Water Wells and Boreholes (second edition)
When the first edition came out it was a welcome addition to the hydrogeology library of books on water well drilling. This second edition has been revised and contains additional material that adds an extra 20 pages. As with the first edition, it puts the design and construction of boreholes in the context of the local hydrogeological conditions and goes further by including more information.
New material includes the design considerations for the use of groundwater and wells in heating and cooling schemes including the problems of re-injecting water that include minimizing mixing and other problems that can result. It also includes the dual rotary drilling rigs that have a conventional top drive system to operate the main drill string while a lower drive rotates an outer casing. The sonic method of drilling that was first established in 1913 has also been included and is now used mainly in unconsolidated formations. The section on geophysical logging now has been extended to include distributed (fibre optic) temperature sensing, a new technique for monitoring temperature in real-time in a number of environments that included boreholes as well as river, lakes and the soil.
Pumping tests on large diameter wells has been added where the problem of a large volume of water stored in the well is taken into account in the analytical equations. The use of geophysical logging during pumping tests is included showing methods of observing the precise movement of groundwater induced by pumping. The chapter on groundwater sampling includes the methods used to sample stable isotopes of oxygen-18, carbon-13, sulphur-34 and oxygen-18 within the sulphate ion. It also includes a new section on sampling dissolved gasses that are commonly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, inert gases such as argon and helium and chlorinate fluorocarbons (CFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) that are both man-made and can be used for dating groundwater. The existing chapter on Well and Borehole Records has been extended by an example of hydrogeological database using data from a network of boreholes in the Faryab province of Afghanistan. This book with its new content is recommended for all those working in well design and construction whether experienced practitioners or students.
Finally, this revised edition would have made Lewis Clark very pleased as it is based on his original book published in 1988. Those of us who knew and worked with Lewis are pleased that his influence in water well design and construction lives on through this book.
Reviewed by Rick Brassington
WATER WELLS AND BOREHOLES (Second Edition) by BRUCE MISSTEAR, DAVID BANKS & LEWIS CLARK 2017. Published by John Wiley & Sons 536 pp ISBN: 978-1-118-95170-5 List Price £65.00 hardback; £58.99 E-book ISBN: 978-1-118-95170-5 W: http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118951700.html