In effort to improve water quality, EP is working with the Town of Andover to evaluate the feasibility of installing a radial collector well system at Fish Brook as an alternative to the current surface water intake structure, operated by the Water Department since the 1960s.
Radial collector well systems consist of horizontal radial wells used to extract water from an aquifer with induced infiltration from a surface water source like a river or lake. Under proper conditions radial collector wells can pump large quantities of water efficiently and economically and filtration through the bottom sediments can improve water quality relative to a traditional intake structure.
To evaluate the feasibility of a radial collector well system beneath the Merrimack River, a series of borings were installed to characterize subsurface hydrogeology and evaluate the horizontal and vertical extent of aquifer material.
