Objectives
 To obtain the design yield with minimum A water well is a hole, shaft, or excavation used for the
drawdown consistent with aquifer capability
and economic optimization of the well;
 Good quality water with proper protection from
contamination;
 Water that remains solid-free;
 A well with a long life (more than 25 years);
 Reasonable capital and operational costs.
The main points in designing a well are:
 Choice of well location;
 Selection of appropriate drilling method;
 Selection of appropriate construction
materials, including pump specification;
 Proper dimensional factors of borehole and
well structure;
 Geological and geophysical logging, water
quality sampling and test-pumping can be
carried out in a satisfactory way;
 The well pumping rate should satisfy the
demand for water;
 The inflow sections of the well should be
designed opposite those permeable geological
formations;
 Well design should be such that pollutants
from land surface or other sources can not
enter the well;
 Materials used in the well should be resistant
to corrosion and possess sufficient strength to
prevent collapse
 Well design should be based on low
installation and running costs while not
affecting well performance
Introduction
purpose of extracting ground water from the subsurface.
Water may flow to the surface naturally after excavation
of the hole or shaft. Such a well is known as a flowing
artesian well. More commonly, water must be pumped
out of the well.
Some wells are used for purposes other than obtaining
ground water. Oil and gas wells are examples of this.
Monitoring wells for groundwater levels and groundwater
quality are other examples. Still other purposes include
the investigation of subsurface conditions, shallow
drainage, artificial recharge, and waste disposal.
Steps of Designing a Well
1. Determine the yield required;
2. Identify formation with potential to support this
yield;
3. Identify drilling method;
4. Identify aquifer type;
5. Determine depth of borehole;
6. Determine minimum well diameter;
7. Determine maximum discharge vs. drawdown;
a. If Q > yield, then reduce diameter of the
well.
b. If Q < yield, then drill another well (discuss
the matter financially!!!)
8. Determine dimensions of pump chamber;
9. Determine screen and filter characteristics (see if
you need filter at all!!!)
10. Determine pump characteristics including stages
and pumping rate
Information Required for Well Design  Nature of formations above aquifer

 Aquifer location
 Aquifer nature:
 Aquifer parameters:
 Location of aquifer boundaries;
 Aquifer recharge characteristics;

Well Structure
 1. Upper Well Casing and Pump Housing
(prevents hole collapse, keeping the borehole
and conduit open.)
2. Well Screen “where required” (enables water,
but not aquifer material, to enter the well which
enables development and/or rehabilitation of
the well, and structurally supports the well in
loose formation materials
3. Filter or Gravel Pack “where required” (enables
good flow to the well, without pumping fine-
grained materials)
Upper Well Casing and Pump Housing
The “operating” water level in the well can be calculated
as the distance below ground level of the static
piezometric level “static water level” (H) less the
anticipated drawdown at the well (sw) less a safety
margin(SF).
The Safety margin (SF) should include allowance for:
 The variation in aquifer transmissivity due to
aquifer heterogeneity;
 Well deterioration;
 Well energy losses (arising from flow through the
screen and gravel pack);
 Future contingencies for well interference,
seasonal or over-year decline in static water
levels etc.;
Diameter
Manufacturers of pump will recommend a “minimum”
casing. The diameter must be large enough for the pump
to be a comfortable fit, making allowances for non-
verticality of the borehole. A diameter 100 mm larger than
the nominal pump diameter is often recommended. In
general, the vertical velocity within the well casing needs
to be less than 1.5-2 m/sec to minimize well losses
DEPTH VS. DIAMETER
• With the casing set depths determined hole sizes
and casing size must follow.
• The hole drilled for each casing string must be
large enough to easily fit the casing inside it,
allowing room for cement between the outside of
the casing and the hole.
• Also, the inside diameter of the first casing string
must be large enough to fit the second bit that will
continue drilling. Thus, each casing string will have
a subsequently smaller diameter.
Upper well Casing and pump hosing
To keep loose sand and gravel from collapsing into the
borehole, it is necessary to use well casing and screen.
The screen supports the borehole walls while allowing
water to enter the well; unslotted casing is placed above
the screen to keep the rest of the borehole open and
serve as housing for pumping equipment
Screen Design
 • Well screens should have as large a percentage of
non-clogging slots as possible, be resistant to
corrosion, have sufficient strength to resist
collapse, be easily developed and prevent sand
pumping. These characteristics are best met in
commercial continuous-slot (wire wrap) screens
consisting of a triangular-shaped wire wrapped
around an array of rods. If these screens are
available, conduct a sieve analysis on samples on
the water-bearing formation, and select a slot size
that will retain 40 percent to 60 percent of the
material.
Slot Design
• Using a hack saw, cut slots in the plastic casing
which are as long and close together as possible.
Slots should be spaced as close together as
possible vertically and should extend about one-
fifth the circumference of the pipe; there should be
three even rows of slots extending up the pipe
separated by three narrower rows of solid, uncut
pipe (for strength)
Screen/Casing Diameter
• Three-inch diameter casing and screen can easily
be inserted into a 6-inch borehole, and allows
creation of an effective 1.25-in-thick filter pack
(especially important where the aquifer is
composed of very fine materials). However,
because 3-inch screen often is not available and
has low total open area, carefully centered and
filter-packed 4-inch screen most frequently is
used. Larger-diameter screens make the filter
pack ineffective and do not significantly increase
well yield. For example, moving from a 4-inch
screen to a 5-inch screen will increase yield by 3
percent or less.
Screen Length
• For confined aquifers, 80 percent to 90 percent of
the thickness of the water-bearing zone should be
screened. Best results are obtained by centering
the screen section in the aquifer. For unconfined
aquifers, maximum specific capacity is obtained by
using the longest screen possible, but more
available drawdown results from using the shortest
screen possible. These factors are optimized by
screening the bottom 30 percent to 50 percent of
the aquifer. One 20-foot length of screen often is
adequate. In many tropical areas, successful wells
can be constructed by drilling 5 feet into
underlying rock, and placing a 10-foot screen that
straddles the bedrock/overburden interface.
Bottom Casing
 • Significant quantities of fine materials often are
present in the extreme upper and lower parts of an
aquifer. Therefore, unless the aquifer is less than
20 feet thick, extend the casing at least 3 feet to 6
feet into the top of the aquifer before starting the
screen. Similarly, unless the aquifer is very thin,
ensure that at least the bottom 3 feet to 6 feet of
the aquifer is completed with a piece of solid
casing pipe. This casing provides a place for
solids to settle as they are drawn into the well,
thus minimizing screen blockage and minimizing
the amount of fines drawn into the well.
Bottom Plug
• A plug, or drive shoe, always should be installed to
help the casing slip down the borehole, and
prevent unfiltered fines from entering the well. A
cap or pointed wooden plug are the most common
plugs. If belled casing is used, the non-belled end
can be shaped into a point. Finally, a wash-down
valve can be used or a one-way valve (allowing
water to flow out of the casing) can be installed in
a wooden plug that has a beveled inner surface.
This valve allows the well to be effectively rinsed
out, and ensures that the filter pack is effectively
placed. If any type of wooden plug is used, it is
good practice to place a cement plug at the bottom
of the well to ensure that sediment cannot enter
the well when the plug rots out. Put thick cement
in thin plastic bags, drop them to the bottom of the
well and then smash them open using drill pipe.
Slot types and Open area
Well screens are manufactured from a variety of
materials and range from crude hand-made contrivance
to highly efficient and long life models made on machines
costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The value of a
screen depends on how effectively it contributes to the
success of a well.
Important screen criteria and functions are discussed
before as:
1. Criteria
 Larger percentage of open area
 Non-clogging slots
 Resistant to corrosion
 Sufficient column and collapse strength
2. Functions
 Easily developed
 Minimal incrusting tendency
 Low head loss through the screen
 Control sand pumping in all types of
aquifers
Maximizing each of these criteria in constructing screens
is not always possible depending on the actual screen
design. For example, the open area of slotted casing
cannot exceed (11-12) % or the column strength will be
insufficient to support the overlying casing during screen
installation. However, open areas of 30 to 50 percent are
common for continuous-slot screens with no loss of
column strength. In high corrosive waters, the use of
plastic is desirable, but its relatively low strength makes
its use impractical for deep wells.
 -shaped slot openings reduce clogging where
straight cut, punched or gauze-type openings can
be clogged by elongate or slightly oversize
particles

Screen Slot types

There are mainly four types of well screens
 Continuous slot screen
 Bride slot screen
 Slotted pipe
 Louvered screen
 Slot openings should be continuous around the
circumference of the screen, permitting maximum
accessibility to the aquifer so that efficient
development is possible.
 Slot openings should be spaced to provide
maximum open area consistent with strength
requirements to take advantage of the aquifer
hydraulic conductivity.
 Individual slot openings should be V- shaped and
widen inward to reduce clogging of the slots and
sized to control sand pumping.

Gravel and Filter Packs
Basic Requirements of Gravel Pack
• For formations of fine sands and silts the aquifer
must be stabilized. It is not usually practicable to
have very small slot sizes, and so an artificial
gravel pack is selected which forms the correct
size of pore opening, and stabilizes the sand in
formation. The use of a pack in a fine formation
enables the screen opening to be considerably
larger than if the screen were placed in the
formation by itself.
There is a consequent reduction in head loss. If
the grading in the aquifer is small, several grading
in the aquifer is very small, several grading of
gravel pack may be required to retain the
formation, and provide practical screen opening
sizes.
Natural Gravel Pack
These are produced by the development of the
formation itself. Development techniques are used
to draw the finer fraction of the unconsolidated
aquifer through the screen leaving behind a stable
envelope of coarser and therefore more
permeable material.
Artificial Gravel Packs
Also known as gravel filter pack, graded envelope,
the gravel pack is intended to fulfil the following
functions:
 To support the aquifer formations and prevent
collapse into the casing;
 To laterally restrain the casing, effectively
strengthening the casing;
 To prevent the movement of fine aquifer material
into the well.
Thickness of Gravel Pack
In theory, a pack thickness of 2 or 3 grains is all
that is required to retain formation particles. In practice
around 10 cm is used to ensure an envelope around the
well. Upper limit of thickness of the gravel pack is 20 cm;
otherwise, final well development becomes too difficult
and cost of drilling escalates. Packs with a thickness of
less than 5 cm are simply formation stabilizers, acting to
support the formation, but not effective as a filter.
Selection of Gravel Grading
The aim is to identify the material which will stop
significant quantities of material moving into the well
while minimizing energy losses. Artificial gravel packs are
used where the aquifer material is fine, well-sorted or
laminated and heterogeneous. They allow the use of
larger slot sizes than would otherwise be possible.