Field Equipment and Facilities

Hydrogeology Well Field

The well field is located on the banks Little Kickapoo Creek on property owned by the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District (BNWRD).  It is used for teaching field methods in classes at the undergraduate and graduate level.  It is also being used as the site of undergraduate and graduate research projects.  We are continually expanding the instrumentation and uses of the well field.

Geologic Setting

The aquifer in which the well field is constructed is composed of materials of glacial and fluvial origin.  The base of the aquifer, at depth of  8-10 meters below the surface, is defined by the low permeability till of the Wedron Formation.  The Wedron sediments are clay-rich lodgement tills deposited by continental glaciers during the Wisconsinan period of the Pleistocene.  Overlying the till are 5-7 meters of sand, gravel, and cobbles of the Henry Formation.  These sediments are of outwash origin and form a long, sinuous body that that follows the course of Little Kickapoo Creek.  Capping this sedimentary sequence are clay and silt Holocene flood plain sediments of the Cahokia Formation.

Activities

The well field is as a teaching facility for numerous undergraduate and graduate classes.  Although it is operated and maintained by Illinois State and BNWRD, it is available for use by any entity.  Regular activities that are conducted as a part of classes and research include hydraulic head measurements (manual and continuous), field water quality measurements, water sampling, field chemical analyses, aquifer tests, slug tests, vadose zone tests, injected tracer tests, stream flow measurements and collection of precipitation  data.  Research projects are focused on groundwater and surface water interactions.

Field Equipment

The Department is committed to providing hands-on experience in hydrogeologic techniques to complement the broad theoretical background presented in the classroom.  We have a wide range of field equipment and its use is an integral part of many graduate courses and research.  The "crown jewel" of our facilities is the groundwater well field.  This easily-accessible, off campus facility provides an outdoor laboratory for teaching hydrogeologic techniques.  Follow one of the links below for more details on the field equipment.

Water Level Indicators 1 Herron Instruments dipper-T (200 ft.) 1 In-Situ Inc. ETape (300 ft.)
Pumps 1 Grundfos Redi-Flo 2 submersible pump 1 Grundfos Redi-Flo 4 submersible pump 1 Grundfos Redi-Flo Variable Frequency Drive 1 Masterflex E/S Portable Sampler 1 Honda EB 2500 generator
Permeameter and tensiometers 1 Guelph permeameter 3 Soiltest tensiometers
Water Quality Meters 1 Hydrolab MiniSonde 4a (measures temperature, pH, total dissolved gas pressure, conductivity, turbidity) 1 YSI Model 63 (measures temperature, pH, conductivity, salinity)
1 YSI 5000 dissolved oxygen meter
Pressure transducers and data loggers 1 In-Situ Inc. Hermit 3000 data logger 4 In-Situ Inc. PXD-261 pressure transducers 1 In-Situ Inc. miniTROLL Professional pressure transducer
1 In-Situ Inc. Hermit 1000C data logger 1 In-Situ Inc. PTX-161D pressure transducer
2 In-Situ Inc. Troll 4000 pressure transducers