Method and system for extracting water with consideration of the recharge rate and other factors to protect the aquifer

A water extraction system comprising:

• a water well coupled to an aquifer and having water at a water level that fluctuates over time and use, the water in the water well refilling at a recharge rate from the aquifer;
• a distribution line in communication between the water well and a storage tank;
• a pump coupled to the water well for moving water from the water well through the distribution line to storage tank at a pump rate;
• and
• a well sensor coupled to the well for periodic measuring of the water level to collect water level data;
• a well sensor mote wirelessly coupled, using a communication protocol, between the well sensor and a server for uploading collected water level data to the server;
• a tank sensor coupled to the storage tank for periodic measuring of the water level in the storage tank to collect storage tank water level data;
• a tank sensor mote wirelessly coupled, using a communication protocol, between the tank sensor and a server for uploading collected storage tank water level data to a server database;
• a communication device coupled to the server;
• an application carried by one of the server and the communication device to calculate the rate of recharge of the well from the collected data;
• and
• a pumping strategy developed by the application using the recharge rate to determine an altered pump rate.

A water extraction and control method comprising the steps of:

• providing a water well coupled to an aquifer having water at a water level that fluctuates over time and use and a recharge rate;
• pumping water from the water well through a distribution line to a use element at a pump rate;
• periodically measuring the water level of the water well using a well sensor coupled to the water well to obtain water level data;
• collecting the water level data using a well sensor mote coupled to the well sensor;
• sending the collected water level data from the well sensor mote to a wirelessly coupled server using a communication protocol;
• calculating the rate of recharge of the well from the collected water level data using an application carried by one of the server and a communication device coupled to the server;
• developing a pumping strategy by the application using the recharge rate to determine the pump rate;
• and
• altering the pump rate as determined by the pumping strategy.