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:See Great Artesian Basin
Great Artesian Basin

The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of water through much of inland Australia. The basin is the largest and deepest Artesian aquifer in the world, covering a total of ....
 for the water source in Australia.

An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer
Aquifer

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well....
 containing groundwater
Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
 that will flow upward through a well
Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground ??by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access water in underground aquifers....
 without the need for pump
Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as gases, liquids or Slurry. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. One common misconception about pumps is the thought that they create pressure....
ing. Water may even spurt out of the ground if the natural pressure is high enough.






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Artesian Well
:See Great Artesian Basin
Great Artesian Basin

The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of water through much of inland Australia. The basin is the largest and deepest Artesian aquifer in the world, covering a total of ....
 for the water source in Australia.

An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer
Aquifer

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well....
 containing groundwater
Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
 that will flow upward through a well
Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground ??by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access water in underground aquifers....
 without the need for pump
Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as gases, liquids or Slurry. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. One common misconception about pumps is the thought that they create pressure....
ing. Water may even spurt out of the ground if the natural pressure is high enough. An aquifer provides the water for an artesian well. An aquifer is a layer of soft rock, like limestone or sandstone, that absorbs water from an inlet path. Porous stone is confined between impermeable rocks or clay. This keeps the pressure high, so when the water finds an outlet, it overcomes gravity and goes up instead of down.

Artesianwell
In recharging aquifers, this happens because the water table
Water table

The water table is the level at which the ground water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the Groundwater in a given vicinity....
 at its recharge zone is at a higher elevation
Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the above mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a s...
 than the head of the well
Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground ??by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access water in underground aquifers....
.

"Fossil water
Fossil water

Fossil water or paleowater is groundwater that has remained in an aquifer for millennia. Water can rest underground in aquifers for thousands or even millions of years....
" aquifers can also be artesian if they are under sufficient pressure from the surrounding rocks. This is similar to how many newly tapped oil well
Oil well

An oil well is a general term for any boring through the Earth's surface designed to find and produce petroleum Petroleum hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil, and a well designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well....
s are pressurized.

Origin

Artesian wells were named after the former province of Artois
Artois

Artois is a former provinces of France of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km? and a population of about one million....
 in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, where many artesian wells were drilled by Carthusian
Carthusian

The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of Enclosed religious orders Monasticism. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns....
 monks since 1126. The technique was also known much earlier in Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
 and Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, although whether the monks of Artois learned of it from outside sources or discovered it independently is unknown.

Examples of artesian wells


Australia


  • The Great Artesian Basin
    Great Artesian Basin

    The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of water through much of inland Australia. The basin is the largest and deepest Artesian aquifer in the world, covering a total of ....
     is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, occupying 23% of the continent.


United States

Some towns in the United States were named Artesia
Artesia

Artesia may refer to:Places* Artesia, California* Artesia, Colorado * Artesia, Mississippi* Artesia, New Mexico* Mosomane, Botswana, also known as Artesia...
 after the artesian wells in the vicinity. Other artesian well sites include:
  • Pahrump, Nevada
    Pahrump, Nevada

    Pahrump is a census-designated place in Nye County, Nevada, Nevada, United States. The population was 24,631 as of the United States Census 2000, making it by far the largest settlement in the county....
  • Fountain Point
    Fountain Point

    Fountain Point is an historic landmark located in Suttons Bay Township, Michigan, Michigan, which is part of Leelanau County, Michigan and the Leelanau Peninsula....
    , Michigan
    Michigan

    Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
  • Olympia
    Olympia, Washington

    Olympia is the Capital of Washington and is the county seat of Thurston County, Washington. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 44,460 at the 2007 census....
    , Washington
    Washington

    Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
  • Memphis
    Memphis, Tennessee

    Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
    , Tennessee
    Tennessee

    Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the United States....
  • Smoke Hole Caverns
    Smoke Hole Caverns

    Smoke Hole Caverns are a system of picturesque caverns in Grant County, West Virginia of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The caverns were opened to the public in the 1940s....
    , Seneca Rocks
    Seneca Rocks

    Seneca Rocks is a large crag and local landmark in Pendleton County, West Virginia in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, USA. It is easily visible and accessible along West Virginia Route 28 in the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area....
    , West Virginia
    West Virginia

    West Virginia is a U.S. state in the Appalachian, Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia on the southeast, Kentucky on the southwest, Ohio on the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland on the northeast....
  • Evamor, Goodbee, Louisiana
    Louisiana

    The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
  • Black Belt (region of Alabama)
    Black Belt (region of Alabama)

    Alabama's Black Belt is a region of the state and part of the larger Black Belt Region of the Southern United States, which stretches from Texas to Maryland....
  • Potomac, Illinois
    Potomac, Illinois

    Potomac is a village in Vermilion County, Illinois, Illinois, United States. It is part of the 'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area'....
  • Brown Palace Hotel
    Brown Palace Hotel

    Brown Palace Hotel is the second-oldest hotel in Denver, Colorado and is the first atrium-style hotel ever to be built. It is now operated by Quorum Hotels and Resorts....
    , Denver, Colorado
    Colorado

    The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
  • Carmel, Indiana
    Carmel, Indiana

    Carmel is a city in Hamilton County, Indiana, Indiana, United States. The population was 37,733 at the 2000 census but has been growing very rapidly....
  • La Crosse
    La Crosse, Wisconsin

    La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River....
    , Wisconsin
    Wisconsin

    Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
  • Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania
    Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania

    Boiling Springs is a census-designated place in South Middleton Township, Pennsylvania, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Harrisburg metropolitan area....
  • Long Island, New York
  • Salt Lake City, Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah

    Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC....


Canada

Watershed Park, British Columbia

Italy


  • Aquileia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia


Spain


  • Cella, Teruel, Aragón


Artesian systems in popular culture


For many years, Olympia Beer (Tumwater, Washington
Tumwater, Washington

Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, Washington, United States. It lies near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound....
) was brewed with water obtained from artesian wells. The company's promotions made much of the use of artesian water in the brewing process. However, the advertisements never explained what artesian water was, preferring to claim that the water was controlled by a mythical population of "Artesians". Once the brewery was taken over by a larger company, the use of artesian water was discontinued, and so was that advertising campaign.

See also

  • Drinking water
    Drinking water

    Drinking water is water that is of sufficiently high quality so that it can be consumed or utilized without risk of immediate or long term harm....
  • Fluid mechanics
    Fluid mechanics

    Fluid mechanics is the study of how fluids move and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest, and fluid dynamics, the study of fluids in motion....
  • Great Artesian Basin
    Great Artesian Basin

    The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of water through much of inland Australia. The basin is the largest and deepest Artesian aquifer in the world, covering a total of ....
  • Hydrogeology
    Hydrogeology

    Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rock of the Earth's crust , ....
  • Qanat
    Qanat

    A qanat or Kariz is a water management system used to provide a reliable supply of water to human settlements or for irrigation in hot, arid and semi-arid climates....


  • "Artesians" on Youtube.