Asset management for water wells;

Is it all about money?

Vitens, the largest water company in the Netherlands, supplies 330 million kubic meters of high-quality drinking water to over five million domestic and industrial clients. Water abstraction is performed with respect for nature and the environment at all times. Vitens' groundwater is sourced from approximately 1500 vertical wells and 5 horizontal wells at 99 production sites.

Alternatives have to be considered for the design, drilling, and maintenance and operation of water wells. Financial aspects are often key in the decision making process. Asset management at Vitens encompasses every link in the water supply chain (i.e. abstraction, treatment and transport). This presentation focuses on the costs of groundwater abstraction and the applications of asset management. This technique has been applied for several of Vitens well fields . Investment and maintenance costs for horizontal and vertical wells will be compared and discussed. The analysis covers rehabilitation techniques, scheduling of rehabilitation and/or replacement of wells. The results of some practical cases will be presented to demonstrate the approach. These cases led to the development of a method for asset management for wells, which has been implemented by Vitens. But, is it all about money?