Well Replacement Program

San Jose Water (SJW) is an investor-owned utility that delivers water to over one million customers in San Jose. We have been providing a wide spectrum of groundwater-related hydrogeologic and engineering services to SJW since the early 1980s.

In 2005, SJW embarked on a program to retire, rehabilitate, and replace its aging inventory of more than one hundred municipal supply wells. The program includes strategic (i) well retirements, (ii) well rehabilitation to maintain, enhance, and extend the value of existing wells, and (iii) the construction of new wells. We have been an integral part of this ongoing effort, providing assistance related to every aspect of the program, from the early planning phases to pump sizing recommendations, including the installation of over 30 new wells.

We have consistently navigated the unique challenges associated with new well installation projects in the urban environment of the San Jose area on behalf of our client. Examples are limited available space and working area for new well projects, meeting setback requirements from existing sanitary features, establishment of well location control zones, and proximity to residences. In addition, many of the new wells are integrated into existing well fields. We perform comprehensive hydraulic analyses to minimize well interference and maximize the cumulative yield of any modified well field. We recently completed the installation of six wells at the new McLaughlin Well Field.

Significant Project Elements

• Site-specific hydrogeologic investigations
• Test hole drilling
• Monitoring well construction
• Groundwater level and water quality monitoring
• Well design
• Permitting
• Specification preparation
• Well construction and testing oversight
• Pump design and selection recommendations