A Ranney Collector is a type of radial

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

used to extract water from an

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

with direct connection to a surface water source like a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

. The amount of water available from the collector is typically related more to the surface water source than to the piezometric surface of the aquifer.

Description

A caisson is constructed of reinforced concrete and installed into

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

below the surface level of an adjacent river or lake. Screened conduits (also referred to as laterals or lateral well screens) are extended horizontally from ports in the caisson about 60 meters (200 feet) into surrounding water-bearing

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

. The radial arrangement of screens forms a large

infiltration gallery An infiltration gallery is a structure including perforated conduits in gravel to expedite transfer of water to or from a soil. Water supply Infiltration galleries may be used to collect water from the aquifer underlying a river. Water from an infi ...

with a single central withdrawal point. A single collector may produce as much as 25 million gallons per day.

Bank filtration River Bank filtration is a type of filtration that works by passing water to be purified for use as drinking water through the banks of a river or lake. It is then drawn off by extraction wells some distance away from the water body. The process ...

of water through aquifer soils may reduce

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...

requirements.

History

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

petroleum engineer Leo Ranney drilled horizontally for

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

in the early 1920s. The first Ranney collector for water was installed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1933. Hundreds of Ranney collectors have been built since.

References

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External links

*Henry Hunt, From Oil to Water: The story of Leo Ranney, http://www.collectorwellsint.com/pdf/LeoRanney.pdf. This article was published by Water Well Journal in October 2003 (Volume 57 Number 10). *Ranney Collector Wells company web site, http://www.layne.com/en/solutions/construction/ranney-collector-wells.aspx?mid=464. This company is currently constructing Ranney Collector Wells. Water wells Water technology Water filters