<p>Well B is a normal water table well, which will have a relatively steep, tight, local, and deep 'cone of depression'. Well A doesn't have a 'cone of depression' - it has a 'cone of depressurization', which has an entirely different physical configuration. That is, wide and shallow. So the drawdown in well B will fall rapidly, whilst there isn't really a drawdown in well A, at all. Rather, the <em>pressure surface</em> in well A decreases until much of the aquifer - typically several square kilometres - is depressurized. Note that the two processes are entirely different. In a water table aquifer pumping actually drains the pores between grains in the upper aquifer, like water draining out of a sponge. In a confined aquifer, the yield is supplied by depressurizing the aquifer - so the saturated surface doesn't actually drain at all.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-21T11:22:33.060Z
2016-12-21T11:22:33.060Z
Gordon Stanger
<p>In the diagram below, well A is an artesian well and well B is a normal well.
Well B's pipe is lower than the water table. By looking at the picture, I decide that well A would try quicker than well B, but the answer said that well B would try quicker than well A. I researched on the Internet, but all I found was how to improve your well.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/47i6R.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/47i6R.jpg" alt="Well diagram"></a></p>

<p>Why does an artesian well dry slower than a normal well?</p>

<water><groundwater><water-table>
Why does an artesian well dry slower than a normal well?
MathWA wenti
# Why does an artesian well dry slower than a normal well?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-20)

In the diagram below, well A is an artesian well and well B is a normal well.
Well B's pipe is lower than the water table. By looking at the picture, I decide that well A would try quicker than well B, but the answer said that well B would try quicker than well A. I researched on the Internet, but all I found was how to improve your well.
[![Well diagram](https://i.sstatic.net/47i6R.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/47i6R.jpg)

Why does an artesian well dry slower than a normal well?

**Tags:** water, groundwater, water-table


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-12-21. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

Well B is a normal water table well, which will have a relatively steep, tight, local, and deep 'cone of depression'. Well A doesn't have a 'cone of depression' - it has a 'cone of depressurization', which has an entirely different physical configuration. That is, wide and shallow. So the drawdown in well B will fall rapidly, whilst there isn't really a drawdown in well A, at all. Rather, the *pressure surface* in well A decreases until much of the aquifer - typically several square kilometres - is depressurized. Note that the two processes are entirely different. In a water table aquifer pumping actually drains the pores between grains in the upper aquifer, like water draining out of a sponge. In a confined aquifer, the yield is supplied by depressurizing the aquifer - so the saturated surface doesn't actually drain at all.


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