ABSTRACT
In introducing the topic of well hydraulics it is important to convey a clear picture of what happens within an aquifer when water is pumped from it. Contemporary well theory aims at optimizing the delicate balance that exists between maximizing wellfield yields and the negative environmental impacts associated with overpumping. A big-picture application of this phenomenon pertains to the design of a well field for, say, the water supply to a city. Three important properties of the aquifer are: Permeability, Transmissivity, and Storativity. Permeability is a measure of the rate at which water may be transmitted through a unit cross-sectional area of an aquifer under a hydraulic gradient of unity. Water molecules nearest to the well are the first to be affected by the flow pattern that develops, and in the initial stages of pumping there is a high vertical component of flow movement.
