Beach Wells and Slant Wells

Roscoe Moss Company’s Sea Flo® Screen can be utilized in all types of subsurface intake structures. Sea Flo® Screen is most commonly used in the construction of beach wells. Beach wells are typically designed as traditional, vertically constructed water wells. However, site specific conditions may be better suited for slant wells or, in some cases, horizontally oriented wells.

Beach wells have been successfully implemented in desalination projects worldwide. Following established groundwater drilling principles, desalination plant developers can drill multiple wells near the shore to extract seawater from underground aquifers. Greater operational flexibility is achieved as developers can choose where to drill based on plant capacity requirements. Also, because the intake structures are located below the seafloor, environmental impact such as impingement and entrainment is almost entirely negated. Seawater extracted via subsurface intakes is also more consistent in temperature, resulting in greater energy efficiency, and also requires less pre-treatment due to the natural filtration of the filter pack.

Slant and horizontal wells offer many of the same advantages of beach wells, such as minimal impingement and entrainment, minimal pre-treatment requirement due to natural filtration of filter pack, and consistent water temperatures. Additional benefits and efficiencies are achieved due to the angle at which wells are drilled. Slant and horizontal intake structures are often able to take advantage of extensive subsurface seawater zones further from land, resulting in less interference with fresh water aquifers.