Groundwater Resources and Borehole Management

This Short Course will allow the participants to:

Understand the functioning of aquifers, and master the tools and methods, allowing the exploration and evaluation of groundwater.
Realize a phase of reconnaissance of the boreholes before that of exploitation, as well as master the techniques of the water boreholes through the design, the elaboration of the contract (administrative and technical clauses), the follow-up of the works, the performance of the various tests, and acceptance of the drilling.
Have tools and techniques for the operation, maintenance, and protection of water boreholes.

The Courses

Session 1: Water Resources Assessment Water cycle

- Properties of aquifers (global approach)
- Characteristics of sustainable management
- Principles of underground flows
- Flows towards the wells (point approach at the level of the catchment site)
- Interpretation of pumping tests
- Techniques that can be used to increase knowledge
- Introduction to modeling
- Water quality

Session 2: Techniques and best practices for drilling water wells

- Presentation of the different drilling methods and their selection criteria
- Analysis of the various information to be collected during drilling
- Carrying out tests on the structure
- Design and sizing of boreholes, according to the information collected for each borehole (granulometry, logging, etc.)
- Presentation of development techniques
- Realization of pumping tests
- Receipt of boreholes
- Specifications and technical specifications of the boreholes
- Choice of location and characteristics of the exploitation borehole(s) after a reconnaissance phase

Session 3: Operation, maintenance and protection of water boreholes

- The causes of loss of productivity of a borehole
- Degradation phenomena (corrosion, encrustation, clogging)
- Diagnosis methods in water drilling (direct and indirect)
- Follow-up and monitoring of boreholes
- Preventive maintenance of boreholes (tracking, monitoring and recording)
- Maintenance techniques (mechanical, chemical)
- Economic aspects of maintenance
- Catchment protection perimeters (notions, implementation criteria)
- Notions of aquifer and catchment contracts

Summary

Groundwater is generally a reliable and good quality resource. The construction of boreholes in the rules of the art, as well as their maintenance, must be the subject of particular attention. Care must also be taken to avoid pollution while maintaining aging structures.

Description

Production from wells can be limited by aquifer yield and contamination, as well as environmental, economic, legal and political factors. In addition, normal equipment wear, design errors, manufacturing defects, material fabrication, and chemical and biological factors tend to reduce the performance of boreholes over time.

Key benefits

The training will allow participants to understand the hydrodynamics of the aquifer system, the migration of pollution in the porous medium, the different methods of capture ... for its evaluation, exploitation, protection and preservation.

Who should attend

The different modules of this training are aimed at engineers and technicians who work at the level of water resource management bodies (Basin Agencies, Water Services) or operators (Drinking Water Production Office or Irrigation Board)