Well Flows Higher In Spring

February 11, 2019 Rural Properties Comments Off on Well Flows Higher In Spring

In a recent video on using the Ontario Well Records Map, I cautioned that a good flow test on a well done during the spring melt in March wouldn’t necessarily mean a good flow rate during the dry summer months.

Chart shows that flow rates on Prince Edward County well drilled during the spring have higher flow rates that those drilled during the summer or fall.

After posting the video, I was asked whether I had evidence to support this claim, or whether it was just an assumption on my part.

Here’s the method I used to arrive at my conclusion. Using the provincial well records database, I found that there were 5,105 domestic well test records in Prince Edward County between 1950 and 2017.

I classified these by quarter based on the month of the test, and calculated the percentage of new wells which met the County’s severance requirement of 3 gallons per minute or more.

For wells drilled during the second (spring) quarter after the spring melt, 84% of wells delivered 3 GPM or more. During the third (summer) quarter, 79% of wells delivered 3 GPM or more.