MONITORING WELLS

-A Technical Definition and DescriptionBy William Novak

A monitoring well is a pipe bored into a groundwater source that collects water for testing purposes. Many times, there are contaminates such as fuel or fine particles that should not be mixed with the populations drinking or hygiene related water. It is important to collect samples from the groundwater source to determine the how the chemicals are effecting the aquifer.

Source: http://www.wm.com/wm/environmental/...

Monitoring Well Components

Sampling The covering of the well. This cap keeps any of the moisture build up inside the casing from Cap mixing with the wells contents. Bottom Cap The Casing and Post Weep Hole
A cap that keeps the collected water from leaking out the bottom of the tube. This refers to the wells protection. Often times, the well can be hidden with foliage or snowfall and the pole and casing can be used to locate and also protect the well from vehicles and other mishaps. The casing will most likely be locked to prevent tampering. This hole is used to remove any excess moisture build up inside the well.

Slotted Material that keeps unwanted substances from entering the inner tube. Casing Gravel where it will be stored and sampled.
The gravel is used to enhance the flow of water. Water easily moves into the monitoring well

Source: http://www.dpla.water.ca.gov/...

Three Basic Types of Monitoring Wells

Individual Consists of an individual casing in the borehole. Installed in unique locations separate Wells from one another. Most common type. See Figure 2 below. Nested Consists of two or more casings in one borehole. The depth at which each of the casing strings goes down varies so that water can be obtained from different water zones. See Wells Figure 2 below. Clustered Consists of individual monitoring wells that are grouped closely together. The purpose is similar to that of the nested monitoring wells. The depth of each borehole will vary with Wells each of the wells to get data on different water zones. See Figure 2 below.

Source: http://www.maf.govt.nz/sff/about-projects/...

Drilling
The photo above shows the excess dirt and rock being removed from the borehole that will allow the workers to install the monitoring well assembly.

Well Placement

In order for a monitoring well to work, the well must be bored to a correct depth. Unfortunately, aquifers are located at various depths in the ground. The drilling process requires a little trial and error. Once found, the aquifer will allow the well to collect the water needed for sampling purposes.

Source: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclegwstorage.html

The Process
Now that the monitoring well is installed into an aquifer, it is important to understand how it will collect water. As shown in the figure above, water collects in an underground location from the slow infiltration of rainwater and other forms of precipitation. As the precipitation saturates in the ground, it will eventually collect and form pockets below the water table. The porosity of the ground will affect the rate at which the saturation zone replenishes. Human factors, such as roads and parking lots, are less porous, which negatively affect the rate of saturation zone replenishment. Highly concentrated water in the saturation zone becomes an aquifer. Water will flow through the ground and collect in this porous zone. The bottom of the well is also porous, allowing the water in the aquifer to slowly build up in the well. Now that water is collecting in the well, it can be sampled. I will discuss the sampling process in the next paper of this Monitoring Well Series.

How the Well Collects Water