions, shallow drainage, artificial recharge, and waste disposal.

In this publication we focus on vertical water-production wells commonly used to

supply water for domestic, municipal, and agricultural uses in California. Our pur- pose
is to provide readers with some basic information about water wells to help them
understand principles of effective well construction when they work with a professional
driller, consultant, or well servicing agency for well drilling and maintenance.

TYPES OF WATER WELL:

 Dug Wells: Historically, these were excavated by hand or using simple tools, reaching
shallow groundwater sources. They are typically lined with bricks, stones, or concrete
rings.

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 Drilled Wells: Modern drilling techniques involve using machinery to bore deep into
the ground, accessing deeper aquifers. These wells are typically cased with steel or
PVC pipes to prevent collapse and contamination.

 Driven Wells: These wells are constructed by driving a pipe into the ground, often
used in areas with sandy or loose soil.

 Bored Wells: Similar to drilled wells but with larger diameters, bored wells are
constructed using a rotating auger to create a wide borehole.

CONSTRUCTION AND COMPONENTS:

 Well Casing: Provides structural support and prevents the collapse of the well. It also
serves as a barrier against surface contaminants.

 Screen: Placed around the casing in areas with loose soil or gravel, allowing water to
enter while keeping out sediment and debris.

 Gravel Pack: Placed around the screen to stabilize the well and prevent sand or silt
from entering.

 Pumping System: Used to extract water from the well, including submersible pumps,
jet pumps, or hand pumps depending on the depth and requirements of the well.

MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT:

 Regular Inspection: Periodic checks for signs of damage, corrosion, or
contamination.

 Water Quality Testing: Conducting tests for pH, dissolved minerals, bacteria, and
other contaminants to ensure water safety.

 Pump Maintenance: Lubrication, repairs, and replacements of pump components as

needed.

 Well Rehabilitation: Procedures such as chemical treatment or high-pressure jetting

to remove mineral deposits or bacterial buildup.
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 Regulatory Compliance: Adhering to local regulations regarding well construction,
water usage, and reporting requirements

SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER WELLS

 Access to Clean Water: Water wells provide a reliable source of freshwater,

especially in rural and remote areas where access to centralized water infrastructure is
limited.

 Agricultural Use: Wells support irrigation systems, enabling agricultural productivity

and food security.

 Emergency Preparedness: Wells serve as critical water sources during natural

disasters or emergencies when centralized water supply systems may be compromised.

 Economic Development: Reliable access to water promotes economic activities such

as agriculture, industry, and tourism, contributing to local livelihoods and prosperity.

DETERMINING A WELL LOCATION

The location of a well is mainly determined by the well’s purpose. For drinking
and irrigation water-production wells, groundwater quality and long-term groundwater
supply are the most important considerations. The hydro geological assessment to
determine whether and where to locate a well should always be done by a
knowledgeable driller or professional consultant. The water quality criteria to use for
drinking water wells are the applicable local or state drinking water quality standards.
For irrigation wells, the primary chemical parameters of concern are salinity and boron
and the sodium-adsorption ratio.

Enough ground water must be available to meet the pumping requirements of the wells.
For large municipal and agricultural production wells, pumping rate requirements range
from about 500 to 4,000 gallons per minute. Small- and medium-sized community water
systems may depend on water wells that produce from 100 to 500 gpm. Individual

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homes’ domestic wells may meet their needs with as few as 1 to 5 gpm, depending on
local regulations. To determine whether the desired amount of ground water is available
at a particular location and whether it is of appropriate quality, drillers and groundwater
consultants rely on their prior knowledge of the local groundwater system, experience in
similar areas, and a diverse array of information such as land surface topography, local
vegetation, rock fracturing (where applicable), local geology, groundwater chemistry,
information on thickness, depth, and permeability of local aquifers from existing wells,
groundwater levels, satellite or aerial photographs, and geophysical measurements.

In most cases, the well location is further limited by property ownership, the need to
keep surface transportation of the pumped ground water to a minimum, and access
restrictions for the drilling equipment. When locating a well, one should also consider
the proximity of potential sources of contamination such as fuel or chemical storage
areas, nearby streams, sewer lines, and leach fields or septic tanks. The presence of a
significant barrier between such potential sources and the well itself is very important
for the protection of the well.

WATER WELL DESIGN AND INSTALLATION

Once the well location has been determined, a preliminary well design is completed. For
many large production wells, a test hole will be drilled before well drilling to obtain
more detailed information about the depth of water-producing zones, confining beds,
well production capabilities, water levels, and groundwater quality. The final design is
subject to site-specific observations made in the test hole or during the well drilling.
The overall objective of the design is to create a structurally stable, long-lasting,
efficient well that has enough space to house pumps or other extraction devices, allows
ground water to move effortlessly and sediment-free from the aquifer into the well at the
desired volume and quality, and prevents bacterial growth and material decay in the well
(see sidebar, Well Design Objectives).
A well consists of a bottom sump, well screen, and well casing (pipe) surrounded by a
gravel pack and appropriate surface and borehole seals (Figure 1). Water enters the well

6
through perforations or openings in the well screen. Wells can be screened continuously
along the bore or at specific depth intervals.

Figure 1. Components of a well.

The latter is necessary when a well taps multiple aquifer zones, to ensure that screened
zones match the aquifer zones from which water will be drawn. In alluvial aquifers,
which commonly contain alternating sequences of coarse material (sand and gravel) and
fine material, the latter construction method is much more likely to provide clean,
sediment-free water and is more energy efficient than the installation of a continuous
screen. Hard rock wells, on the other hand, are constructed very differently. Often, the
borehole of a hard rock well will stand open and will not need to be screened or cased
unless the hard rock crumbles easily.

The purpose of the screen is to keep sand and gravel from the gravel pack (described
below) out of the well while providing ample water flow to enter the casing. The screen
should also be designed to allow the well to be properly developed (see Well
Development). Slotted, louvered, and bridge-slotted screens and continuous wire wrap
screens are the most common types. Slotted screens provide poor open area. They are
not well suited for proper well development and maintenance, and are therefore not
recommended. Wire wrap screens or pipe-based wire wrap screens give the best

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performance. The additional cost of wire wrap screens can be offset if you only install
screen sections in the most productive formations along the borehole.
The purposes of the blank well casing between and above the well screens are to prevent
fine and very fine formation particles from entering the well, to provide an open
pathway from the aquifer to the surface, to provide a proper housing for the pump, and
to protect the pumped ground water from interaction with shallower ground water that
may be of lower quality.
The annular space between the well screen, well casing, and borehole wall is filled with
gravel or coarse sand (called the gravel pack or filter pack). The gravel pack prevents
sand and fine sand particles from moving from the aquifer formation into the well. The
gravel pack does not exclude fine silt and clay particles; where those occur in a
formation it is best to use blank casing sections. The uppermost section of the annulus is
normally sealed with a bentonite clay and cement grout to ensure that no water or
contamination can enter the annulus from the surface. Local county ordinances may
have more stringent requirements depending on local groundwater conditions.
At the surface of the well, a surface casing is commonly installed to facilitate the
installation of the well seal. The surface casing and well seal protect the well against
contamination of the gravel pack and keep shallow materials from caving into the well.
Surface casing and well seals are particularly important in hard rock wells to protect the
otherwise open, uncased borehole serving as a well.

WELL DRILLING
Wells can be constructed in a number of ways. The most common drilling techniques in
California are rotary, reverse rotary, air rotary, and cable tool. Auger drilling is often
employed for shallow wells that are not used as supply wells. In unconsolidated and
semi- consolidated materials, (reverse) rotary and cable tool methods are most
commonly employed. Hard rock wells generally are drilled with air rotary drilling
equipment.

Properly implemented, all of these drilling methods will produce equally efficient and
productive wells where ground water is available. Cable tool drilling generally is less

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labor-intensive but takes more time than (reverse) rotary drilling. Reverse rotary and
rotary drilling require large amounts of circulation water and the construction of a mud
pit, something to be considered if the well is to be drilled in a remote location with no
access to water.

During drilling, drillers must keep a detailed log of the drill cuttings obtained from the
advancing borehole. In addition, after the drilling has been completed but before the
well is installed, it is often desirable to obtain more detailed data on the subsurface
geology by taking geophysical measurements in the borehole. Specialized equipment is
used to measure the electrical resistance and the self-potential or spontaneous potential of
the geological material along the open borehole wall. The two most important factors that
influence these specialized logs are the texture of the formation and the salinity of the
ground water. Sand has a higher resistance than clay, while high salinity reduces the
electrical resistance of the geological formation. Careful, professional interpretation of

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the resistance and spontaneous potential log and the drill cuttings’ description provides
important information about water salinity and the location and thickness of the aquifer
layers. The information obtained is extremely useful when finalizing the well design,
which includes a determination of the depth of the well screens, the size of the screen
openings, and the size of the gravel pack material.

Because of timing issues, it is better especially in remote areas to drill a pilot hole a
good deal ahead of the well construction date and obtain all pertinent log information
early on from the pilot hole. The well design can then be completed and the proper
screen, casing, and gravel materials can be ordered for timely delivery prior to the
drilling of the well.

Note that a copy of all well log information should be given to the person who pays for
the drilling job. The Department of Water Resources keeps copies of all well logs and
has a large collection of past well logs. These can be requested by a well owner if the
original records are unavailable. The well log contains important information about
construction details and aquifer characteristics that can be used later for troubleshooting
well problems.

WELL DEVELOPMENT
After the well screen, well casing, and gravel pack have been installed, the well is
developed to clean the borehole and casing of drilling fluid and to properly settle the
gravel pack around the well screen. A typical method for well development is to surge
or jet water or air in and out of the well screen openings. This procedure may take
several days or perhaps longer, depending on the size and depth of the well. A proper- ly
developed gravel pack keeps fine sediments out of the well and provides a clean and
unrestricted flow path for ground water.

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Proper well design and good well development will result in lower pumping costs, a
longer pump life, and fewer biological problems such as iron-bacteria and slime build-
up. Poorly designed and underdeveloped wells are subject to more fre- quent pump
failures because sand and fines enter the well and cause significantly more wear and tear
on pump turbines.

Poorly designed and underdeveloped wells also exhibit greater water level draw- down
than do properly constructed wells, an effect referred to as poor well efficiency. Poor
well efficiency occurs when ground water cannot easily enter the well screen because of
a lack of open area in the screen, a clogged gravel pack, bacterial slime build-up, or a
borehole wall that is clogged from incomplete removal of drilling mud deposits. The
result is a significant increase in pumping costs. Note that well efficiency should not be
confused with pump efficiency. The latter is related to selection of a properly sized
pump, given the site-specific pump lift requirements and the desired pumping rate.

Once the well is completed and developed, it is a good practice to conduct an aquifer
test (or pump test). For an aquifer test, the well is pumped at a constant rate or with
stepwise increased rates, typically for 12 hours to 7 days, while the water levels in the
well are checked and recorded frequently as they decline from their standing water level
to their pumping water level. Aquifer tests are used to determine the efficiency and

11
capacity of the well and to provide information about the permeability of the aquifer.
The information about the pumping rate and resulting pumping water levels is also
critical if you are to order a properly sized pump.

Once the well development and aquifer test pumping equipment is removed, it may be
useful to use a specialized video camera to check the inside of the well for damage, to
verify construction details, and to make sure that all the screen perforations are open.

WELLHEAD PROTECTION
The construction of the final well seal is intended to provide protection from leakage
and to keep runoff from entering the wellhead. Minimum standards for surface seals
have been set by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR Bulletin 74–90). It
is also important to install backflow prevention devices, especially if the well water is
mixed with chemicals such as fertilizer and pesticides near the well. A backflow
prevention device is intended to keep contaminated water from flowing back from the
distribution system into the well when the pump is shut off.

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DRILLING A WELL: OVERVIEW
The process of designing and constructing water well begins when you make arrangements
with a licensed driller or with a professional consultant who designs the well and oversees
the work of the licensed driller. We strongly recommended against any reliance on dowsers
or well witchers to locate a well site. Research shows no scientific or other reliable basis to
substantiate the use of water dowsing as a means to locate a well site.
The driller or consultant finds a suitable location to meet the specified purpose of the well
and a preliminary design is established. Once the drilling rig is set up, the drilling process
itself may last from a few hours (for a shallow, small-diameter well) to several weeks (for a
deep, large-diameter well). Sometimes, particularly for large production wells and where
water quality is particularly important, the driller will drill a small-diameter pilot hole before
drilling the well bore. From information obtained from the pilot hole, a driller or consultant
can determine aquifer formations and groundwater quality at various depths and then
optimize the final well design for the specific hydro geological conditions at the site.
Appropriate materials (screen, casing, gravel) can then be ordered in a timely fashion prior to
the final drilling.
Once the well bore is drilled, the driller installs well casing and well screens and fills the
annulus around the casing with a gravel (filter) pack and the appropriate cement and
bentonite seal to prevent water from leaking between uncontaminated and contaminated
aquifers or from the land surface into the well (bentonite is a special type of clay used to seal
against water leaks). Then the driller develops the well (see Well Development), implements
an aquifer test, completes the sanitary seal of the well head, and installs a pump and power
source. Proper design, construction, development, and completion of the well will result in a
long life for the well (as long as half a century or more) and efficient well operation.

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 CONCLUSION
Water well record databases, which store information about water well construction, are
widely viewed as an important component of groundwater and drinking water management
programs. Records of well construction are typically compiled in a central database and
made available to various users of the information which may include anyone from
homeowners and well contractors to groundwater consultants, managers and researchers.
These databases are arguably the world’s largest and most important source of groundwater
information and it is estimated that there could be up to a 100 million water well records
archived worldwide. The main types of information recorded in well record databases
include details pertaining to the well location, construction, and hydrogeological conditions.

The number of records in a jurisdiction’s well record database varies depending on factors
such as the size of the population reliant on domestic wells, the jurisdictional framework for
managing and reporting well construction activities (e.g., voluntary versus mandatory) and
the enforcement of reporting requirements where well record submission is a legal
requirement.

Over the past 50 years well record databases have evolved in many jurisdictions from hard
copy forms filed in a central location to open distribution of well record data over the
internet. The digitization of well record information in these jurisdictions has engendered
enhanced access and utilization of the datasets and permitted the development of new tools
for data visualization and analytics. Despite these technological improvements, however, the
availability of water well record databases is highly variable, ranging from hard copy reports
to digital data.

A robust system for collecting, managing, and disseminating well record data, in addition to
adequate standards for training and data quality, are important components of drinking water
and groundwater protection programs. Key objectives for well record management include
the effective capture of water well location and construction activities, the collection of high
quality and useful data, the timely publication of well record data and the open distribution
of this data in various formats that can be easily found and accessed on the internet.

Adopting best practices in well record management can yield high quality hydrogeological
data suitable for various types of uses relating to water well stewardship, groundwater
protection, human health protection and groundwater assessment and research. As a research
tool, well record databases have contributed significantly to our understanding of
groundwater resources at local to regional scales. Continued improvements to the online
accessibility of well record data will foster greater utilization of these datasets for
groundwater management and research.

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