Horizontal Wells
Alternative Water Supply Sources Utilizing Horizontal Well TechnologyThe 1998 wildfires in Volusia County brought to the forefront the need to find viable sources for water supply in rural areas where no municipal water supply exists. Horizontal well technology and its use for providing an efficient water supply for rural firefighting was brought to the attention of Volusia County Fire Services. This system offered the opportunity to recover and reuse water from the surficial aquifer.¹ Three demonstration wells with hydrants were installed at the Fire Science Institute in 1999 and demonstrated the wells ability to flow water at the gallon per minute rate needed for protection structures. Since 1999, County Fire Services has searched for funding sources to place wells in areas where structures mix with the Wildland interface.
Shallow surficial aquifers can provide alternative water supplies in most areas.
This resource, in the form of a surficial water lens, receives approximately 54 inches of rainfall recharge per year. The surficial water lens can extend downward to about 30 feet below the land surface. Water stored in the grains of sand in the lens can make this area as much as 30% liquid. The placement of a Horizontal Well screen in the surficial aquifer (plus the effects of the trenching that creates a preferential flow path through impermeable layers) creates a highly efficient means of recovering shallow groundwater. The entire length of the well screen is installed horizontally within the surficial aquifer. This groundwater source is not only recharged by rain, but also by a significant percentage of re-infiltrated irrigation water.²
In 2000, the Department of Community Affairs and Housing and Urban Development provided grant money to Volusia County for water supply in areas hardest hit by the 1998 El Nino Wildfires. Volusia County Fire Services proposed using the funds to install the horizontal well technology in the areas where structures mix with the wildland interface. Fifteen one-mile service areas were defined in the grant. These areas were originally determined in 1999, after the wildfires, when the horizontal well technology was demonstrated to County Fire Services. In addition to the grant criteria of wildland/urban interface application, Fire Services also followed County Land Development Code, which requires a 500-gallon per minute water flow from a hydrant that protects residential structure.
The following horizontal wells with hydrants have been installed in Volusia County:
Emporia Road SW of intersection with Peterson Rd. (580 g.p.m.)
Treebrooke Rd and Blueberry Lane (668 g.p.m.)
Pioneer Art Settlement, Lemon Rd (590 g.p.m.)
Cemetery Road and Park Road (423 g.p.m.)
SR 11, 1/4 mi. N of Reynolds Road (600 g.p.m.)
Crestridge Rd, across from 4010 Crestridge (651 g.p.m.)
Colony Road, W of 4443 Colony Road (490 g.p.m.)
Pine Cone Dr, near 349 Pine Cone Dr. (550 g.p.m.)
234 Pine Woods Drive (301 g.p.m.)
Fieser Lane and Lake Winona Rd. (423 g.p.m.)
Saddle Club Drive and SR 415, outside gate (500 g.p.m.)
¹ Used with permission, © 2001, Horizontal Subsurface Systems, Inc.
² Used with permission, © 2001, Horizontal Subsurface Systems, Inc.Volusia County Fire Services is grateful to the residents in these areas who granted permission for the installation of these wells on private property. The wells will reduce the turn around time for tankers bringing water to supply fire engines working structure fires or protecting structures in these areas.
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Volusia County, Florida.
