Technical Equipment Showcase

Hydrology Equipment Showcase:
Technical Equipment and Its Use
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Water Withdrawal Equipment

2” Portable Submersible Pump

Capabilities:

Accesses 2” internal diameter wells and boreholes to depths up to 200 feet.
Variable-speed pump with controller.
Pumping rate depends on the lift required, but pumping rates of 5 to 7 gpm at 150 feet are possible.
The reel is mounted on a 2-wheeled cart to allow transport over rough terrain.
Powered by 110 AC outlets or generators.

Specific capacity test conducted using a
variable flow rate submersible pump.

This pump allows for rapid efficient purging of wells for sampling, single and multiple pumping tests, and can be used in concert with the borehole camera to determine in ground water inflow points and other well characteristics.

4” Portable Submersible Pump

Capabilities:

Able to access 4 inch inside diameter wells and to be lowered to a depth up to 650 feet.
Variable-speed pump with controller. Pumping rate depends on the lift required, but about two gpm is possible at 300 feet with a maximum yield of 4 to 5 gpm.
Powered by 110 AC sources or including generators.
Hydraulically powered reel for raising or lowering the pump.
Pump assembly is on an integral cart to ease the movement.

This pump is used mainly for purging and sampling of deep wells and mine shafts.

Fultz Pump

Capabilities:

The Fultz pump is a backpack mounted.
Able to access 2 inch inside diameter wells at depths up to 100 feet.
Powered from batteries or an electrical converter run from a 110 AC source.
Pumping rates are 2 to 3 gpm at moderate depths (e.g., 50 foot).

It is mainly used to purge and sample smaller diameter shallow depth wells that are located in areas inaccessible to the other pumps.

Kemmerer Sampler

Use and Capabilities:

Hand held device used to collect water samples at variable depths.
Consists of a tube with plug ends that are pulled out to the set position.
Lowered on a rope to the desired depth.
A metal messenger is attached to the rope and allowed to slide down the rope to the top plug. The impact of the messenger to the top plug springs the trap and the two plugs wedge into their respective ends of the tube sealing it.
The instrument is raised to the surface and sample water is extracted.

The only depth limit is the length of the rope and the distance that an individual is willing to lower it and then pull it back up.

Sampling at discreet levels within an
underground mine with a Kemmerer sampler.

Bailers

Capabilities and Use: Bailers with variable length rope, diameter, and volume are available to purge and sample boreholes and wells.

Flow Measurement Equipment

Surface water Flow Meters

Capabilities: Electromagnetic water flow meters used to perform accurate stream flow measurements. Using the cross-section velocity method large open channel flow is measured on a time-averaged basis.

Stream-flow rate measurement by the
cross-sectional area and velocity measurement method.

Portable Flumes

Capabilities: A family of 1, 2, 4, and 8 inch aperture portable cutthroat flumes. Allows accurate open channel flow measurements from 3 to over 1000 gpm.

Mine discharge rate determined using an
8-inch cutthroat flume.

Meters and Kits

Water Level Indicators

Capabilities: A variety of water level meters that can determine water levels up to 500 feet from the surface.

Water Quality Meters

Specific Conductance – Multiple meters, can access depths up to 1000 feet. Beyond the standard use, these meters can be used to perform conductivity and temperature profiles in wells, boreholes and flooded mine shafts to ascertain ground water inflow zones.

Hydrograph illustrating specific conductance increases at fracture locations created
by integrating data from a conductance meter and a borehole video log.

Dissolved Oxygen – Digital readouts of dissolved oxygen in percentage and milligrams per liter.

pH and Eh probes – Multiple meters.

Gas meters – Methane and other explosive gases, CO, CO₂, O₂, etc.

Flaring methane that is migrating from an underground
mine into an overlying domestic water well.

Water Quality Test Kits

Capabilities: Field testing kits for acidity, alkalinity, iron, manganese, sulfate and hydrogen sulfide. Also presence or absence bacteria (iron-related, sulfate-reducing, or slime-forming bacteria) kits.

Water Sampling Equipment

Capabilities: Standard complement of filtering equipment and fixing chemicals.

Water testing in the field.

Other Equipment

Pressure Transducers/Data Loggers

Capabilities: An extensive array of 10 to 30 psi. pressure transducers and integral data loggers. Cable lengths range from 30 to 500 feet. These instruments can be used for long-term dedicated water level and temperature recording as well as short-term data recording of aquifer tests.

Collecting water-level data during an aquifer test
using a pressure transducer linked to a data logger.

Hydrograph from a dedicated pressure transducer/data logger
illustrating water level spikes caused by significant precipitation events.

Borehole Camera

Capabilities:

A portable borehole camera unit capable of accessing up to 1000 feet below the surface.
Integral video recording system with depth indication.
Powered by 110 AC current or from 9-volt vehicle powered converter.
Can be lowered into 2 inch internal diameter boreholes.
Attachments include side viewing mirror, extra lights, compass, etc.

They can be used to determine the location, orientation and condition of fractures, well casing integrity, collapsed and damaged well bores, foreign objects and other salient features. Used in concert with conductivity profiling and/or pumping the location of water bearing fractures can be determined. Lowering into underground mine voids allows viewing of the mine roof conditions and other features.

Using a borehole camera to collect video
data during a hydrologic investigation.

Borehole camera view of a water-bearing
fracture in an uncased well.

GPS units

Capabilities: Several levels of GPS units from small handheld to survey-grade units. Allows accurate geographic positioning of significant field features.

Wadi

Capabilities: The Wadi is a geophysical instrument that uses very low frequency (VLF) waves, emitted by the United States Navy at various stations across the U.S. (and the world), to detect and locate water-filled fractures and other underground conductive structures. It is a hand-held instrument that has integral data logging capabilities.

The Wadi is employed in stream loss surveys and fracture analyses during hydrologic investigations. Used in conjunction with stream flow measurements, the Wadi can greatly enhance the efficiency of stream grouting to reduce water loss. The location of drilling sites for replacement water wells can be improved, based on locating water-filled fractures using the Wadi.

Using the Wadi^TM to delineate probable
stream loss zones.

Generators

Capabilities: Two generators are available for power generation in the field. The generators are capable of powering all of the other equipment available with up to 3800 continuous watts at 31.6 amps

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