Theory 056/Water & Sanitation
Well Decline Has a Knee
The claim
Well yield declines abruptly once specific capacity falls below a threshold, because turbulent losses overtake laminar flow.
01The mechanism
Drawdown has a linear and a quadratic term; when the quadratic dominates, small increases in pumping produce large drawdown.
02Predictions
- P1Yield should collapse below a specific capacity.
- P2Step testing should show the transition.
03Refutation
Yield declining smoothly with drawdown would remove the threshold.