394 



THE IRRIGATION AGE 



FIGURE 3. Another view of the 30-inch drilling equipment. A special type of drill sometimes used is shown in the foreground. 



onstrated that there are conditions in which there is 

 an air compressor plant already installed and not in 

 use for other purposes during the irrigation season, 

 such as installations in sugar factories, where it is more 

 economical to use the air lift for irrigation pumping 

 than purchase some other type of pump, but the much 

 higher efficiencies of other 

 pumping equipment ex- 

 cludes the air lift from con- 

 sideration in an installation 

 designed primarily for irri- 

 gation pumping. 



A leading manufacturer 

 of pumping machinery pub- 

 lished the statement, some 

 time ago, that 90 per cent of 

 all pumps used in irrigation 

 pumping in the United 

 States were centrifugals. 

 The writer does not know 

 of any statistics compiled to 

 verify this statement, but it 

 is certain that the number of 

 centrifugal pumps used for 

 this purpose far exceed all 

 other kinds of pumps com- 

 bined. 



The adaptation of the 

 centrifugal pump for deep 

 wells is known as the deep 

 well turbine centrifugal and 

 these pumps are now made 

 by a number of manufactur- 

 ers of pumping machinery. 

 The special advantages of 

 this pump for irrigation 

 pumping are : 



It will deliver a re- 

 markably large quantity of 

 water from a deep drilled 

 well. 



When properly designed and installed, it attains 

 high efficiency and requires little attention. 



It is far less affected by sand and grit than plunger 

 pumps and therefore maintains nearer its original effi- 

 ciency. 



Deep well turbine centrifugal pumps installed at 

 the present time deliver up to 3,000 gallons of water 



FIGURE 2. Full view of the 30-inch driller. 



a minute from deep bored wells. A large number of 

 these pumps have been installed for irrigation pump- 

 ing and they have been so successful that they may be 

 regarded as the present standard type of large capacity 

 deep well irrigation pump. 



In many places in the West where there is small 

 rainfall, notably in Colorado, 

 it has been extensive prac- 

 tice to drill several small 

 wells in a group and form 

 them into a single pumping 

 unit by connecting them 

 with piping through tunnels 

 to a horizontal type centri- 

 fugal pump installed in a 

 deep pumping pit. It is the 

 opinion of engineers, who 

 have had extensive experi- 

 ence in installing deep well 

 turbines for irrigation pump- 

 ing that better results can 

 'nearly always be obtained 

 with less initial cost and 

 lower expense for operation 

 by drilling a single large 

 well, inserting a casing hav- 

 ing a strainer extending en- 

 tirely through the water 

 bearing strata and installing 

 a turbine centrifugal pump. 

 To install a deep well 

 turbine pump requires a 

 larger well than is usually 

 sunk for domestic purposes 

 and a different drilling equip- 

 ment than is used by well 

 drillers in putting down 

 wells by the jetting, hydrau- 

 lic or churn drill methods. 

 It is the purpose of this 

 article to explain how these large diameter wells are 

 made. The writer does not know of any wells larger 

 than 30 inches in diameter at the present time, but 

 many of this size have been drilled and they have been 

 put down so successful that there is reason for 

 belief that much larger wells will soon be attempted. 

 As an illustration of this equipment, reference is 

 made to a drilling outfit which has been putting down 



