Well Protection

Three commonly used protection measures for water wells are:

(i) Sanitary protection,

(ii) Frost protection, and

(iii) Abandonment of wells

Sanitary Protection

• The annular space between the outside of the casing and the inside of the drilled hole
should be filled with cement grout in order to close avenues of access for undesirable
water outside the casing.

• The top of the casing should be provided with a sanitary seal consisting of suitable
packing glands that forms a water-tight seal between the pump column pipe and the
well casing.

• For pumps having an open-type base, a seal is required for the annular opening
between the discharge pipe and the casing.

• The covers around the well should be made of concrete and should be elevated above
the adjacent land level, and also should slope away from the well.

A drilled well illustrating grout seal, concrete slab, and well seal for sanitary protection.
(Source: Todd, 1980)

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Frost Protection

• In the regions, affected by winter frost, the pumps and the water lines should be
protected from freezing.

• The frost-proofing of a domestic well is performed by using a pitless adapter which is

attached to the well casing and provides access to the well.

• The discharge pipe runs about 2 m underground to the basement of the house

Abandonment of Wells

• If the wells are of no use, i.e., they are abandoned, such wells must be sealed by filling
them with clay, earth, or cement grout to prevent accidents, to avoid surface
contaminants to enter the well and possible movement of polluted water from one
aquifer to another as well as to conserve water in flowing wells.

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 Well Development

• Well development is the process which causes reversals of flow through the screen
openings so as to remove the finer material from the natural formations surrounding
the perforated sections of the casing.

• As a result, the well provides clear (sand-free) water, thereby maximizing its specific
capacity and well efficiency.

• Various methods for developing a well:

(i) pumping, (ii) surging, (iii) use of compressed air, (iv) hydraulic jetting, (v) addition of
chemicals/dispersing agents, (vi) hydraulic fracturing, (vii) backwashing, and (viii) use of
explosives.

Pumping

• This involves pumping a well in a series of steps from a low discharge to one
exceeding the design capacity.

• At each step, the well is pumped until the water clears, after which the power is shut
off and water in the pump column surges back into the well.

• The step is repeated until only clear water appears. The discharge rate is then
increased and the procedure repeated until the final rate is the maximum capacity of
the pump or well.

• This process agitates the fine material surrounding the well so that it can be carried
into the well and pumped out.

• The courser fraction entering the well is removed by a bailer or sand pump from the
well bottom.

Surging

• A surge block attached to the bottom of a drill stem is repeatedly operated up and
down in the well casing like a piston in a cylinder, thereby producing the required
alternate reversals of flow.

• The procedure is completed when the loose materials accumulating in the bottom of
the well become negligible.

Using Compressed Air

• This method essentially involves both surging and pumping.

• During surging, a large volume of air is suddenly released and strong surge is
produced by virtue of the resistance of water head, friction and inertia.

• Pumping is done using an ordinary air lift.

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 Hydraulic Jetting

 A high velocity jet of water is applied horizontally through the screen openings with
the tip of the nozzle at about 12-25 mm from the inner wall of the screen.
 A jetting tool coupled to the end of the pipe is lowered into the well.
 The top of the pipe is connected by a hose to a high pressure pump.
 As a pump is started, the jetting tool is slowly rotated and gradually raised or lowered
so that the entire surface of the screen receives jetting action.
 The well is pumped by another pump to maintain the hydraulic gradient so that water
and the loosened fine particles will keep entering the well.
 Hydraulic jetting is particularly effective in developing gravel-packed wells.
 However, this method is not suitable when a perforated pipe is used as a screen. The
disadvantage of the hydraulic jetting method is that it requires considerable amount of
water for effective operation.

Addition of Chemicals/Dispersing Agents

• Sometimes, chemicals/dispersing agents are added during well development to

disperse the clay particles in the mud cake or in the formation to avoid their sticking
to sand grains and to speed up the well development process.

• Several polyphosphates are used for this purpose such as tetrasodium pyrophosphate,
sodium tripolyphosphate, and sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium septaphosphate.

• Sometimes, blocks of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) are added to a well after
aciditizing and surging with compressed air.

• The accumulation of gaseous carbon dioxide released by sublimation creates a

pressure within the well and upon release this causes a burst of muddy water from the
well, thereby helping in well development.

• For developing open-hole wells in limestone or dolomite formations, hydrochloric

acid is added to water, which removes fine particles and widens fractures/fissures
leading into the well bore.

Back washing

• The backwashing method provides a surging effect for well development and is
widely used by well drillers.

• In this method, the top of the well is fitted with an air-tight cover.

• Compressed air is released through the long air pipe, forcing air and water out of the
well through the discharge pipe.

• After the water becomes clear, the air supply is stopped and the water is allowed to
return to its static level.

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 • Thereafter, the three-way valve is turned to supply air into the top of the well through
the short air pipe.

• This backwashes water from the well through the discharge pipe and at the same time
agitates sand grains surrounding the well.

• Air is forced into the well until it starts escaping from the discharge pipe, after which
the three-way valve is turned and the air supply is again directed down the long air
pipe to pump the well.

• This procedure is repeated until the well is fully developed.

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 Well selection

Well selection involves:

(1) developing selection criteria that address data collection objectives,

(2) completing office and (or) onsite inventories of wells that are available in the area of
interest, and

(3) applying selection criteria to determine which well will be used from among those
available.

Development of well-selection criteria for most water-quality studies requires knowledge of

(1) the location of the wells,

(2) well-construction methods and materials,

(3) pump characteristics and sampling point locations, and

(4) well capacity

Selection of Well site

• Low-lying areas are more favorable as compared to slopy area and highlands for
sinking wells, as groundwater flows in the direction of descending slope.

• Vegetation flourishes where the groundwater is available at shallow depths.

• Thus, the occurrence of thick vegetation indicates large groundwater storage at

shallow depth.

• However, the presence of vegetation like desert plants indicates the scarcity of
groundwater at shallow depths, as they absorb water from the sub-surface and store it
in their thick fleshy leaves and stems.

• Areas comprising thick soil or alluvium cover and weathered, fractured, jointed, and
faulted rocks indicate good storage of groundwater, as these support infiltration of
groundwater recharge.

• However, fine-grained soils like clay cannot support infiltration of groundwater.

Moreover, they cannot transmit water from one place to another and have saline
groundwater due to stagnation.

• Coarse-grained soils transmit water and hence the water is potable.

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 • Bald rocky areas lack such favourable conditions as they do not permit infiltration of
water. Thus, these rocks indicate paucity of groundwater.

• Areas comprising thick soil or alluvium cover and weathered, fractured, jointed, and
faulted rocks indicate good storage of groundwater, as these support infiltration of
groundwater recharge.

• However, fine-grained soils like clay cannot support infiltration of groundwater.

Moreover, they cannot transmit water from one place to another and have saline
groundwater due to stagnation.

• Coarse-grained soils transmit water and hence the water is potable.

• Bald rocky areas lack such favourable conditions as they do not permit infiltration of
water. Thus, these rocks indicate paucity of groundwater.

Well testing

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Yield Test for Well

• After a well is constructed and developed, it should be tested for its yield and
corresponding drawdown.

• The equipment's required for conducting an yield test:

(i) A test pumping unit consisting of a submersible pump (with 3-phase motor) and a
diesel generating set

(ii) Measuring devices for time, discharge and water level

Discharge measurement

• Integrating type water meter installed in the pipe

•
• Orifice meter

•
• 900 V-notch

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Measurement of Water level

• Electric sounder

• Wetted tape method

Slug tests

• Sudden injection of a known quantity, say 10 litres slug, and taking a rapid series of
water level measurement to define the shape of head dissipation hydrograph (Residual
head versus elapsed time since slugging.

Bailing

• For small yields, water can be bailed out from the well at a constant rate till the water
level in the well stabilises (Constant drawdown)

• Total number of bailing and the total time taken are recorded. Knowing the volume of
the bailer and the average no of bailing per unit time, the flow rate can be determined.

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 • This gives an idea of the productivity of well

Steps of Yield testing

• Yield test is usually run for 10-15 hours and the sustained yield of the well for a
constant drawdown is noted.

• Specific capacity of the well is its yield per unit drawdown

• Efficiency of the well may be determined by the step drawdown test.

Operation of yield testing consist of

(i) Measuring the static water level (before pumping begins), i.e., the depth below a
measuring point or ground level.

(ii) Pumping at a maximum until the water level in the well stabilises, i.e., the well yields
a constant discharge after pumping 10-15 hours and the drawdown becomes constant.

(iii) Noting the drawdown by measuring the depth of the stabilised level of water in the
well

(iv) Measuring the discharge from the well, i.e., the sustained yield under a constant
drawdown after a long duration (10-15hrs) pumping.

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