Ohio State School for the Blind – artesian well model

This is a photo of a student at the Ohio State School for the Blind touching a model of an artesian well to develop a mental image. The model incorporates pipes for the well and shows the different series of rock. Reverse reads: “ARTESIAN WELL – Artesian well is a well formed by boring or drilling into a layer of porous rock or earth, which brings water from some higher point. Such a layer or stratum lying between two impervious layers of rock or clay is shown in the model. The rain falls upon it, where it is exposed, and seems inward, prevented by the harder rock below from going directly down. If a well is bored at any point between outcropping ends, water will be forced into it, perhaps flowing freely at the surface according to the principles explained by the lower half of the model. The name artesian was formerly restricted to flowing wells, and is derived from the province of Artois, Frank, where this type of well was first popular. Most artesian wells supply pure drinking water, excellent for domestic purposes, and for stock, though often containing minerals. They are common in many regions, where surface water of good quality is not easily obtained. In recent years, a large number of them have been bored in states east of the Appalachian Mountains and many cities now obtain their supply of water from them. They are also used extensively for irrigation. Some wells are very deep. One in Pittsburgh, Pa., is 4,625 feet and one in Galveston, Texas is over 3000 feet deppt. The deepest well in the world, at Leipzig, Germany, has a depth of 5735 feet. --- THE WORLD BOOK---“ “When several wells are bored in the same vicinity, the flow from each may be diminished, but the total discharge will increase until the limits of supply is reached. This well illustrated in the wells bored in the London basin which in 1838 gave a total daily supply of 6,000,000 gallons; in 1881 with a larger number of borings, the supply was about doubled while the force had diminished very markedly; also, in Denver, Colorado, where some years ago there were many flowing wells, which yielded water in large volume and with sufficient hear to rise to the upper floors of the buildings. As wells multiplied, the head and volume decreased so that in 1916 all wells in the center of the city had to be pumped and artesian water was available only in the lower parts of some of the surrounding country. The depth at which artesian water may be found, depends entirely upon local conditions. In the Paris basin the water bearing stratum is usually encountered at a depth exceeding 1500 feet. The famous well at Grenelle, near Paris was begun in 1833 and operations were continued until 1841, when, at a depth of 1797 feet, the water poured out with great force at the rate of 800,000 gallons per day. Another noted foreign well is that at Schladenbach near Leipzig with a depth of 5735 feet. In the United States, there are many notable examples of artesian wells. The first boring of great depth was made in St. Louis in 1849-54; a flow of 75 gallons per minute was obtained from a depth of 2200 feet. A well at Louisville Kentucky, in 2066 feet deep yields 330,000 gallons per day. Among other noteworthy wells are the following: Columbus, Ohio 2775 feet; Galveston, Texas, 3071 feet; Charleston, South Carolina, 1250 feet; Pittsburgh, Pa., 4625 feet; Chicago, 710 feet; and Edgemont, South Dakota, where two wells (2965 feet each) yield flows of 1,000,000 gallons a day at a temperature of 100°. The cost of sinking artesian wells varies with the depth mf and the character of the strata encountered. Up to 500 feet ex the cost commonly ranges from $3.00 to $6.00 per feet but below this limit the cost increases in proportion to the depth. The apparatus used in boring does not differ from that employed in sinking for petroleum. The first artesian borings were probably made by the Chinese. In the upper basin of the Yangtae Kiang there are wells 1500 to 3000 feet in depth from which brine for salt manufacture is obtained. This industry has been carried on since a very early period and is an illustration of the comparatively advanced state of progress attained by this people long before the Western nations had developed the mechanical arts beyond the crude stage. ---The Americana---