Tagging and Tracking Pumping Influence Provides Critical New Insight Across Monitoring Networks
Tagging and Tracking Pumping Influence Provides Critical New Insight Across Monitoring Networks
Presented on Monday, December 3, 2018
Removing the influence of pumping from groundwater-level data sets, manually or algorithmically, is cumbersome, error prone, and limits network data density. Conversely, water use and pumping from production wells may be a previously undocumented, but critical influence on real groundwater-level change across a network. A new method for tracking and tagging the influence of pumping on groundwater-level measurements supports accurate and more efficient interpretation of how pumping influences groundwater levels across a monitoring network. Using a simple current transducer to track pumping activity, a groundwater-level system is able to assign tags to capture the situation of the well and pump at the time of the reading. A “Timed” sensor reading tag reflects the absence of pumping, “Pump Influence” is a timed reading taken when the pump is running or within the recovery period. If pumping specific duty is necessary, or useful, tags can be applied to groundwater-level readings that reflect pumping drawdown and well recovery for each pumping event. With each groundwater-level reading tagged either Timed, Pump Influenced, Pump Start, Pump Stop, or Well Recovery, the identification of static and pumping influenced groundwater-levels becomes simple and error free. When tagged measurements from multiple wells are integrated across a monitoring network, the influence of multiple pumping wells on an aquifer can be isolated from the broader influences of weather, seasons, and climate, providing vital insight into background and man-made changes to the groundwater resource supporting fact-based sustainable management strategies.
Joseph Fillingham, Ph.D.
Wellntel, Silver Spring, MD
Joseph Fillingham is the Science Lead at Wellntel Inc. where he works to improve the usefulness and power of groundwater information collected with the Wellntel system focusing on water and environmental dynamics. He also supports the Wellntel technical team in the development of new ways to sense important properties of groundwater. Fillingham received his Ph.D. in freshwater ecosystem dynamics from the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Charles Dunning, Ph.D.
Wellntel, Inc., Milwaukee, WI
Charles Dunning leads Business Development for Wellntel, with responsibilities that include working with clients to define individual monitoring needs for characterizing their water resources and to consider the value of insights gained by expanding data through networks of monitored wells. Charles has advanced degrees in geology and civil engineering, and has had a 35-year career in geology and hydrogeology serving in both the public and private sectors.
Marian Singer, CEO
Wellntel, Inc., Milwaukee, WI
Marian Singer is the CEO and co-founder of Wellntel Inc. As an equal partner in the firm FiveTwelve Group, conducting research for Fortune 250 companies including GE, Schneider Electric, ITT, Bucyrus, and Johnson Controls, she spent many years studying the global water business. Most recently, her focus has been on groundwater exploration, access, contracting, financing, regulation, costs, operations, and the global and local conditions that drive its use and threaten its sustainability. Singer founded Wellntel in 2013 with co-founder Nick Hayes.