Water wells and

Construction
 Water Wells
Water well is a hole or a shaft, in most cases vertical,
excavated in the earth, or sunk in to the ground intercepting
one or more water bearing strata, for bringing groundwater
to the surface.
But we can have also Horizontal wells called- Collector
wells
Can also be called as Bore holes, dug wells etc…
The objectives of water well
To provide water with a good quality
To provide a sufficient quantity of water
To provide water for a long time
To provide water at low cost
 Classification of water wells
Wells can be classified Based on:
construction = dug wells and tube wells
 their depth = shallow wells and deep wells
Their direction = vertical wells and horizontal wells
There are Two major categories in practice are: Tube
wells and Hand Dug wells
Horizontal Well Example
 Tube wells
 Tube wells are small size holes (usually b/n 10cm – 60cm in dia.) which
penetrate to the strata deeply ( more than 30m).
Advantages of tube wells
I. Do not require much space.
II. Can be constructed quickly. (in days/weeks)
III. Fairly sustained yield of water can be obtained in dry years.
IV. Economical when deep-seated aquifers are encountered
V. Flowing artesian wells can sometimes be struck.
VI. Generally good quality of water is tapped.
Disadvantages of tube wells
I. Requires costly and complicated drilling equipment and machinery.
II. Requires skilled workers and great care to drill and complete the tube
wells.
III. Installation of costly submersible pumps is required.
IV. Possibility of missing fractures, fissures and joints in hard rock areas
resulting in many dry holes.
 Methods of well construction
Construction methods are many and varied ranging
from simple digging with hand tools to high speed
drilling with sophisticated equipment.
 Well construction, in terms of operations, basically
includes the following general steps:
The drilling operation
Installation of casing
Installation of well screen
artificial gravel packing
Grouting
Developing the well
Installing the pump
 commonly used methods for shallow tube wells
construction
 There are different drilling methods and equipment available for
drilling bore holes.
1. Boring Method (using augers)
2. Driving Method (using well pipe )
3. Jetting method (high water jet)
1. Boring Method (using augers)
 In this method the hole is constructed by the use hand or power
driven auger which is turned to bore the hole to the designed
depth.
 Cuttings are removed by pulling and emptying the anger. It can drill
to 30m or more in soft sands that are free of rocks.
 This method of excavation consists of shaving or cutting material
from the bottom of the hole by the rotation of a cylindrical tool with
one or more cutting lips.
 types of earth augers

Hand Driven
Augers

cylindrical bucket two-bladed

helical auger tubular auger
auger auger

Power Driven Bucket Type Auger

 2. Driving Method (using well pipe )
 In this method the hole is constructed by forcing a casing (well
pipe) equipped with a drive (well) point into the ground by a
series of blows either manually or machine delivered on the top
of the casing
 Driven wells should be installed only in soft formations that are
relatively free of cobbles or boulders(fragment of rocks)

Hammering is applied at the top

Well Pipe or Drive

 3. Jetting method (high water jet)
A jetted well is a well which is constructed by means of
boring equipment using water jetted under high pressure to
facilitate rapid boring.
Jetting is pumping water down the pipe and out through the
well point where the force of the water losing the surround
soil materials.

Deep Tube Wells Drilling Methods

 Cable Tool drilling methods
 Rotary Direct Circulation Drilling Method
 Reverse Circulation Rotary Drilling method
 Down the Hole Hammer (DTH) Drilling method
 1. Cable Tool drilling methods
The cable- tool method, also known as the percussion or
standard method, is used to construct wells by alternately lifting
and dropping a set of drilling tools suspended on a wire rope
.The drill bit strikes the bottom of the hole.
The repeated action of the percussion drill permits bit
penetration of the underground formations.
The loosened material and drill cuttings are raised with drilling
water by the action of the bit and the resulting slurry must be
removed from the drill hole by a bailer or sand pump
In drilling a dry hole, water must be added periodically to
replace that removed with the drill cuttings.
Note that: Well casing is used in most percussion- type
drilling operations.
 Cont’d...
This casing is used to help the well bore from collapsing and to
prevent surface or subsurface leakage of water or contaminants in
to the well bore.
The cable tool bit (drill bit) is a shaped steel bar, generally 4 to 8
ft long
 The drill bit is suspended from a cable called the drill line,
which is struck over a pulley at the top of a near vertical mast
erected over the hole.
 Sharper bits are used in hard rock drilling.
 Cable-tool drilling rigs may be most appropriate for boreholes
up to 50m deep and 200mm diameter which are drilled into
unconsolidated and semi-consolidated formations.
 Usually drilling is started with a large diameter & the diameter
is reduced telescopically after drilling certain depths.
 2. Rotary Direct Circulation Drilling Method
This method uses a rotary bit to cut the rock and a
circulating drilling fluid to flash rock cuttings to the
surface.
The drilling of bore holes by the hydraulic rotary method
requires a drill bit, a system for rotating the bit, the means
for controlling bit pressure on the formation, and a medium
for removing the material displaced by the bit.
The drilling fluid is usually heavy mud which is able to
support the walls of the well and prevent them from
collapsing
In this method drilling is accomplished by rotating a drill
pipe and bit by means of a power drive.
The drill bit cuts and breaks up the rock material as it
penetrates the formation.
Drilling fluid is pumped down through the rotating drill
pipe and holes in the bit.
 This fluid swirls in the bottom of the hole, picking up
material broken by the bit, and then flows upwards in the
well bore, carrying the cuttings to the surface. The drill pipe
and bit move progressively downward, deepening the hole as
the operation proceeds.
 At the land surface, the drilling fluid flows into a settling pit
where the cuttings settle to the bottom.
 From the settling (or mud) pit the fluid overflows into a
second pit from which it is picked up though the suction
hose of the mud pump and re-circulated through the drill
pipe. In the rotary drilling method the well casing is not
introduced into the hole until drilling operations are
completed, the walls of the hole being supported by the
pressure (weight) of the drilling fluid and/ or mud cake
formed on the wall of the bore hole.
 Such drilling is widely practiced in Ethiopia.
 Advantages and disadvantages ….
Drill bits of the method
 3. Reverse Circulation Rotary Drilling method
 A modification of direct circulation rotary method.
 Drilling fluid with cutting return inside the drill string & is
discharged into a settling tank or pit.
 Downward flow is in the annulus between the drill string &
borehole. The system components are similar to those of the
direct rotary except for rotation.
 The reverse circulation rotary differ from direct rotary rigs in
that:
I. the rotary table has lower speed range & fewer
number of speed
II. The drill pipes used are larger in size & are flanged
and jointed
III. The pump used is centrifugal
IV. Air lift method is used in heavier rigs for drilling
deeper depths.
 As the diameter of the drill pipe is relatively small, the
velocity of the drilling fluid in the pipe is high. This results
in two advantages:
1. There is no need for the rotary bits to crash the formation
at the bottom of the hole into pieces.
2. There is no need to use heavy drilling fluid for bringing
the cuttings to the surface & clear water can be used. Thus
the problem of clogging of the aquifer around the well by
mud intrusion is greatly reduced.
 Down the hole Hammer Drilling method
Down the hole hammer drilling is the technique of
drilling where by hammering action at the bottom of the
well is incorporated to the conventional rotary action.
With such drilling method penetration of about 5m per
hours in hard formation is possible.
Percussion and rotary methods of well drilling are
usually uneconomical in water well drilling in hard
rock formations due to the slow penetration rate,
high bit rate, and high maintenance cost of the
machinery.
In this method pneumatic hammer operated at the lower
end of the drill pipe is used.
It combines the percussion effect of cable tool drilling &
the rotary action of rotary drilling.
Cont’d...
Air-operated DTH drilling method has proved to be the
best for the construction of water wells in hard rock
areas.
In hard rock, compressed air can be used to blow out
cuttings. This method is often used in conjunction with
a special bit that has a hammer action as it is rotated.
This method is called down-the –hole-hammer drilling
and is commonly used to bore through crystalline rocks.
 The action is rotary percussive and does not rely on heavy
down pressure.
 In hard formation the DTH hammer is most effective but
becomes less as the rock strength reduces.
 DRILING Fluid
 Drilling fluid is the combination of fluids and solids required
in the drilling processes to facilitate the production and
removal of cuttings from a borehole.
 Other functions of drilling fluid may include:
 Cooling the drill bit
 The maintenance of hole stability in preventing caving
and sloughing of unconsolidated formation.
 Lubrication of the mud pump, bit bearings, and the
drilling string & thus reducing the torque required to turn
it.
Basic drilling fluids are:-
 Air
 Foam

 Water

 Polymer

 Water based clay mud (e.g. bentonite)

The five-drilling fluid systems are:-
 Water base mud
 Oil base mud

 Low solids mud

 Air, gas or moist flush system

 Low velocity foam system

A. Water base mud

• Drilling mud is a mixture of clays, water & chemicals
pumped down the drill string & up the annulus during
drilling in order to lubricate the system, carry away rock
cuttings, maintain the required pressure at the bit end, and
provide an aid to formation evaluation ,etc.
• The oldest and probably the most widely used drilling fluid
for water well drilling is a water-based mud
 B. Oil Base mud
 These are drilling fluids in which oil is the continuous phase and
water is the dispersed phase.
 As with salt water-base muds, the oil base muds are used to
prevent the hydration of the native clays which may reduce
permeability.
 The obvious contamination problem oil-based muds have no
application in water well drilling.
C. Low solid Mud
 This is a drilling fluid in which the solids content is less than
10% by weight or a mud weight of less than 2.6 parts per liter
D. Air, Gas or Mist Flush system
 Of these, air has the greatest application in water well drilling.
This may be used for air flush lifting of cuttings from rotary
drilled holes or may be used to operate and flush cuttings from
down the hole hammers.
 E. Low velocity Foam system
This is an extreme low solids system in which a slow
moving column of foam transports the cutting up the hole
with the particles suspended and separated in bubble
clusters. Very low water & air volumes are required.
Important properties of Drilling fluid that need
attention for operation of drilling are:
viscosity,
 gel-strength (the ability to form a semi-solid, jelly-like –
colloidal solution when the mud is at rest)
 filtration property (the formation of a wall or filter cake to
prevent water from the fluid invading the formation
adjacent to the bore which may otherwise cause
instability).
 Well completion
Only drilling of the borehole alone does not complete the
construction of an efficient well. But well completion should
follow it to do so.
Well completion involves:-
 placement of casing

 cementing of casing

 placement of well screens

 gravel packing

 Well casing

 Basically we have two category of well casing: Blind casing and

Well screen
.
Cont’d...
Reasons for using casing in a water well or borehole
are:
 to prevent the collapse of the walls of the borehole (i.e.
structural support against caving in) serving as a lining
 to exclude, along with grouting, pollutants either from
surface or subsurface from entering the water sources
 to provide a channel for conveying the water into the
well for injection purpose
 to provide a channel for conveying the water to the
surface.
 to provide a housing for the pump mechanism

 to provide a channel for conveying a cement grout in

the well for cementation purpose
 Serving as a reservoir for a gravel pack
 Types of casing
1. Surface casing
Surface casing is installed from ground surface through
upper strata of unstable or fractured materials into a
stable
serves several purposes
 supporting unstable materials during drilling,

 reducing loss of drilling fluids

 facilitating installation or removal of other casing

 helping in placing a sanitary seal, and to seal off the

well against the inflow of polluted surface water
 2. conductor casing
 high-capacity well design usually specifies that conductor casing
be installed and cemented to a minimum of 15m, or to the first
impervious formation, in order to prevent well contamination
from the surface.
[Link] casing
 Intermediate strings of casing may be required to facilitate
completion in deep boreholes where difficult drilling conditions
are encountered (hydraulic shale’s, loss of circulation zones, etc.).
 Methods of casing Installation
 Driven (well point)
 Jacking
 Driven (Driven Shoe)
 Lowering
 Floating

 Well Grouting and sealing off contaminating Water

 The drilled hole is usually larger than the well casing. This
creates an irregularly shaped annular space around the well
casing.
 It is essential to fill this space with grout.
dhole= dcasing+(7-15)cm
 It is also necessary to seal out water of unsuitable quality strata
above a fresh water aquifer.
 Well Grouting
 Well grouting involves filling the space (usually between the casing and
the wall of the well) around the pipe or casing with a suitable
impervious material. Those are
 Concrete
 Sand cement
 Neat cement
 Bentonite clay
Reasons for well grouting
 to protect an aquifer, or aquifers, from entry of contaminating fluids
flowing into it
 to prevent undesirable water movement from one aquifer to another
for the purposes of maintaining quality.
 Protecting the well against the entry of unwanted water from the
surface or a subsurface zone.
 to protect the casing against exterior corrosive and also to assure
structural integrity of casing against external pressure and buckling.
 To make the casing stay tight in the drilled hole.
 Methods of Installation of Grout
Bailer dumping
 Gravity filling without tremie method
 Tremie method (grout pipe tremie)
 Positive placement-Exterior method-pumping or forced
injection by pressure
 Positive placement-Interior method-Two plug
 Positive placement-Interior method-upper plug
 Positive placement-Interior method-Capped casing
 Continuous injection method
 Grout displacement method, well depth < 30m
 Sealing off contaminating Water (sanitary protection of
Wells)
 upon completion of the well, the driller shall install a suitable threaded,
flanged, or welded cap or compression seal so as to prevent any pollutants
from entering the well.
 The watertight casing of any well shall extend not less than 30 cm above the
pump house floor or final ground level elevation and not less than 60cm
above the normally anticipated flood level of record.
 The ground immediately surrounding the top of the well casing shall be
sloped away from the well, extending at least 60cm in all directions. Cement
slab is constructed around the casing to protect surface infiltration.
 Common causes of contamination and their paths
 Between the pump and the well casing
 Around the well casing

 Improperly placed gravel pack

 Reverse flow through the pump

 Subsidence of the soil or aquifer around the well casing due

to sand pumping
 Water well Screens
Also called as the heart of a Well.
Well screen serves as the intake component of a well
and support and stabilizes the aquifer and filter zone
and in the case of gavel envelope wells, it filters the
pack.
It is usually a pipe with slots or openings along its wall.
Wells that obtain water from sand and gravel
formations (unconsolidated formations) require the use
of well screens for proper completion.
Well screen permits water to enter the well from the
saturated aquifer, allows a maximum amount of water
to enter the well with a minimum hydraulic resistance
Prevents sand movement into the well
Stabilizes the sides of the hole
 The basic requirements of a well screen are
 it should be resistant to corrosion and deterioration,
 it should be strong enough to prevent collapse of a hole,
 it should offer minimum resistance to the flow of water, and
 size and shape of each slot
 thickness and material of screen
 During Design of a well screen, the following points should
be Considered.
 Screen Strength

 Screen Material

 Screen Length

 Screen Diameter and Screen Slot size

Basic Requirements of A Well Screen

 it should be resistant to corrosion and deterioration,
 it should be strong enough to prevent collapse of a hole,
 it should offer minimum resistance to the flow of water, and size and
shape of each slot
 Types of well screens
 Perforated pipe
 Punched and slotted pipe
 Reinforced wire wrapped punch pipe
 Louvered pipe
 Continuous slot wire wound screen

Punched Louvered
Continuous slot wire wound screen
 Methods of screen Emplacement (Installation of Well
Screens)
 pull back method
 Bail- down method

 Open-hole method

 Wash-down method

 Driving

Artificial Gravel Pack

 A gravel pack (or filter pack) consists of clean sand or
gravel of selected grain size and gradation
 It is installed in the annular space between the screen
and the wall of the well bore.
 The gravel pack has a larger average grain size and
usually a smaller coefficient of uniformity than the
aquifer material.
 Importance of Gravel Pack
 It prevents or minimizes greatly the flow of sand from the aquifer into the
screen thus improving the quality of water, and reducing the wear and tear
on pumps.
 It permits use of a larger screen slot size and consequently larger open area
so that entrance velocity is lowered and head losses to the well are reduced.
 It increases the effective diameter of the well to reduce the possibility of
excess sand production.
 It fills the space between the borehole wall and lining pipe, and thus
prevents formation slumping
 To stabilize fine grained, and to avoid sand pumping.
NB: not all water wells in penetrating aquifer need Gravel pack.

Gravel pack Material

 It is most of the time, either Graded or Uniform material of gravel
or pebbles or otherwise selected/designed depending up on the
characteristics of the aquifer material.
 In anyway the design consideration is to permit water flow to well
and detain sand entry to the well
 Water Well Development
 A tube well is not completely ready for use just after
construction.
 The tube well can function successfully only after proper
development.
 Water well development is a process whereby the mud cake or
compacted borehole wall, resulting from drilling activity, is
broken down and removed by pumping.
 Tube wells are developed to increases their specific capacity,
prevent sanding and obtain maximum economic well life.
 Development work is necessary step in completing all types of
wells.
 Most wells will not perform at maximum efficiency if they are
not properly developed.
 The main objectives of well development
 To remove mud or clay particles which may have blocked the
water movement from the aquifer into the well.
 To increase the porosity and improve the permeability of the
water bearing formation in the vicinity of the well.
 To stabilize the sand formation (gravel pack) around a screened
well and the formation.
 To reduce drawdown in the well during production or pumping.
Methods of well development
 The methods commonly employed for well development are
1. Over Pumping,
2. Backwashing,
3. Use Of Compressed Air,
4. Hydro Fracturing, Jetting And
5. Use Of Dispersing Agents (Chemicals)
 Over pumping
 Loose sand and material are removed by pumping from the
well at a higher rate than the well will be pumped when
put into service.
 Over pumping has the advantage that much of the fine
material brought into the borehole is pumped out
immediately.
 Backwashing
 sand and fine materials are loosened by reversing the
direction of flow through the screen.
 By changing the flow respectively the loose material will
be moved through the screen into the well.
 Air development
 The surging action is created by lifting the water near to the surface by
injecting air into the well and then shut off the air to allow the water to
flow back through the well and formation.
 Pumping water with air lift can be used for cleaning a well from sand
and fine material.
Water Jetting
 High velocity water jetting can be used to loosen sand and fine
material from the filter zone and the screen.
 Maximum development efficiency is achieved if water jetting is
combined with simultaneous pumping with air lift, as the loosened
material is not allowed to settle again.
Hydro fracturing
 High pressure pumps are used to overcome the pressure of overlying
rock and inject fluids into newly opened fractures.
 Pressure in the production zone usually causes small, tight breaks in
the rock to open up and spread radically.
 Dispersing Agents
 Sometimes it is necessary to add chemical agents to disperse the clay particles in the
mud cake to speed up the development process.
 Development of the well shall be continued until water pumped from the well at the
maximum pumping rate is clear and free of sand.
Well Testing for performance
 Water well may be tested for either of two main purposes:
 The usual objective is to obtain information about the performance and efficiency
of the well being pumped.
 to provide data for the principal factors of aquifer performance, transmisivity and
storage coefficient, can be calculated.
 .
 In general, the data obtained from pumping test is necessary to
determine:-
 capacity of the well

 Aquifer characteristics

 Well efficiency

 Pumping rates

 Pump installation depth settings

 operation and maintenance of the well

 Well design and construction equipment

 Thus the functions from well development are:

 sand pumping during well operation will be eliminated to a
greater extent
 the life of the well will be prolonged

 Operation and maintenance costs will be reduced.

 the specific capacity of the well will be improved (maximum

yield at available minimum drawdown)
 Ground water Balance and Management
 water Resources Management in General
 Water resources management means involvement in matters
concerning water.
 Such matters may be the planning, design or operation of
hydraulic works, but they may also be factors that are related
indirectly to water
 Objectives of Water Resources Development and
Management
• Conserve and control the water resources zone so as to
prevent or minimize excessive or deficiencies in quantity or
quality.
• Provide or maintain water in such places and times, and
according to the many single quantity and quality
requirements;
• Minimize expenditures involved in accomplishing all of the
above
. Regulation of water consumption
 to maintain the aquifer yield at a satisfactory level
 to prevent the mining of the aquifer when water withdrawals
through a specified period of time exceed the aquifer recharge
during the same period.
2. Augmentation of water supply
Several methods are used to increase the water supply, such as
artificial recharge, relocation of wells, or importing water
3. Aquifer restoration
 The ideal purpose of groundwater management in a basin is to
develop the maximum possible groundwater to satisfy the
requirements of all users within the basin and to meet specific
predetermined conditions
 Management procedures should be adequate to avoid present and
future potential detrimental effects, such as excessive water
depletion, deterioration of water quality, and land subsidence due
to excessive pumping
 Groundwater Balance
The basic concept of water balance is:
 The amount of water entering a control volume during a defined time
period (inflow, I), minus the amount leaving the volume during the
time period (discharge, Q), equals the change in the amount of water
stored (∆S) in the volume during that time period.

I – O = ∆S
 Water and pollutants carried with it may enter an aquifer, or a
considered portion of one, in the following ways:
 Groundwater inflow through aquifer boundaries and leakage from
overlying or underlying aquifers.
 Natural replenishment (infiltration) from precipitation over the area.
 Return flow from irrigation and septic tanks (or similar structures,
including faulty water supply or sewage networks).
 Artificial recharge.
 Seepage from influent streams and lakes.
 Water and pollutants carried with it may leave an aquifer in the following
ways
 Groundwater outflow through boundaries and leakage out of the
considered aquifer into underlying or overlying strata.
 Pumping and drainage

 Seepage into effluent streams and lakes

 Spring discharge

 Evapotranspiration

 The difference between total inflow and total outflow of water and of
pollutants during any period is stored in the aquifer.
Regional Groundwater Balance
 We can now summarize the regional groundwater balance by the following
equation.
[Ground water inflow]-[Groundwater outflow]+[Natural
replenishment]+[Return flow]+[Artificial recharge]+[Inflow from streams and
lakes]-[spring discharge]-[Evapotranspiration]-[Pump age and drainage]=
[Increase in volume of water stored in aquifer]
 Where all the terms are expressed as volume of water during the balance
period
Groundwater Resources Management issue
 The issue of concern for groundwater resources management reflects the
physical conditions and the socio-economic development of the area
considered.
They can be grouped roughly under three different headings:
 Groundwater quantity management,
 Groundwater quality management
 And groundwater-related environmental protection.
 Therefore, a brief review of the mentioned issues and suggested or
pioneered approaches will follow.
1. The rate of aquifer exploitation
 Sustainable-yield policy

 Mining policy

 Is there really need for control?

2. Allocation problems
 Allocation of abstracted groundwater among users.
 Allocation in space.
Conjunctive management of ground water and surface water
 Artificial recharge
 Base flow Separation
 Surface water storage dams
 Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water
4. Salinity control
 Salt water upcoming
 Saline water intrusion
 Soil salination
5. Groundwater pollution control
 Well field protection
 Aquifer protection
6. Conservation of chemical water types
7. Groundwater level control
8. Control of land subsidence
Artificial Recharge of Groundwater
 Artificial Recharge of Groundwater
 Groundwater in a certain basin is recharged from either surface
water within the basin or groundwater percolating from another
basin
 Following are the main advantages of artificially recharging the
ground water aquifers.
 No large storage structures needed to store water. Structures
required are small and cost-effective
 Enhance the dependable yield of wells and hand pumps
 Negligible losses as compared to losses in surface storages
 Improved water quality due to dilution of harmful chemicals/ salts
 No adverse effects like inundation of large surface areas and loss of
crops
 No displacement of local population
 Reduction in cost of energy for lifting water especially where rise in
ground water level is substantial
 Utilizes the surplus surface runoff which otherwise drains off
 The recharge may be natural, incidental or artificial
1. Natural Recharge
It is usually produced under one or more of the following
conditions
 Deep infiltration of precipitation
 Seepage from surface water (stream & lakes)
 Under flow from another basin (if hydraulically
interrelated)
2. Incidental Recharge
 Incidental or unplanned, recharge occurs where water enters the
ground as a result of a human activity whose primary objective is
unrelated to artificial recharge of groundwater.
 In includes water from Irrigation, cesspools, septic tanks, water
mains, sewers, land fills, waste-disposal facilities, canals, and
reservoirs.
 3. Artificial Recharge
Artificial recharge may be defined as man’s planned
operations of transferring water from the ground surface
into aquifers
Objectives of Artificial Recharge
AR may be practiced in order to achieve various
objectives. Among them, we may list the following.
a. Control of regional hydrological regime
By artificially recharging an aquifer, water level, or
piezometric heads, is raised.
By manipulating these levels (obviously, taking also the
effect of pumping into account), we can control the rate
and direction of flow in an aquifer, control the
movement of water bodies of inferior quality
Storage of water
 Water can be stored in an aquifer, to be pumped at a later time
c. Control of water quality
 As water is introduced into an aquifer and the indigenous water
of the aquifer moves, they mix as a result of hydrodynamic
dispersion
Recharge Methods
 Artificial recharge can be implemented by several methods, the
choice of method for each particular case depends on ;
 the source of water
 the quality of the water,
 the type of aquifer,
 the topographical and geological conditions,
 type of soil, economic conditions, etc.
The artificial recharge techniques can be broadly
categorized as follows:-
a. Direct surface techniques
Flooding
Basins or percolation tanks
Stream augmentation
Ditch and furrow system
Over irrigation
b. Direct sub surface techniques
 Injection wells or recharge wells
 Recharge pits and shafts

 Dug well recharge

 Bore hole flooding

 Natural openings, cavity fillings.

Combination surface – sub-surface techniques
Basin or percolation tanks with pit shaft or wells.
d. Indirect Techniques
 Induced recharge from surface water source.

 Aquifer modification.

These can be broadly classified as:

1. Spreading Method
 Spreading within channel
 Spreading stream water through a network of ditches and furrows

 Ponding over large area

 Along stream channel viz. Check Dams/ Nala Bunds

 Vast open terrain of a drainage basin viz. Percolation Tanks

 Modification of village tanks as recharge structures.

2. Recharge Shafts
 Vertical Shafts

 Lateral Shafts
3. Injection Wells
4. Induced Recharge
5. Improved Land and Watershed Management
 Contour Bunding

 Contour Trenching

 Bench Terracing

 Gully Plugging
channel spreading
This involves constructing small ‘L’ shaped bunds within a stream
channel so that water moves along a longer path thereby
improving natural recharge
 ditch and furrow method
In areas with irregular topography, shallow, flat-bottomed and
closely spaced ditches or furrows provide maximum water contact
area for recharge water from source stream or canal.
Cont’d....
induced recharge
It is an indirect method of artificial recharge involving
pumping from aquifer, hydraulically connected with
surface water, to induce recharge to the ground water
reservoir.