Groundwater Week 2024
National Groundwater Association (NGWA) Groundwater Week 2024 is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 10-12, 2024. In the groundwater industry, it is the pivotal event driving innovation.
DBS&A Geochemist Christopher Wolf, PG, will present on Understanding Aquifer Characteristics and Well Performance Through Aquifer Testing. Clear Creek Associates Principal Hydrogelogist Geno Mammini, RG, will present on Replacement of Avondale Replacement Well 25, and co-present with Clear Creek Principal Hydrogeologist Marvin Glotfelty, RG, on Slug Tests to Optimize Groundwater Well Design. Learn more about the presentations below, and about the event here.
Understanding Aquifer Characteristics and Well Performance Through Aquifer Testing
Understanding your well is key to maximizing production. Enhance well performance and production by closely monitoring and testing your supply well. Water level monitoring helps us assess aquifer conditions such as regional drawdown and local well interference. Aquifer testing yields data on aquifer permeability and well conditions, such as flow rate and pumping drawdown. Specific capacity (flow rate divided by drawdown) helps with pump selection and depth setting and is also an indicator of long term well performance. Techniques for field methods, data analysis, and interpretation will be covered for both new and existing wells.
Presenter: Christopher Wolf
Replacement of Avondale Replacement Well 25
Presenter: Geno Mammini
Avondale is a rapidly growing city located west of Phoenix, Arizona. This presentation discusses the history of Avondale Well 25, which has been evaluated by numerous consultants, pump contractors, engineers, and City personnel over the last 20 years. The original irrigation well was installed in 1946 and was replaced in 2009 as a municipal source. Between 2010 and 2022, a series of structural and operational issues were noted and multiple attempts to improve water quality and production were implemented at the well. A detailed evaluation of rehabilitation and replacement options was completed during a City-wide infrastructure assessment and the well was replaced in 2024. This presentation will discuss well design considerations, rehabilitation/replacement approaches, project challenges, potential root causes for the issues associated with initial replacement well, and a current status of the well site.
Slug Tests to Optimize Groundwater Well Design
Presenters: Geno Mammini and Marvin Glotfelty
Economic growth and drought. Those two competing items are driving a frenzy of well installation projects across the southwestern U.S. Unfortunately, some water supply wells fail to meet the owner’s water quantity or water quality expectations, and there is little the well owner can do once the well has been constructed. In today’s world of frugal budgets but with high expectations for project success, innovative techniques are often appropriate to minimize risk. A proven and beneficial technique to optimize well design is the use of slug (aka, falling head) tests in open boreholes to predict both the water quality and productivity, prior to the well’s actual installation. This presentation provides an overview of the slug testing and sampling methods and analysis, and we will present an extensive case history of 40 wells for which the predicted vs. actual results are compared.