Monitoring of groundwater extraction wells
Context - Problem
Groundwater is the main source of fresh water on the planet and is essential for all human activities. According to UNESCO, 2.5 billion people depend on groundwater for their basic needs. In addition, millions of farmers depend on it to meet the food needs of many other people.
The infrastructure necessary for its exploitation (wells, pumps and hydraulic installations) implies very important investments and it is usual that after making them, their owners think that the groundwater is inexhaustible; however, this is not the case, the water supply can be interrupted by factors, electrical, mechanical and even the depletion of the aquifer.
Solution
Our water well monitoring solution consists of the continuous monitoring of various sensors that give us information about the system formed by the hydraulic system and the aquifer. With a hydrostatic sensor we measure the water level in the well. With this we can know the static and dynamic levels but also evaluate the transient variations that occur at the pump’s on and off instants.
We measure the outflow from the well for various purposes. The first is to know precisely the amount of water extracted. More importantly, it is to extract the flow that ensures that the aquifer will not dry up. Finally, if the well is going to run dry, it is essential to know it in advance to be able to take corrective measures in time and minimize possible negative impacts. Finally, we measure different electrical parameters of the electromechanical pumping system. Among them the supply voltage, the phase currents consumed by the pump, as well as the active and reactive powers.
With these parameters, we know the evolution of the health status of each monitored well and we can provide useful information for making critical decisions.
We help our clients answer the following questions:
When water is needed, which wells should I use?
The ones that give more water or the most efficient in terms of energy?
Is the aquifer drying up?
Should I do other piercings?
What is the combination of wells that allows me to minimize extraction costs?
