Events

Presenting at Arizona Water Conference

Clear Creek Presenting at Arizona Water Conference

Hydrogeologists Don Hanson, RG, and Geno Mammini, RG, will be presenting at the Arizona Water Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 9-11, 2023. Mr. Hanson will present on Pilot Borehole Analysis and Mr. Mammini will present on Well Design Trends in the East Salt River Valley. Hydrologist Riley Trickey, RG, and Principal Hydrogeologist Marvin Glotfelty, RG, will also be in attendance. The three-day program is designed to provide professional development, continuing education, and technology transfer to support the AZ Water Association’s vision of “a vibrant Arizona through safe, reliable water.” Learn more about the event. 

 

Abstracts

Well Design Trends in the East Salt River Valley by Geno Mammini, RG

Cities within the East Salt River Valley (ESRV) of the Phoenix Active Management Area (AMA) have seen exponential growth over the past 15+ years. Growth in this region has increased the need for groundwater and the installation of water supply wells. Through the recent design, installation, and testing of numerous supply wells throughout the ESRV, several trends were identified with respect to water production, water quality, and hydrogeologic conditions. This presentation will provide a regional summary of several recent ESRV supply well projects, data gathered during borehole characterization, well design challenges, and general trends established following the installation and testing of the wells. The presentation will also compare the predicted capacity and water quality concentration estimates with actual results from the completed wells.

 

Pilot Borehole Analysis – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Don Hanson, RG

As the future of surface water supplies in Arizona become less certain, municipal, industrial, and agricultural water users will have to turn more and more to groundwater to meet current and future water supply demands. Drilling new water supply wells, particularly to provide potable water for public consumption, usually involves an initial pilot borehole where data are collected to assess the subsurface hydrogeologic conditions to estimate whether the location is viable for a new well. The data are also used to develop the final well design, which seeks to maximize well capacity, well efficiency, and water quality. In many instances, the aquifer properties are sufficiently good for water production and the final well design question comes down to the balance between water production and suitable water quality (“The Good”). However, in other cases, the determination of water production is less clear due to divergent lines of evidence (“The Bad”) or the inability to collect accurate downhole data (“The Ugly”). This presentation, intended for anyone looking to drill a new water supply well, will describe the types of data collected from pilot borehole drilling, how the data are used to interpret aquifer conditions, and which data sets and/or conditions should be weighted more heavily when deciding on whether to proceed with installation of the new well.

AZ Water Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization founded in 1928 with a membership of 2,100 water/wastewater professionals dedicated to preserving and enhancing Arizona’s water environment. Although AZ Water is an independent organization, it also serves as the Arizona section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Arizona member association of the Water Environment Federation (WEF).