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iv) Wells
Depending upon the method of construction; wells are classified as:
(a) Dug well or Percolation Well (b) Driven Well or Percussion Well (c) Tube Well

(a) Dug Well

These are shallow wells which are usually confined to soft ground, sand and gravel.
 The diameter of such well varies 1m – 4m with depth up to 20m.
 These wells are suitable for discharge of about 20m3/hr.
 These wells are cheap in construction, so these are popular in rural areas and small towns.
 Sometimes, these are also called ‘draw well’ or ‘open well’.

(b) Driven Well

This is a shallow well, constructed by driving a casting pipe of 2.5cm – 15cm in diameter.
 The bottom end of casting pipe is pointed known as well point or drive point.
 The discharge of these wells is very small and these are suitable for domestic purpose only.

(c) Tube Wells

The maximum discharge which is available from the ordinary open wells is between 4 to
5 litres/sec. Due to their low yield open wells are useful for small locality or private use.
But for obtaining more yield i.e. about 50–200 litres/sec, tube-wells are commonly used.
 These consist of blind pipe and strainer pipes and their supply is from large number of aquifers.
 The depth of tube well may vary from 50 to 500 m.

Types of Tube Wells

a) Strainer type tube-well b) Cavity type tube-well
c) Slotted type tube-well d) Perforated pipe tube-well

1) Strainer type tube-well

» This type of tube well is in maximum use.
» The diameter of outer shell of these wells varies from 15 – 100 cm and diameter of pipe drawing
the water varies from 2.5 – 90 cm.
» In such tube well a strainer or fine screen is placed against all thee water bearing stratums
through which water passes.
» This type of tube well is not suitable for very fine sandy water bearing stratums.

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2) Cavity type tube-well

» These types of tube-wells are not commonly used due to their low yield.
» These wells mainly draw their yield from their bottom aquifer only.
» It essentially consists of blind pipe throughout its length.

3) Slotted type tube-well

If the geological formation of the earth strata is such that; sufficient number of water
bearing stratum are not available for the construction of strainer tube well even up to the depth
of 100m, slotted type tube wells are constructed.

4) Perforated type tube well

When the water table is very near to the ground or the tube-wells are required for
obtaining water for short duration only, these types of tube-wells are used.
In these tube-wells the pipes are made perforated by drilling holes in them.

Measurement of Yield form Sources

 Specific yield

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 Specific retention

The specific retention capacity of clay having fine particles is more but specific yield is
less. But for large particles specific retention power decreases whereas specific yield increases.

 Permeability
Permeability is the capability of a formation of soil to pass water through it. It is
measured by the coefficient of permeability (k).
Coefficient of permeability is defined as the rate of flow of water through an aquifer of
unit cross-sectional area, under the unit hydraulic gradient at 150C. Its unit is m/s or cm/s.

 Coefficient of Transmissibility
The coefficient of transmissibility (T) is defined as the rate of flow of water through a
vertical strip of the aquifer of unit width and full depth (d), under a unit hydraulic gradient at a
temperature of 15.550C (600F).

Relation between ‘k’ & ‘T’ where, d = full depth under a unit hydraulic gradient

Aquifer
A permeable stratum which is capable of yielding appreciable quantities of ground water
under gravity is known as aquifer.
Types of Aquifers:
1. Unconfined or Non-Artesian Aquifer 2. Confined or Artesian Aquifer
The topmost water bearing stratum When an aquifer is confined on its
having no confined impermeable over burden upper and under surface, by impervious
(i.e. aquiclude) laying over it, is called rock formation (i.e. aquiclude), is called
unconfined aquifer. confined aquifer.

Aquiclude
When an aquifer is overlaid by a confined bed of impervious material, then this confined
bed of over burden is called ‘aquiclude’.

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Yield of an Open well

The yield of an open well can be found out by the following to tests:
1) Constant level pumping test 2) Recuperation test

1) Constant level pumping test

 In this test, a pump with suitable regulating arrangement is used. The water level is
depressed by an amount ‘h’ (say) known as the depression head.
 The amount of water pumped out is measured with
the help of v-notch or any other arrangement, in a
given amount of time for which the pump speed
was regulated to a constant value.
 The quantity pumped out in one hour gives the yield
of the well per hour.
From Darcy’s Law;

Where, C = percolation intensity coefficient ( ).

2) Recuperation test
Let,
aa = static water level in well before pumping started
bb = water level in well when the pumping stopped
cc = water level in the well at time ‘T’ after the
pumping stopped
T = time in hours
h = depression head in the well at time ‘t’ after the
pumping stopped
dh = depression head at time ‘dt’

Now,
Volume of water entering the well, when recuperates by ‘dh’ is;
dV =  A.dh = Q dt - - - - - (i)
But, Q  h
Q=kh - - - - - (ii) (k = coefficient of permeability)
From eqns. (i) and (ii)
dV = k h dt - - - - - (iii)
Again from eqns. (i) and (iii)
k h dt =  A.dh (ve sign indicates ‘h’ decreases as time ‘t’)
or, 
Integrating both sides;

∫ ∫ or, ∫ ∫

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or, [] [ ] or, ( *

or, ( * - - - - - (iv)

Here, ⁄ is known as specific yield capacity.

We have, Q=kH (H = constant depression head)

or, - - - - - (v)
Form eqns. (iv) and (v), we get;

( * (unit m3/s)

Value of ⁄ :
Clay → 0.25 cm3/hr./m3
Fine sand → 0.50 cm3/hr./m3
Gravel → 1.00 cm3/hr./m3

Yields of Wells in Aquifer

A. Unconfined Aquifer
Figure shows a well penetrating an unconfined or free aquifer to its full depth;
Let,
= radius of well
H = thickness of aquifer
s = drawdown at the well
h = depth of water in the well

From Darcy’s Law,


or,
but,

Where, A = x-sectional area of soil mass

k = coefficient of permeability

Let, P(r,h) be any point in the drawdown curve.

Thus, above equation for point ‘P’ is given by;
cylindrical
strip

or,

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Integrating both sides, we get;

∫ ∫ or, ( * ( )

( )
or, ( * ( )
( ⁄ )

( )
For one observation well; R = radius of drawdown
( ⁄)

Also, and then;

( ) ( ⁄ )
( ⁄ ) ( ⁄)
L = h = length of strainer
( ) Where, T = kd = coefficient of
( ⁄ ) transmissibility = kH

B. Confined Aquifer
From Darcy’s Law,
Let, P(r,h) be any point on the drawdown curve. ‘b’ is the thickness of confined aquifer.
Then,
or, ( )

or,

Integrating both sides,

∫ ∫

or, ( * ( )

( )
( ⁄ ) Fig: Confined Aquifer

( )
For one observation well:
( ⁄)

Also, and then;

( )
For 1 well:
( ⁄ )
( )
( ⁄)
( ⁄ )

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Suitability of ground sources with regard to quantity and quality

Quantity
Ground water is the water which percolates in the ground after rainfall.
 As the rainfall is not uniform throughout the year, the quantity of ground water varies
throughout the year.
 In monsoons or rainy seasons, yield will be maximum; whereas, it will be minimum in summers.
 The quantity of water drawn from deep wells is much more, because water is tapped from
several aquifers to into these wells.
 If we compare the quantity of ground water with surface water, we will see that more quantity is
available in surface sources.

Quality
The quality of ground water is much better than surface water, because surface water
contains large amount of suspended impurities, whereas ground water it free from those.
 Sometimes ground water contains dissolved mine salts etc.
 The strainer action of soil also removes large quantity of bacteria. So, ground water is mostly
free from bacteria but may be soft or hard, depending upon dissolved impurities.
 Overall the ground water is good in quality, but requires some treatment to remove dissolved
impurities.

Selection of Source of Water supply

The selection of source of water supply to a town depends upon the following factors:
a) Location
The source of water should be as near as possible to the town. If there are both surface
and ground sources available to the town, the selection will be decided by other factors like
population, discharge of both sources, etc.
- If there is no river, stream or reservoir; the city will have to depend upon underground sources
where there is no other alternatives.

b) Quantity of water
The source of water should have sufficient quantity of water to meet up all the demands
of the city, such as domestic, industrial, fire fighting, public or also for future expansion of city.

c) Quality of water
The quality of water should be good, which can be easily and cheaply treated. It should
not contain disease germs or other pathogenic bacteria which may be danger for human health.
- Hence, as far as possible the source of water should be wholesome, safe and free from pollution.

d) Cost
The cost of w/s scheme depends upon many factors; as, system of supply, ground level
of cities, distance between source and distribution level of city.
- If the water flows under the gravitational force it will be cheap, but costly if it is to be pumped.
- Similarly, the cost will directly depend upon the distance between source and city, if the distance
is more it will be costly.

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Solved Problems

1) Determine the storage capacity of impounded reservoir for an average water demand of
3000 million litres per month. Inflow rates continuously in m3/s are given below.
January 0 April 0.85 July 1.87 October 0.75
February 0.4 May 1.25 August 2.99 November 0
March 0.56 June 1.84 September 3.31 December 0

Solution:
Here, 1 = 1  1000 litres/sec
= 1  1000  24  60  60 litres/day

For 30 days a month = 86.4  30 = 2592 M.Lt./month

For 31 days a month = 86.4  31 = 2678.4 M.Lt./month
For 28 days a month = 86.4 28 = 2419.2 M.Lt./month

Cumulative Cumulative
Inflow Demand Inflow Surplus Deficit
Months Inflow Demand
(m3/s) (M.Lt.) (M.Lt) (M.Lt) (M.Lt.)
(M.Lt.) (M.Lt.)
Jan (31) 0 3000 0 0 3000 3000
Feb (28) 0.4 3000 967.68 967.68 6000 5032.32
Mar (31) 0.56 3000 1499.904 2467.584 9000 6532.416
Apr (30) 0.85 3000 2203.2 4670.784 12000 7329.216
May (31) 1.25 3000 3348 8018.784 15000 6981.216
June (30) 1.84 3000 4769.28 12788.06 18000 5211.936
July (31) 1.87 3000 5008.608 17796.67 21000 3203.328
Aug (31) 2.99 3000 8008.416 25805.09 24000 1805.088
Sept (30) 3.31 3000 8579.52 34384.61 27000 7384.608
Oct (31) 0.75 3000 2008.8 36393.41 30000 6393.408
Nov (30) 0 3000 0 36393.41 33000 3393.408
Dec (31) 0 3000 0 36393.41 36000 393.408

Capacity of Impounding Reservoir = Maximum value of Surplus + Maximum value of Deficit

= 7384.61 + 7329.216
= 14713.826 Million Litres .

2) Compute the storage needed for an impounding reservoir, for a constant draft of 300 million
litres per month, with the following recorded mean monthly runoff values.
Order of month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Monthly mean runoff (M.Lt.) 1200 1500 600 100 80 30 10

Order of month 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Monthly mean runoff (M.Lt.) 0 20 60 800 1000 1200 700

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1) Design an open well in fine sand to give a discharge of 0.003 cumecs when worked under a
depression head of 2.5m. (k/A = 0.50 m3/hr./m2 of area for fine sand)

Solution:
Discharge (Q) = 0.003 cumecs = 0.003  3600 m3/hr. = 10.8 m3/hr.
Specific yield capacity ( ⁄ ) = 0.5 m3/hr./m2.
Depression head (H) = 2.5 m.

Since, or, 10.8 = 0.5  A  2.5 = 8.64 m2.

Also, (for circular well)

or, (d = well diameter) d = 3.32 m .

2) During recuperation test, the water in an open well was depressed by 2.5 m and it
recuperated 1.8 m in 80 minutes. Find: (i) Yield from a well of 4m diameter under a
depression head of 3m. (ii) The diameter of the well to yield 8 litres/sec under a depression
head of 2m.

Solution:
= 2.5 m, h = 1.8 m  = 2.5 – 1.8 = 0.7 m
T = 80 min = ⁄ = ⁄ hrs.

Specific yield ( ⁄ ) ( * ( * ( *
⁄

(i) Yield form the well of dia. 4 m.

here, H = 3 m.
= 12.56 m2

( * = 0.955  12.56  3 = 35.98 m3/hr. = 10 ltrs/sec .

(ii) Diameter(d) for 8 ltrs/s yield

Q = 8 ltrs/sec = 8  3.6 = 28.8 m3/hr. [ 1 ltrs/s = 3.6 m3/hr.]
H = 2 m.
Since, ( * or, 28.8 = 0.955  A  2 A = 15.08 m2.

Now, √ = 4.38 4.40 m .

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3) A tube well of 30 cm diameter penetrates fully in an artesian aquifer. The strainer length is
15 m. Calculate the yield from the well under a drawdown of 3 m. The aquifer consists of
sand of effective size of 0.2 mm having coefficient of permeability equal to 50 m/day.
Assume radius of drawdown equal to 150 metres. {Punmia 4.3}

Solution:
( )
The discharge of artesian aquifer is given by:
( ⁄)
Where, b = thickness of aquifer = length of strainer = 15 m.
s = drawdown = H – h = 3 m.
k = coefficient of permeability = 50 m/day
R = 150 m
r= ⁄ = ⁄ = 15 cm = 0.15 m

= = 2046.56 m3/day
( ⁄ ) ( ⁄ )

= = 23.69 ltrs/s .

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