Well Development and

Efficiency
 Introduction
• Well Drilling
– Augers
– Cable Tool
– Rotary
– Mud
• Well Completion
– Unconsolidated formations
– Consolidated Formations
– Well Screens
– Gravel Packs
• Well Development
– Well Drawdown
– Well Losses
– Specific Capacity
– Step Drawdown Test
– Well Efficiency
 Domestic Hand Pumped Well

Domestic dug
well with rock
curb, concrete
seal, and hand
pump

~20 m depth
> 1 m diameter
< 500 m3/day
 Augers
Hand-driven augers

~15 m depth
> 20 cm diameter

Power-driven augers

~30 m depth
> 1 m diameter
 Power Auger
• Auger drilling is done
with a helical screw
driven into the ground
with rotation; cuttings
are lifted up the
borehole by the screw

~ 30 m depth
< 15-90 cm diameter
< 500 m3/day
 Drilled Well - Cable Tool
• Traditional way of drilling
large diameter water
supply wells.
• The Rig raises and drops
the drill string with a
heavy carbide tipped drill
bit that chisels through
the rock and pulverizes
the materials.

• 8 – 60 cm
• 600 m
 Mud/Air Rotary
• Rotary drilling relies on
continuous circular motion
of the bit to break rock at
the bottom of the hole.
• Cuttings are removed as
drilling fluids circulate
through the bit and up the
wellbore to the surface.
 Drilling Mud Circulation
• Lift soil/rock cuttings from the bottom of
the borehole and carry them to a settling
pit;
• Allow cuttings to drop out in the mud pit
so that they are not re-circulated
(influenced by mud thickness, flow rate in
the settling pits and shape/size of the
pits);
• Prevent cuttings from rapidly settling
while another length of drill pipe is being
added (if cuttings drop too fast, they can
build-up on top of the bit and seize it in
the hole);
• Create a film of small particles on the
borehole wall to prevent caving and to
ensure that the upward-flowing stream of
drilling fluid does not erode the adjacent
formation;
• Seal the borehole wall to reduce fluid loss
(minimizing volumes of drilling fluid is
especially important in dry areas where
water must be carried from far away);
• Cool and clean the drill bit; and
• Lubricate the bit, bearings, mud pump and
drill pipe .
 Well Completion
• After drilling, must
“complete” the well
– Placement of casing
– Placement of well screen
– Placement of gravel
packing
– Open hole
 Rotary Drill Well Construction
• Well casing
– Lining to maintain
open hole
– Seals out other
water (surface,
formations)
– Structural support
against cave-in
 Rotary Drilled Well in Limestone
• Surface casing
– From ground
surface through
unconsolidated
upper material
 Unconsolidated Aquifers
• Pump
chamber
casing
– Casing
within which
pump is set
 Consolidated Aquifer
• Cementing
– Prevent entrance
of poor quality
water
– Protect casing
against corrosion
– Stabilize
formation
Well in Confined, Consolidated Aquifer
Placing the Pack
 Well Screen
• Head loss through perforated well section
– Percentage of open area (minimum 15%)
– Diameter depends on well yield and aquifer
thickness
– Entrance velocities must be limited

• Vs = entrance velocity
• Q = pumping rate
• c = clogging cefficient
• Ds = screen diameter
• Ls = screen length
• P = Percent open area
Entrance Velocity vs Conductivity
 Well Screens
• May or may not be required
• Proper screen improves yield
• Slot size
– Related to grain-size
• Other considerations
– Mineral content of water,
presence of bacteria, and
strength requirements
– Excess convergence of flow

Groundwater and Wells, Driscoll, 1986

 Well Design, Completion and Development

• Gravel Pack
– Installed between screen
and borehole wall
– Allows larger screen slot
sizes
– Reduces fine grained
sediment entering
• Development
– Washing fines out of the
aquifer near the well
– Cleaning the well with water
– Air-lifting, surging, pumping,
or backwashing
 Well Development
• After completion, wells are
developed to increase specific
capacity and improve economic
life.
• Remove finer materials from the
formation.
• Pumping
• Surging
• Compressed air
 Motor
Pumps
• Shallow Wells
– Hand-operated
– Turbine
– Centrifugal (shallow, high
volume)
• Deep Wells Motor
– turbine, submersible

turbine submersible
Spring Box
 Wellhead Protection
• Grout seal, concrete
slab, and well seal for
sanitary protection.
Well Design, Completion and Development
• Well diameter
– Dictated by size of pump
– Affects cost of the well
– Must ensure good
hydraulic efficiency
• Well depth
– Complete to the bottom
of the aquifer
• More aquifer thickness
utilized
• Higher specific capacity
(Q/s, discharge per unit
of drawdown)
 Collector Well

Sonoma County Water Agency collector well along Russian

River near Wholer Bridge. The water agency operates five
similar wells on the Russian River. All use the Raney design
with laterals extending beneath the river bed in a radial
pattern from the main caisson. Each of these wells are
capable of producing between 15 and 20 million gallons of
water per day. The river water is naturally filtered as it
moves through the river bed sediments to the collector
wells.
 Well Diameter vs Pumping Rate
(max 5 ft/sec in casing)

Well Casing Well Yield

(in. ID) (gpm)
6 100
8 175
10 300
12 700
14 1000
16 1800
20 3000
24 3800
30 6000

Groundwater and Wells, Driscoll, 1986

 Drawdown in a Well
• Drawdown in a pumped
well consists of two
components:

• Aquifer losses
– Head losses that occur in
the aquifer where the
flow is laminar
– Tme-dependent
– Vary linearly with the
well discharge

• Well losses
– Aquifer damage during
drilling and completion
– Turbulent friction losses
adjacent to well, in the
well and pipe
 Well Losses
• Excess drawdown due to well
design, well construction, or
the nature of the aquifer

Q æ r0 ö
sw = lnç ÷+ CQ n
2p T èrw ø
=BQ + CQ n
æ ö
lnçr0 ÷
è rw ø
B=
  2pT

 
Note UNITS!
 Specific Capacity
• Specific capacity = Q/sw
– Yield per unit of drawdown
– gpm/ft, or m3/hr/m
• Drawdown in the well
sw =BQ + CQ 2

• Specific capacity - linear function

  of Q sw
=B + CQ
Q

• Observing change in sw as Q is
increased – select optimum
  pumping rate
 Step Drawdown Test
• To evaluate well losses
• Pump a well at a low rate
until drawdown stabilizes
• Increase pumping rate
• Pump until drawdown
stabilizes again
• Repeat at least three times
 Step-Drawdown Test

Q (m3/day) S (m)

500 1
1000 2.6
2000 8.9
2500 14.0
2750 18.6
 Step Drawdown Test
• Plot sw/Q vs Q
• Fit straight line
sw
=B + CQ
Q
y =a0 + a1 x

• Slope = a1 = C
  • Intercept = a0 = B
 Step-Drawdown Test (Example)
0.01
Q (m3/day) S (m) 0.01
f(x) = 0 x + 0
500 1.14 0.01
1000 2.66

sw/Q (day/m2)
0.01
1500 5.57 0

2000 8.82 0

2500 13.54 0

3000 18.79 0
0
3500 23.67 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Well Discharge, Q (m3/day)

C = 1.6x10-6 day2/m5
= 3.32 min2/m5

Severe deterioration or clogging

Losses: Formation, Well, Total
 Well Efficiency
• Specific capacity = Q/s
– Relationship between drawdown and discharge of a well
• Describes productivity of aquifer and well
• Specific capacity decreases with
– Time
– Increasing Q
• Well efficiency = ratio of aquifer loss to total loss
Pumping System
 Summary
• Well Drilling
– Augers
– Cable Tool
– Rotary
– Mud
• Well Completion
– Unconsolidated formations
– Consolidated Formations
– Well Screens
– Gravel Packs
• Well Development
– Well Drawdown
– Well Losses
– Specific Capacity
– Step Drawdown Test
– Well Efficiency