Relation of phenomenal rise of water levels to a defective gas well, Harris County, Texas

The water levels in wells throughout the Houston district, Texas, have declined since 1937 due to the large increase in the rate of pumping in the Houston and Pasadena areas. The outstanding exception to this downward trend of water levels occurred in several wells north and northwest of Houston which have shown a sharp upward trend since December 1, 1942. The area in which this rise has been noted is about 25 miles long and 10 miles wide. In August, 1943, about 50 water wells in northern Harris County were investigated. Several water wells in and near the Bammel gas field that theretofore had been pumped were flowing and the water level in most of the wells within a radius of several miles had risen sharply. Within a few days five water wells in the field started to crater. In this connection it was reported that one of the gas wells in the field had developed a leak in the casing at approximately 600 feet below the surface and was discharging gas into the water-bearing sands. The Theis non-equilibrium formula was used to determine the amount of water that would have been required as recharge to the sands in the "affected zone" at Bammel to produce the rise recorded in an observation well at Westfield, 4.7 miles northeast of the defective gas well. Computations show that the amount required from December 1, 1942, to November 30, 1944, was about 6 billion gallons of water, or about 14 billion cubic feet of gas at a pressure of 250 pounds per square inch. The computations also show that the amount of gas injected into the sands of the "affected zone" increased from an average of about 7 million cubic feet a day at the same pressure from December 1, 1942, to April 1, 1943, to an average of about 39 million cubic feet a day from July 24 to August 30, 1944. The amount of gas being discharged into the "affected zone" has decreased sharply since August 30 and indications are that little or no gas entered the zone from November 22 to 30, 1944.