Approximately 360 million gallons of water are pumped per day from some 3000 wells for about 1300 municipalities and industries in Illinois. A high proportion of these wells are equipped with turbine pumps. Within a 25-mile radius of Chicago, there are about 500 municipal and industrial turbine pumps supplying approximately 85 million gallons daily. Some 275 of these turbine pumps supply approximately 70 million gallons daily from wells penetrating the deep sandstones.
With non-pumping water levels receding in these wells as rapidly as eight feet and in some cases 20 feet per year, it is not surprising to find that pump settings for these 275 pumps range as follows:
The capacities of these pumps range from 50 to 2000 gallons per minute.
By virtue of these settings the cost of pulling these pumps and the cost of replacing column pipe, shaft, and shaft tube is an item that can often...
