07/01/2017
Excellent article.
The July issue of the National Ground Water Association's Water Well Journal focuses on well rehabilitation and features multiple feature articles on the subject.
The first is by Michael J. Schnieders, PG, PG-GW and focuses on well cleaning chemicals such as enhancers, inhibitors, and dispersants. Schnieders, the NGWA Foundation’s 2017 McEllhiney Lecturer, writes in “Chemical Usage in Well Rehabilitations” chemical cleaning is typically a combined chemical and mechanical effort targeting scale, biomass, or both.
He adds it is important to understand the role each chemical can play during treatment. As such, Schnieders details acids, inhibitors, acid enhancers and dispersants, chelating agents, surface active agents, emulsifiers, caustic and alkaline solutions, chlorine, and chlorine enhancers.
There are also two feature articles recapping well rehabilitation projects. The first is a case study addressing the value of doing work necessary to ensure water velocities are proper after changes are made as a result of well rehabilitation.
Authors Robert M. St. Louis and Mark List write in “Fluid Mechanics Applied to Rehabilitation with Liner Installation” about a job at a dewatering site where after the initial rehabilitation effort a video showed erosion of the louvers over several intervals.
Adding complications was the well was not plumb so the new louver liner was installed with inverted louvers to prevent shutters from snagging on the bottom of the casing louvers. When all was complete, the well continues to pump at a high volume after substantially reducing the inside diameter of the casing without incurring equipment damage. The rehabilitation effort resulted in a substantial increase in the well’s efficiency as well.
A well rehabilitation project at a mine is the subject of an article by freelance writer Jennifer Strawn. In “Rehabilitating Jordan’s Phosphate Mines,” Straawn details a job where pumping efficiency and water levels had seen significant drops.
WellJet Well Rehabilitation, a manufacturer of water jetting products, was brought in after an effort to aid the wells was done two years earlier by a firm that drilled a new, deeper wellfield.
WellJet, whose tools use highly pressurized water in a laminar flow to remove encrustation inside the casing and open plugged perforations, demonstrated its abilities on one well that showed immediate improvements. The company redid the rest of the wells, all yielding excellent results.
The July issue also features a Guest Editorial. Lisa Riles, the global business unit director for residential and specialty, Xylem Inc. AWS, authored a piece titled “Four Benefits of Ongoing Employee Training.”
She points out that there are a variety of reasons to seek out professional developments as well as a variety of ways to learn in the groundwater industry today. She then goes over four reasons it is worth a company investing in educational opportunities for their employees.
She mentions industry education helps recruit top talent, shape promotable employees, keeps employees engaged, and encourages companies to consistently look to the future.
The latest installment of Safety Matters goes over a critical issue—hand protection. Columnist Alexandra Walsh in “Hand Safety Begins with the Right Glove,” states 70% of hand injuries are preventable according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. She adds they are expensive accidents too with each averaging a worker’s compensation claim of $6000-$7000.
With that, Walsh details how to select the right gloves for particular jobs as well as the different types of gloves for work in the groundwater industry. Also included with the article is a sidebar on OSHA’s standard for hand protection.
To read these articles and more, visit www.WaterWellJournal.com.
