Dealing with Bacterial Infestations that Affect Turbine Pump Performance

Turbine well pumps are close-tolerance, fast-rotating systems designed to pump clear, solids-free water. Consequently, if conditions in the well environment promote biological growth and biofouling development, the resulting films and trapped solids can seriously impair pump performance. Pump impairment usually results from the bulk of trapped iron and manganese oxides and iron sulfides, although the biofilms themselves can contribute. Biofouling can also promote corrosion. This talk will briefly review types of biofouling and biocorrosion commonly encountered, how they clog well pumps, how to predictively analyze for their presence using available methods, and several methods for limiting impacts. The latter can include pump and discharge pipe material and design selection, pump placement, employing overall well maintenance and sanitation practices that reduce biofouling buildup, and intelligently selecting sustainable pumping rates, based on quality well-performance analysis.