PRIVATE WATER SYSTEMS EDUCATION SYSTEM - Glossary
glossary

American Petroleum Institute

1220 L Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005-4070
Website: www.api.org
Phone: (202) 682-8000

American Society for Testing Materials

100 Bar Harbor Drive
West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959
Website: www.astm.org
Phone: (610) 832-9585
FAX: (610) 832-9555

American Population Water Supply

As was evident in the map, groundwater is the only source of water for many people. In many states, all of the rural citizens use groundwater for their water supply. In some states, groundwater is used as the public supply for most of the population.

Artificial Gravel Pack

Artificial Gravel Pack The construction of a gravel pack involves the removal of the aquifer material from the area immediately surrounding the planned position of the well screen and the substitution of well-sorted, well-rounded gravel or coarse sand in its place. The purpose of this is increased permeability around the well and increased performance of the well itself.

Continuous Flight Stem Auger

In this method, an auger stem (shaped like a big screw) is turned by hand or rotary drive head. When the blades of the auger are full, the stem is pulled out of the hole and cleared of material. As the depth of the hole increases, segments of auger stem are added.

Bailing a Well

A bailer is a long bucket with a valve on the bottom and a bail on top. It is lowered down into the hole, filled with water and withdrawn. By repeating this a number of times and by counting the number of buckets, a driller can get a good idea as to how much the well will produce.

Drawdown

Drawdown is the distance the water level is lowered as a result of pumping.

Formation Stabilizer

In naturally developed wells, there is commonly an annular space around the screen. Filling this space with clean, coarse sand or a sand-gravel mixture will stabilize the formation around the screen before development. Proper development is more easily carried out when caving is avoided in this way.

Stabilizer material is not of any special grading and should be about the same size or slightly coarser than the formation material.

Screen slots should be selected as if there were no formation stabilizer present.


Intermittent Use

Intermittent uses are those uses which normally last for 5 minutes or less. All general-use home applications are of this type. Seldom do any of these uses extend for more than five minutes or, at most, for 10 minutes. They include kitchen, bathroom, and laundry uses.

Limited Precipitation

In areas that have low rainfall, groundwater is of special importance because surface water may be virtually nonexistent. If conditions are particularly arid, then groundwater supplies will also suffer due to the lack of replenishment

Palatable Water

Water is considered palatable when it is safe and pleasant to drink; that is it has an acceptable flavor, appearance, and odor.

Peak Demand

The peak demand is how much water the pump must deliver in gallons per minute to meet the greatest needs during the day.

Private Water Supply System

A private water supply system is a privately owned water supply system for a farm, house, or group of houses.

Rotary Bucket

Rotary Bucket In this common method, excavated material is collected in a cylindrical bucket having auger-type cutting blades on the bottom. When the bucket is full, it is pulled out of the hole, emptied, and reinserted into the hole to continue the process.

Safe Water

Water is considered safe to drink if it is free from disease-causing organisms and contains no chemicals in concentrations exceeding primary standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Safe water is often referred to as potable.

Sustained Use

Sustained uses are those that normally extend for more than 10 minutes. These include lawn or garden watering, livestock watering with either automatic or non-automatic waterers, and hose use for cleaning floors, cars, or tractors.

Water Saving

Large amounts of water can be saved in the home by taking simple water saving measures. Water use can be cut to an amazing 89 percent in some cases. Some water-saving fixtures can be found as standard options on appliances that use water. The following tables describe how water can be saved in numerical form. About 70 percent of the total water used in the home is for toilet flushing, laundry, and baths. So, the most significant water savings can be made in these areas.

FixtureLiters per UseWater Savings
Toilets
Conventional 19 ---
Common Low-Flush13 32%
Washdown 479%
Air-Assisted2 89%
Clothers Washers
Conventional 140 ---
Water Recycle 100 29%
Front-Loading 80 43%
Showerheads
Conventional 19 ---
Common Low-Flow 11 42%
Flow-Limiting7 63%
Air-Assisted 289%
Faucets
Conventional 12---
Common Low-Flow10 17%
Flow-Limiting6 50%


Uniformity Coefficient

The uniformity coefficient is a "ratio of the 60-percentile to the 10-percentile" (Fair, 1965). It measures how constant the sand particles are. The lower the value, the more uniform is the grading of the sand.

Water Usage

It is evident from this graph that everyday tasks such as flushing a toilet consume large amounts of water. There are ways, however, to reduce these amounts with economy water saving device.

Zone of Contribution of a Well

The zone of contribution of a well is the area - including aquifer and everything above the aquifer - from which the well draws its water.

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