Well or Borehole Water Flow Rates

Water Wells and bores.
If your water well or water bore hole is newly built, one of the first things you will need to do is to determine the flow rate. The flow rate is the maximum rate at which water may be drawn from it without pumping it dry.

The flow rate therefore is equal to the natural rate at which the well or bore fills. The natural fill rate will depend on many things and may vary at different times of the year., or during prolonged dry or wet periods.
It may fill at a rate as low as one litre per minute, or it may be an artesian well with water gushing out of the ground or anywhere in-between.

As part of the process of installation of a well or bore hole water pumping system, a flow test becomes an essential component. Pumps and pipe systems will be throttled according to your bore or well’s maximum yield to ensure that it isn’t pumped dry and to reduce stress on the pump.
The yield rate is core to the setup of the pumping system, and every aspect and part of the system will be setup according to this yield rate.

South Coast Water will determine the maximum yield rate for you and in the case of a new water bore hole, some days after the lining has been done to allow the bore to settle down and likewise with newly built water wells.
Older water wells may need to be cleaned first prior to this test.

The purpose of the flow rate test therefore is to determine how much water you can extract in any 24 hour period and how quickly you can do that.

Water Well cleaning.
If your well is old, or has been sat unused for a long time, it may benefit from cleaning. Some water wells respond well (no pun intended) to cleaning and can increase water flow rates considerably. If your water well is shallow it may be cleaned easily provided it is wide enough for a man to get inside it.
Scrubbing the well walls and base with lime then jet washing will often remove deposits and growth which restrict water flow.

Deep water wells may also be treated with lime though it is usually a less effective process as the walls and base of the well cannot be scrubbed due to its depth.

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