|
  What Is an Artesian Well?The word "artesian" comes from the French province of Artois, where artesian wells were drilled first in the 12th century. Artesian wells have their own natural pressure, caused by ground water being trapped beneath a confining layer of soil. Rain water saturates the ground at higher levels and travels downhill by force of gravity where it is trapped by the impermeable layer of rock or clay. The water builds up pressure as gravity feeds more and more water into the aquifer. When a well is drilled through the impermeable layer, water flows upward under natural pressure, rather than having to be pumped to the surface. Artesian springs, on the other hand, occur where water finds its own way to the surface through cracks in the ground.
|
