Well-field management for energy efficiency

Many municipalities rely on ground water for at least a portion of their water supplies. The ground water for a city usually is collected from an existing well field. A major component of the operational expense is pumping, which includes the vertical lifts and the head losses through the collection piping to the storage facility. When the demand served by the well field is significantly less than its total capacity, a potential exists for energy-efficient management decisions as wells are selected to meet that demand. Such decisions should include consideration of transient drawdown at each well and energy losses between the wells and the storage facility. A simulation model has been assembled, for use with microcomputers, to assist an operator with these decisions. Input information includes hydraulic parameters for the aquifer, wells, and collection system. For a given demand, the model output provides an estimate of the best combination of wells to meet that flow rate. An example problem is presented to demonstrate the model's capabilities.