# US 2016/0258138 A1 · Vacuum-assisted irrigation system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2016/0258138 A1 - Document ID: US20160258138A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/060,316 - Filed: 2016-03-03 - Published: 2016-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2015-03-05 - Inventors: Lonnie Shelton - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160258138A1 ## CPC - E03B 5/06: Special equipment {, e.g. well seals and connections for well casings or the like} - E03B 3/12: by means of vertical pipe wells - Y02A 20/00: Water conservation; Efficient water supply; Efficient water use - E03B: INSTALLATIONS OR METHODS FOR OBTAINING, COLLECTING, OR DISTRIBUTING WATER (drilling wells, obtaining fluids in general from wells E21B; pipe-line systems in general F17D) - Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ## Abstract Disclosed embodiments concern a system and method for extracting water from a water well using a vacuum-assisted technique. Particular embodiments of the system concern using a water well with a well casing, a casing seal and a water pump within the well, and a water tank, a compressor, and a heat exchanger above ground to withdraw water from the well. In particular embodiments, the casing seal is positioned over the well casing, to which the compressor is fluidly coupled to create a reduced pressure within the well and draw water into the well. In particular embodiments, the system can be used during an entire pumping season, thus providing the ability to extract water and/or increase water extraction from the ground during dry parts of the year and/or freezing parts of the year. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for extracting water from a well, comprising: a casing seal positioned over the well creating an air-tight seal between the well and the atmosphere, the casing seal comprising an opening fluidly coupled to an interior of the well; a water tank fluidly coupled to the well, the water tank comprising a lower water reservoir portion, an upper discharge separator portion and an opening for discharging air from the water tank to the atmosphere; a compressor, fluidly coupled to the opening in the casing seal via a vacuum line, and fluidly coupled to the water tank, the compressor configured to reduce the air pressure within the well by extracting air from the well such that higher pressure groundwater is drawn into the well, the compressor further configured to conduct the air extracted from the well into the upper discharge separator portion of the water tank; a pump within the well below the well casing operable to pump groundwater out of the well to either the water tank, to one or more irrigation devices, or to both the water tank and one or more irrigation devices; and a heat exchanger fluidly coupled to the compressor and to the lower water reservoir portion of the water tank. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the compressor has an efficiency that increases as a function of increasing suction on the vacuum line. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the compressor reduces air pressure within the well and is adapted to reduce or delay cavitations or vortices in the water as the water level within the well approaches an inlet of the pump. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where compressor reduces air pressure within the well to between about 2 psi and about 6 psi below atmospheric pressure. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the compressor is a liquid ring pump and a liquid ring portion of the liquid ring pump forms an increasingly tighter seal with increasing pressure differential. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the pump is an electric, positive displacement water pump. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the casing seal is secured to a well casing within the well in a manner sufficient for maintaining an air pressure differential across the casing seal. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7 where the well casing is open at the bottom of the well and the well casing extends a majority of a length between the bottom of the well and the top of the well. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7 where the well casing further comprises radial openings that allow water to pass through the well casing into the well. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 where the radial openings have a aperture dimension ranging from about 0.1 inches to about 1 inch. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 where the well casing comprises at least 10 radial openings. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 where the radial openings are located above and below the water level in the well. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the water tank further comprises a filter adapted to separate water from air passing through the filter. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the water tank comprises a discharge separator. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the system comprises a scavenging line that is coupled between a vacuum line and the water tank. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the pump is positioned spaced away from the bottom of the well thereby reducing debris passing through the pump. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 where the exchanger is a heat exchanger and reduces the water temperature of the water exiting the water tank. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 further comprising a sled, wherein the pump, the exchanger, and the water tank are mounted on the sled to allow portability of the system via the sled. ### Claim 19 A system for extracting water from a well, comprising: a casing seal positioned over the well creating an air-tight seal between the well and the atmosphere; a separator tank fluidly coupled to the well, the separator tank comprising a lower liquid reservoir portion, an upper discharge separator portion and an opening for discharging gas from the separator tank to the atmosphere; a compressor, fluidly coupled to the well and to the separator tank, the compressor configured to reduce the air pressure within the well by extracting air from the well such that higher pressure groundwater is drawn into the well, the compressor further configured to conduct the air extracted from the well into the upper discharge separator portion of the separator tank; a pump within the well below the well casing operable to pump groundwater out of the well to either a water tank, to one or more irrigation devices, or to both the water tank and one or more irrigation devices; and a heat exchanger fluidly coupled to the compressor and to the lower liquid reservoir portion of the separator tank; wherein the lower liquid reservoir portion comprises oil that circulates through the heat exchanger, the compressor and back to the separator tank. ### Claim 20 A method of extracting water from a well, comprising: reducing the pressure within a well to a pressure that is lower that the pressure of the surrounding ground using a system comprising a pump, a water tank, a compressor, and an exchanger; causing groundwater from the surrounding ground to be drawn into the well due to the pressure differential between the well and the surrounding ground; and extracting from the well the groundwater drawn into the well.