Open Well Recuperation & What Your Well Can Give

It's a simple field test for the safe yield of a dug (open) well. You pump the water level down by a known depth, then time how long it takes for the water to rise back up. From that recovery you work out how fast the aquifer feeds the well, which is the basis for the well's dependable daily yield.

The volume recuperated is the well's plan area × the rise in water level during recovery. Dividing that volume by the recovery time gives the recuperation rate — for example a 3 m diameter well (≈7.07 m² area) recovering 0.5 m in 1 hour recuperates about 3.5 m³ per hour.

The recuperation rate is the rate at which water flows in, so the safe daily yield is the recuperation rate sustained over the hours you can draw — commonly the per-hour rate scaled to your pumping window. This tool gives the rate and the daily yield so you can size pumping and the area you can irrigate.

For a circular dug well the plan area is π × (diameter ÷ 2)². A 4 m diameter well has an area of about 12.6 m². The area matters because the volume of water stored per metre of depth — and the volume recuperated per metre of rise — both scale directly with it.

Lowering the level creates a head difference that drives groundwater in faster, so the recovery you measure reflects the aquifer's ability to feed the well. Recording the drawdown depth and the recovery time under that stress gives a more realistic dependable yield than watching a full, undisturbed well.

An open (dug) well is a wide, shallow shaft that draws from the upper unconfined aquifer and stores a usable buffer of water; a borewell is a narrow deep bore tapping deeper aquifers. Open wells are tested by recuperation; borewells by yield/discharge tests — see the Borewell Yield tool for that.

Once you know the safe daily yield in m³ or litres, divide it by the crop's daily water need per unit area to find how much land the well can reliably irrigate. A higher recuperation rate supports a larger command area; a slow well limits you to high-value or low-water crops.

Yes. Open wells depend on the shallow water table, which falls through the dry season and recharges in the monsoon. Test in the lean season for a conservative, dependable yield, and re-test periodically — the same well can recuperate much faster after good rains than at peak summer.

It's a sound field estimate for planning, not a lab figure. Real recovery is affected by well condition, aquifer variability and how steady your timing is. Run the test a few times and use the lower, more conservative recuperation rate when sizing pumps and deciding how much area to irrigate.