Site AssessmentWater Resources
L.S. Sims & Associates provides a wide variety of water resource services.
Our engineers, scientists, and technicians evaluate your water resource
options and develop a rational strategy for developing the resource.
Our years of experience in solving complex water resource issues
provides our clients with the knowledge and expertise needed to navigate
otherwise costly water resource development challenges.
Hydrogeological expertise is one of our core competencies. We support our
clients’development and use of groundwater resources through consumptive
use, environmental resource permitting, and well design and
construction supervision.
- Well and wellfield design and computer modeling
- Permitting
- Well construction & testing
- Well stimulation / revitalization
Well and Wellfield Design and Computer Modeling
Design of a Wellfield, or collection of several supply wells that withdraw groundwater for domestic consumption or industrial uses, requires careful planning to ensure the performance of individual wells do not interfere with the performance of other individual wells in the well field. L.S. Sims & Associates uses computer models to predict how these individual wells interact and their combined effects on the local and regional groundwater resource. Computer models are generally required tools in support of consumptive use permits and water use permits.
Computer models help predict effects of pumping wells
Permitting
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and five separate Water Management Districts in Florida along with local regulatory bodies; regulate use of groundwater and surface water resources in Florida. Regardless of the intended use of the water, the local Water Management District generally requires a permit (dependent on volume and intended use) before the well/s construction or use can begin. Public/community drinking water systems require FDEP permitting prior to delivery of water to the community. L.S. Sims & Associates has extensive permitting experience which streamlines the process and associated costs of delivering safe and sustainable water supply.
Construction & Testing
Extensive planning is essential to designing a construction and testing program
for any well. The costs associated with today’s large well construction projects do
not allow for correcting mistakes on the fly. Knowledge of local geology and
properly identifying geologic formations and aquifer testing during construction
promotes efficient completion of the construction project. Most tests used to
evaluate well performance and assist in determining final construction details, like
casing depths, can only be completed once while the well is under construction.
You can’t go back and collect a conventional core after the hole has been drilled
with a conventional drill bit. Similarly, Drill Stem Tests and Straddle Packer tests
can only be conducted during the construction of the well. Once final protective casings are cemented in place, they cannot be
made deeper or shallower without dramatically altering overall costs and/or a well’s efficiency. Well site geology is a vital skill during well construction. There is very little that can compensate for the lack of experience during construction and testing of a well.
Discharge during pump test
The ability to identify different lithologies, depositional environments, formation changes, and guide fossils is critical to matching field conditions to the geologic conditions anticipated during the planning stages of a well drilling program. Intermediate and final construction details are predicated on the hydrogeologic conditions commonly associated with different formations. Our licensed professionals are supported by a team of graduate geologists experienced in processing drilling data from the field that can be used to make these determinations, ensuring a successful well construction program.
Microfossils in drilled cuttings used to identify geologic formation
Stimulation / Revitalization
After a well has been constructed or has been in service for some time, stimulation or revitalization may be desirable to increase the well’s production capability. Acidization and hydraulic fracturing are two common techniques that will often increase a well’s production capability by 25-100%. Acidization is the process by which acid is injected into the well to dissolve mineral deposits or biological growth on well screens or water producing formations. Hydraulic fracturing, also called "fracking" is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks (or extends existing fractures), the goal of which is to increase the production capability