PUBLICATION 8086 FWQP REFERENCE SHEET 11.

Reference:
Water Well Design and
Construction
THOMAS HARTER is UC Cooperative Extension Hydrogeology Specialist at the University of
California, Davis, and Kearney Agricultural Center.

UNIVERSITY OF
WAT E R W E L L BA S I C S
CALIFORNIA
Division of Agriculture A water well is a hole, shaft, or excavation used for the purpose of extracting
and Natural Resources ground water from the subsurface. Water may flow to the surface naturally after exca-
vation of the hole or shaft. Such a well is known as a flowing artesian well. More com-
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu
monly, water must be pumped out of the well.
In partnership with 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 hori-
zontal 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
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov
wells are examples of this. Monitoring wells for groundwater levels and groundwater
quality are other examples. Still other purposes include the investigation of subsur-
Farm Water face conditions, shallow drainage, artificial recharge, and waste disposal.
Quality Planning In this publication we focus on vertical water-production wells commonly used
A Water Quality and to supply water for domestic, municipal, and agricultural uses in California. Our pur-
Technical Assistance Program pose is to provide readers with some basic information about water wells to help
for California Agriculture
them understand principles of effective well construction when they work with a pro-
http://waterquality.ucanr.org
fessional driller, consultant, or well servicing agency for well drilling and mainte-
nance.
This REFERENCE SHEET is part of
the Farm Water Quality
Planning (FWQP) series,
D E T E R M I N I N G A W E L L L O C AT I O N
developed for a short course The location of a well is mainly determined by the well’s purpose. For drinking and
that provides training for grow- irrigation water-production wells, groundwater quality and long-term groundwater
ers of irrigated crops who are
supply are the most important considerations. The hydrogeological assessment to de-
interested in implementing
water quality protection prac- termine whether and where to locate a well should always be done by a knowledgeable
tices. The short course teaches driller or professional consultant. The water quality criteria to use for drinking water
the basic concepts of water- wells are the applicable local or state drinking water quality standards. For irrigation
sheds, nonpoint source pollution wells, the primary chemical parameters of concern are salinity and boron and the
(NPS), self-assessment tech- sodium-adsorption ratio.
niques, and evaluation tech-
niques. Management goals and Enough ground water must be available to meet the pumping requirements of
practices are presented for a the wells. For large municipal and agricultural production wells, pumping rate
variety of cropping systems.
requirements range from about 500 to 4,000 gallons per minute (gpm). Small- and
medium-sized community water systems may depend on water wells that produce
from 100 to 500 gpm. Individual 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 knowl-
ANR Publication 8086 2

edge of the local groundwater system, experience in similar areas, and a diverse array
Well Design of information such as land surface topography, local vegetation, rock fracturing
Objectives (where applicable), local geology, groundwater chemistry, information on thickness,
• Highest yield with depth, and permeability of local aquifers from existing wells, groundwater levels,
minimum draw- satellite or aerial photographs, and geophysical measurements.
down
In most cases, the well location is further limited by property ownership, the
• Good quality need to keep surface transportation of the pumped ground water to a minimum, and
water with proper access restrictions for the drilling equipment. When locating a well, one should also
protection from consider the proximity of potential sources of contamination such as fuel or chemical
contamination storage areas, nearby streams, sewer lines, and leach fields or septic tanks. The pres-
• Sand-free water ence of a significant barrier between such potential sources and the well itself is very
• Long lifetime important for the protection of the well.
(>50 years)
• Reasonable short- WAT E R W E L L D E S I G N A N D I N S TA L L AT I O N
term and long- Once the well location has been determined, a preliminary well design is completed.
term costs 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) surround-
ed by a gravel pack and appropriate surface and borehole seals (Figure 1). Water
enters the well through perforations or openings in the well screen. Wells can be
screened continuously along the
bore or at specific depth intervals.
access tube for water level reading The latter is necessary when a well
gravel feed pipe taps multiple aquifer zones, to
pump motor housing
ensure that screened zones match
conductor casing the aquifer zones from which
sand water will be drawn. In alluvial
grout seal aquifers, which commonly contain
silty clay
water table alternating sequences of coarse
pump shaft
material (sand and gravel) and fine
(blank) casing material, the latter construction
gravelly sand
method is much more likely to
pump bowl provide clean, sediment-free water
and is more energy efficient than
clay loam gravel pack
the installation of a continuous
well screen screen. Hardrock wells, on the
sand
other hand, are constructed very
sump
differently. Often, the borehole of a
clay bottom plate hardrock well will stand open and
will not need to be screened or
cased unless the hard rock crum-
Figure 1. Components of a well. bles easily.
ANR Publication 8086 3

The purpose of the screen is to keep sand and gravel

Drilling a Well: Overview
from the gravel pack (described below) out of the well while
The process of designing and constructing a providing ample water flow to enter the casing. The screen
water well begins when you make arrange- should also be designed to allow the well to be properly
ments with a licensed driller or with a profes- developed (see Well Development). Slotted, louvered, and
sional consultant who designs the well and bridge-slotted screens and continuous wire wrap screens are
oversees the work of the licensed driller. We the most common types. Slotted screens provide poor open
strongly recommended against any reliance area. They are not well suited for proper well development
on dowsers or well witchers to locate a well and maintenance, and are therefore not recommended. Wire
site. Research shows no scientific or other wrap screens or pipe-based wire wrap screens give the best
reliable basis to substantiate the use of water performance. The additional cost of wire wrap screens can
dowsing as a means to locate a well site. be offset if you only install screen sections in the most pro-
The driller or consultant finds a suitable ductive formations along the borehole.
location to meet the specified purpose of the The purposes of the blank well casing between and
well and a preliminary design is established. above the well screens are to prevent fine and very fine for-
Once the drilling rig is set up, the drilling mation particles from entering the well, to provide an open
process itself may last from a few hours (for a pathway from the aquifer to the surface, to provide a proper
shallow, small-diameter well) to several weeks housing for the pump, and to protect the pumped ground
(for a deep, large-diameter well). Sometimes, water from interaction with shallower ground water that
particularly for large production wells and may be of lower quality.
where water quality is particularly important,
the driller will drill a small-diameter pilot The annular space between the well screen, well casing,
hole before drilling the well bore. From infor- and borehole wall is filled with gravel or coarse sand (called
mation obtained from the pilot hole, a driller the gravel pack or filter pack). The gravel pack prevents sand
or consultant can determine aquifer forma- and fine sand particles from moving from the aquifer forma-
tions and groundwater quality at various tion into the well. The gravel pack does not exclude fine silt
depths and then optimize the final well and clay particles; where those occur in a formation it is best
design for the specific hydrogeological con- to use blank casing sections. The uppermost section of the
ditions at the site. Appropriate materials annulus is normally sealed with a bentonite clay and cement
(screen, casing, gravel) can then be ordered grout to ensure that no water or contamination can enter the
in a timely fashion prior to the final drilling. annulus from the surface. The depth to which grout must be
placed varies by county. Minimum requirements are defined
Once the well bore is drilled, the driller in the California Well Standards (Bulletin 74–90, California
installs well casing and well screens and fills Department of Water Resources [http://www.water.ca.gov]):
the annulus around the casing with a gravel 50 feet for community water supply wells and industrial
(filter) pack and the appropriate cement and wells and 20 feet for all other wells. Local county ordinances
bentonite seal to prevent water from leaking may have more stringent requirements depending on local
between uncontaminated and contaminated groundwater conditions.
aquifers or from the land surface into the well
(bentonite is a special type of clay used to At the surface of the well, a surface casing is commonly
seal against water leaks). Then the driller installed to facilitate the installation of the well seal. The
develops the well (see Well Development), surface casing and well seal protect the well against contami-
implements an aquifer test, completes the nation of the gravel pack and keep shallow materials from
sanitary seal of the well head, and installs a caving into the well. Surface casing and well seals are partic-
pump and power source. Proper design, con- ularly important in hardrock wells to protect the otherwise
struction, development, and completion of open, uncased borehole serving as a well.
the well will result in a long life for the well
(as long as half a century or more) and effi- WELL DRILLING
cient well operation. 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
 ANR Publication 8086 4

wells. In unconsolidated and semi-consoli-

dated materials, (reverse) rotary (Figure 2)
and cable tool methods are most common-
ly employed. Hardrock wells generally are
drilled with air rotary drilling equipment.
Properly implemented, all of these
drilling methods will produce equally effi-
Reverse rotary rig Pump cient and productive wells where ground
water is available. Cable tool drilling gen-
Mud pit
(connected to borehole) erally is less labor-intensive but takes more
time than (reverse) rotary drilling. Reverse
Rotating drill rod
rotary and rotary drilling require large
Drill rods
Drilling mud amounts of circulation water and the con-
(flowing down by gravity)
struction of a mud pit, something to be
Borehole wall considered if the well is to be drilled in a
remote location with no access to water.
Drilling mud with drill cuttings
(flowing up by pumping)
During drilling, drillers must keep a
Rotating drill bit 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 geophysi-
cal measurements in the borehole. Special-
Figure 2. Principles of reverse rotary drilling. (adapted from Driscoll, 1996. Johnson
ized equipment is used to measure the
Screens/A Wetherford Company is publisher and copyright holder.) electrical resistance and the self-potential or
spontaneous potential of the geological mate-
rial 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 resis-
tance of the geological formation. Careful, professional interpretation of 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 open-
ings, 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 infor-
mation about construction details and aquifer characteristics that can be used later for
troubleshooting well problems.
ANR Publication 8086 5

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.
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 efficien-
cy 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 effi-
ciency and 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 perfora-
tions are open.

W E L L H E A D P R OT E C T I O N
The construction of the final well seal is
intended to provide protection from leakage
and to keep runoff from entering the wellhead
(Figure 3). 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
Figure 3. Properly completed well with elevated concrete seal (but with leak-
from flowing back from the distribution system
ing lubricant). into the well when the pump is shut off.
ANR Publication 8086 6

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N
For more online information on groundwater-related topics, visit
http://waterquality.ucanr.org and http://groundwater.ucdavis.edu.
You’ll find detailed information on many aspects of field crop production and
resource conservation in these titles and in other publications, slide sets,
CD-ROMs, and videos from UC ANR:
Nutrients and Water Quality, slide set 90/104
Protecting Groundwater Quality in Citrus Production, publication 21521
Sediments and Water Quality, slide set 91/102
To order these products, visit our online catalog at http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu.
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Publication 8086
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