The Westbay System is a multilevel groundwater monitoring technology that allows testing of hydraulic conductivity, monitoring of fluid pressure and collection of fluid samples from multiple zones within a single borehole.
Reduce uncertainty in basin performance models and increase confidence in management decisions with more data. The Westbay System enables you to monitor multiple zones in a single borehole.
Avoid drilling multiple boreholes at each location.
Collect fluid samples without repeated purging.
Get more data from each hole, leading to a more detailed understanding of subsurface conditions.
The sophisticated features of the Westbay System represent a significant advancement in groundwater monitoring capability. You'll increase the quantity and quality of your data within a reasonable budget, meaning you can afford the information you need to improve long-term water management decisions.
Benefits
Get detailed three-dimensional data—leading to an improved understanding of hydrogeological conditions and contaminant transport.
Minimize storage volume and prevent flow along the borehole.
Reduce drilling and installation costs.
Drill fewer holes and reduce site disturbance.
Avoid cross contamination through discrete sampling.
Features
Multilevel monitoring, sampling without repeated purging, removable sensors, verifiable well integrity.
Any number of monitoring zones in a single well
Additional data at small incremental cost
Sealed monitoring zones
Option for automated monitoring of multiple depths
Since its introduction in 1978, the Westbay System has been used for a variety of applications around the world, including:
Groundwater basin management
Use the Westbay System to construct a three-dimensional network of monitoring zones provides the data necessary to observe groundwater behavior on a "macroscopic" scale. This detailed data allows basin managers to optimize the use of groundwater resources.
Environmental and geological repository site characterization studies
The Westbay System has been used in the nuclear waste research programs in Canada, the United States, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, and South Korea.
Scientists involved in studying the possibility of burying nuclear waste deep underground agree that the most likely pathway for radionuclides to return to the biosphere is through groundwater.
As a result, careful evaluation of groundwater conditions is critical to determine the feasibility of an underground disposal site. The detailed, defensible data collected through Westbay System provides the key to a thorough understanding of groundwater conditions at a proposed repository site.
Deep contaminant monitoring projects
Information on the vertical distribution of fluid pressures and chemistry is the key to characterizing, managing and remediating contaminated groundwater sites. The Westbay System enables you to collect the data you need to identify the problem—affordably.
Geotechnical studies for landslides, ground settlement, mines, tunnels, and dams
Engineers and geologists involved in the geotechnical sector have received vital pore pressure data and water chemistry information using the Westbay System technology on large construction projects that involve slope stability, dewatering and settlement.
Because fluid pressures and displacements are two of the most important parameters in the study of slope stability, the Westbay System has been used on some of the largest landslide and slope stability studies ever undertaken.
The Westbay Multilevel Groundwater Monitoring System has three parts:
Well completion
Our modular casing system provides blank pipe segments in variable lengths, with multiple packers, couplings, and valved ports to seal and provide access to multiple monitoring zones in one borehole. Westbay Well Completions
Permits you to operate the probes and collect data at the surface or from a remote location via a laptop computer. Monitoring Software
The Westbay System empowers you to monitor multiple discrete levels in a single borehole without cross-contamination. The casing and packers seal the borehole, isolating multiple monitoring zones, and preventing unnatural cross-flow between them.
Specifications
Westbay System casing is available in two sizes:
MP55 System (55 mm ID): Install larger diameter casing deeper, providing you greater flexibility and upgrade potential.
MP38 System (38 mm ID): Functions like MP55 but with a smaller diameter.
Multilevel groundwater monitoring with a Westbay System completion leads you to superior cost-savings and superior results.
Monitoring well design
Draw on our knowledge and experience to help you select equipment and develop well designs to meet your technical objectives, borehole conditions and Westbay System capabilities.
We'll start by asking you about your project and help you select the best Westbay System components and type of borehole completion method for your particular situation. Our Westbay System casing can be installed in an open hole, through a temporary guide tube or in a cased well. The type of seals (e.g., packers) selected must match the drilling equipment and the expected borehole dimensions and stability conditions. Where packers are not used, monitoring zones can be sealed by backfill.
Field installation
Our on-site technician helps your installation proceed smoothly. We work with your field installation team according to a well-proven process:
Approve the monitoring well design.
Visually inspect and lay out the Westbay System casing components in sequence.
Record the serial numbers for each packer, measurement port, and pumping port.
Assemble each casing joint and test the hydraulic seals.
Lower the casing into the borehole.
Test the hydraulic integrity of the entire casing string.
Inflate the packers sequentially from bottom to top, recording the inflation pressure and volume of water used for each packer.
Measure fluid pressures at each measurement port to confirm proper operation and check the annular hydraulic seals between monitoring zones. When QA zones have been added between monitoring zones, pressure measurements in them help confirm packer seal quality.
Maintenance and repair
The Westbay System monitoring well components require little maintenance. That said, we recommend that you invest in a comprehensive maintenance, service and QA program for the portable measurement and sampling equipment for good QA of monitoring data and to support their continued reliable operation. Our maintenance programs can include annual recalibration of sensors, parts replacement, and priority response when you require repairs.
Operator training
We'll train your field operators to meet our high standards and yours. We provide training in all aspects of operating Westbay wells, including:
Pressure profiling—with pressure probes or sampling probes.
Sample collection using a Westbay sampling probe and accessories.
Using pumping port open/close equipment and any pump supplied, if you plan to carry out purging.
Hydraulic testing using pumping ports.
Deployment, programming, downloading, and recovery of automated data acquisition equipment.
Operating procedures, QA checks, and routine equipment maintenance in the field.
QA testing and review
Our technical services staff can also advise you on quality assurance testing and evaluation and, upon request, will review your data to verify that your equipment is operating properly.
Schlumberger Water Services provides innovative groundwater monitoring and sampling instruments, field data acquisition accessories, and software for environmental data management, analysis, visualization, conceptual modeling and simulations, with a complete range of training and support services for environmental consultants, government agencies, industry, and educational/research institutions.
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