From the field
Field notes
Working notes on well hydraulics, pump energy, SGMA reporting and the arithmetic behind Waterwell IQ™.
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Well interference: what a neighboring well costs yours
A neighboring well lowers yours by an amount set by its rate, the distance, time, transmissivity and storativity. Every added foot of lift costs…
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Transmissivity from a pumping test: aquifer or well?
Transmissivity comes from the drawdown slope of a constant-rate, recovery or step test. Read with well loss, it shows whether the aquifer or the…
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How to write a well rehabilitation scope of work so the bids come back comparable
Why well rehabilitation bids come back four times apart, and how to write the scope, the bid schedule and the acceptance tests so they…
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Water well rehabilitation methods compared: what each one removes, and what it can break
Brushing, swabbing, jetting, acid, chlorine, impulse and CO2 methods: what each one removes, what it can damage, and how to prove the treatment worked.
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What a water well rehabilitation costs, line by line
What a municipal well rehabilitation costs, from public bid results: the line items, what drives each one, and why two bids 1% apart differ…
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Step-drawdown test or constant-rate test? What each one tells you about a well
A step test splits drawdown into what the well costs you and what the aquifer costs you. A constant-rate test measures the aquifer. Which…
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Destroying a water well in California: what the standards require, and the record to keep
An unused well is a straight path from the surface into the aquifer. Who may destroy one, what the California Well Standards require, and…
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How often should a water well be tested? Let the well’s own decline set the schedule
Most districts test wells on a calendar. The right interval comes from how fast each well is losing capacity. A simple rule, a schedule,…
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How to read a well completion report and driller’s log
The well completion report is a water well’s birth certificate. How to read every box on a DWR 188, and the five mistakes that…
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VFDs on water wells: when a drive pays for itself, and when it does not
The affinity laws promise big savings from slowing a pump. On a well lifting mostly static head, slow the drive 10% and you lose…
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Is it the pump, the well or the aquifer? How to tell why a well is making less water
Three wells lose 10% of their flow for three different reasons, with three different price tags. Four readings tell them apart before anyone spends…
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Scheduling well pumps around time-of-use rates without missing your production target
The production target sets how many hours a well must run. The tariff decides which hours. The arithmetic, and the fifteen minutes that can…