Artesian aquifer

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See Great Artesian Basin for the water source in Australia.

An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that will flow upward through a well without the need for pumping. Water may even reach the ground surface if the natural pressure is high enough, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian well. An aquifer provides the water for an artesian well. An aquifer is a layer of soft rock, like limestone or sandstone, that absorbs water from an inlet path. Porous stone is confined between impermeable rocks or clay. This keeps the pressure high, so when the water finds an outlet, it overcomes gravity and goes up instead of down.

In recharging aquifers, this happens because the water table at its recharge zone is at a higher elevation than the head of the well.

"Fossil water" aquifers can also be artesian if they are under sufficient pressure from the surrounding rocks. This is similar to how many newly tapped oil wells are pressurized.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Examples of artesian wells 2.1 Australia 2.2 United States 2.3 Canada 2.4 Italy 2.5 Spain 3 Artesian systems in popular culture 4 See also 5 Notes

[edit] Origin

Artesian wells were named after the former province of Artois in France, where many artesian wells were drilled by Carthusian monks since 1126.^[1] The technique was also known much earlier in Syria and Egypt,^[2] although whether the monks of Artois learned of it from outside sources or discovered it independently is unknown.

[edit] Examples of artesian wells

[edit] Australia

• The Great Artesian Basin is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, occupying 23% of the continent.

[edit] United States

Some towns in the United States were named Artesia after the artesian wells in the vicinity. Other artesian well sites include:

• Black Belt (region of Alabama)
• Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania
• Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Colorado
• Carmel, Indiana
• Evamor, Goodbee, Louisiana
• Fountain Point, Michigan
• La Crosse, Wisconsin
• Long Island, New York
• Lynnwood, Washington
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Olympia, Washington
• Pahrump, Nevada
• Potomac, Illinois
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Smoke Hole Caverns, Seneca Rocks, West Virginia

[edit] Canada

• Watershed Park, British Columbia

[edit] Italy

• Aquileia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia

[edit] Spain

• Cella, Teruel, Aragón

[edit] Artesian systems in popular culture

For many years, Olympia Beer (Tumwater, Washington) was brewed with water obtained from artesian wells. The company's promotions made much of the use of artesian water in the brewing process. However, the advertisements never explained what artesian water was, preferring to claim that the water was controlled by a mythical population of "Artesians".^[3] Once the brewery was taken over by a larger company, the use of artesian water was discontinued, and so was that advertising campaign.^[4]

[edit] See also

• Drinking water
• Fluid mechanics
• Great Artesian Basin
• Hydrogeology
• Qanat

• "Artesians" advertisement on Youtube.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Frances Gies and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel subtitled "Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages". Harper Perennial, 1995 ISBN 0-06-016590-1, page 112.
2. ^ For references on ancient uses, see Michel Wuttmann, "The Qanats of 'Ayn-Manâwîr, Kharga Oasis, Egypt", in Jasr 2001, p. 1. and Discoveries in the Western Desert of Egypt
3. ^ Kelley Advertising & Marketing: Olympia Beer: A Good Campaign Accelerates the Death of a Brand . Accessed 2008.11.07.
4. ^ Beer Advocate: Olympia Beer. Accessed 2008.11.07.