Any well is simply a hole drilled into the ground tapping into the natural groundwater infrastructure. In some areas, the groundwater is typically confined to fractures and fissures in the rocks, rather than in open porosity in the body of the rocks themselves. The fewer or narrower the fractures, the slower the available groundwater will be able to enter the well (lower yield). In a highly fractured zone, e.g., near where one of the diabase dikes that intrude the country rocks, the yield is expected to be much higher (e.g., 40-60 GPM). Thus, it is not a matter of whether or not the groundwater exists at depth, but more a matter of how good the connection to the groundwater infrastructure is.

With a low-yield well, the danger of course, is pumping the well dry. If the yield is only 1 gallon per minute (GPM), then when water is used in the home or by irrigation at rates near 5-10 GPM, the stored water in the well is drawn down quickly. When water is pumped from any well by demand in the home, a region of low pressure develops all around the well bore. This is often called a “cone of depression”, shown in the picture below.

Because of the differential pressure caused by pumping, water flows from surrounding areas of higher pressure into the well. In a low yielding well, this pressure difference can be extreme and water tries to flow rapidly through the fractures towards the well. This higher flow towards the well can sometimes cause sediment movement and can cause the fractures to become choked off, further limiting the supply.

Even low-yield wells can produce enough water to run a substantial household. The key is making the well produce water most of the time. With the current pressure tank systems, the well is actually producing water for only a small portion of each day. For example, with a typical 44-gallon well pressure tank, the drawdown at a switch setting of 40-60 psig is about 12 gallons. This means every time the well pump comes on, it refills the tank with about 12 gallons. When the pump shuts off, the well refills at its normal yield rate, for example 1 GPM. Once full the well is no longer producing. Thus, for most of the day, especially when the family is not home, the well is not producing any water.

The bigger problem with well pressure tanks is that they cause large cones of depression (see above picture) because the pump is often refilling the tank at 10-12 GPM. This situation is stressful on the aquifer. The situation is made worse when multiple homes in the same neighborhood are all drawing on the same aquifer with their individual wells. The aquifer stress is maximized during peak use times, like the morning when all families are using water. This means that many well pumps are coming on at the same time. This can lead to overlapping cones of depression and can cause water to flow from 360° around the development toward the wells, bringing with it sediment, and possible contamination.

The Well Manager functions by drawing water from the well during the entire course of the day and night, thereby maximizing production from the well. Moreover, it is set up to gather water from the well without significant drawdown in the well minimizing the cones of depression. This is much easier on the aquifer.

The performance of the Well Manager is fully predictable because the design is based on known quantities (how many gallons per minute the well provides, how many gallons per minute the well pump can deliver, and how much water you need to take care of your peak demand needs) and the pump controller is almost infinitely adjustable with regard to frequency and duration of pumping cycles.

The pumping cycles are set up to take no more water than the well can produce, so fluctuations in the well's water level are reduced. Because drawdown can be controlled, these units can also minimize "interference" between wells. Once the pumping cycles have been set up, the Well ManagerÒ relentlessly collects water day and night, whether or not there is water being used, until the atmospheric tank(s) is full.

The Well Manager systems also have consistent pressure modules that allow the home to have very consistent pressure in the house, no matter how many faucets are open.

The nice thing about the system is that everything can be determined mathematically when considering a Well Manager System and therefore performance is calculable and predictable.