Rash credits his board with its foresight in investing in the new concept of HDD water wells. After consulting with Houston Well Screen Co., it was decided that the prototype well would consist of 1,220 ft of 12-in. The screen slot size selected to match the aquifier gram size was .05 in. Around 300 ft of 18-in. Aquifer thickness of around 30 ft may limit the yield on a typical vertical well, and numerous well installations would be required to get the necessary volumes.
Vertical installations require independent pumps and thousands of feet of connecting pipe.
With horizontal water wells, the number of pumps needed, pump maintenance, amount of piping required and other associated operating costs are reduced, making for a very economical system. The cost of a single, 1,820-ft horizontal well, such as the one installed on this project, can be equated to the cost of around 12 vertical wells. One submersible pump was installed to test the capacity of the well screen and aquifer draw-down. If performance is as expected, a second pump will be added to produce a pumping rate of 1,200 gpm. Additional horizontal wells will be installed to match the plant's design capacity.