Abstract
Hydrofracturing process was developed during the 1940s for improving the yield from oil and gas wells. Later this technique was adopted for water well development. The hydrofracturing process consists of pumping test before and after fracturing a well. The pre-fracturing and post-fracturing pumping test results are analysed and correlated to estimate the yield improvement realized due to fracturing. An attempt was made to improve the groundwater yield from a borewell in hard rock formation in Thachchur Village of Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. The pre-pumping static water level was 4.25 m below measuring point (bmp), and the safe yield was 5 litres per minute (lpm)/16 m drawdown/8 h of pumping per day. Hydrofracturing was carried out using a single packer assembly system, and two fracture zones lying at the depth of 15 m and 45 m were treated. After fracturing treatment, pumping test was carried out. Post-fracturing pumping test results revealed that the safe yield was 80 lpm/16 m drawdown/8 h of pumping per day. The yield improvement from 5 to 80 lpm substantiated the success of hydrofracturing in the hard rock borewell. The groundwater yield improvement in the borewell is due to the enlargement of fissures and cracks in and around the borewell by hydrofracturing.
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The authors received financial support from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Government of India.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Recent advanced techniques in water resources management
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Ramalingam, S., Chidambaram, G. & Gopalakrishnan, G. Enhancement of groundwater yield by hydrofracturing technique: A case study from crystalline hard rock terrain. Arab J Geosci 13, 893 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05883-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05883-w