Artesian Wells
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Artesian Wells. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
deep wells bored through impervious rock strata to a porous water bearing rock stratum whence the water flows to the surface and is discharged from the bore. The principal condition of an artesian well is a pervious stratum protected above and below by a water-tight bed. These layers come to the surface in some elevated region where they get their rain flow, then pitch downward to a considerable depth and then rise again, thus forming a great basin which retains the water. Rain water and surface water fill the porous stratum to the brim. If it be tapped any, the water will rise in the bore and be discharged as long as the supply equals the demand. The whole Mississippi valley is ideally adapted for wells of this kind. The Chinese and Egyptians were early acquainted with artesian wells. The oldest known in Europe is at Lillers, in Artois (hence the name artesian), and was sunk in 1126. In 1836, the first artesian well was dug in the eastern Sahara and at a depth of nearly 200 feet struck water which poured forth 4,500 liters a minute. In 1860 there were 50 wells, averaging 735 liters a minute. In the province of Constantine alone there are more than 150. The result is proving beneficial not only to the country materially, but also to the character and habits of its nomadic Arab inhabitants. Several tribes have already settled down around these wells, and, forming thus the centers of settlements, have constructed villages, planted date palms, and entirely renounced their previous wandering existence. The earliest exploration for artesian water in Colorado was at Kit Carson Station on the Kansas Pacific railroad. It was sunk to a depth of 1,300 feet without obtaining water. In 1879, a well was drilled for petroleum at South Pueblo, in the Arkansas val valley. At a depth of 1,180 feet a flow of mineral water (82°) was struck yielding 160,000 gallons per 24 hours. Subsequently thousands of wells were dug in Colorado. It was found that Denver was underlaid by a body of artesian water. The American Desert, which includes one-fifth of the total area of the United States, has deep artesian wells which were bored for the purpose of irrigation, and which have transformed the whole region. The most famous artesian well, perhaps, is that of Grenelle, near Paris, which was bored in 1833-1841, and whose water is brought from the Gault bro at a depth of 1,798 feet. It yields 5162 gallons of water per minute. Artesian wells have supplied a portion of the data upon which the internal temperature of the earth has been calculated. Thus the Grenelle well has a temperature of 81° F., while the mean temperature of the air in the cellar of the Paris observatory is onl only 53°. Mm. Arago and Walferdin observel the temperature as the work proceeded, and found that there was a gradual and regular increase downward. Walferdin also made a series of very accurate and careful observations on the temperature of two borings at Creuzot, within a mile of each other, commencing at a height of 1,030 feet above the sea, and going down to a depth, the one of 2,678 feet, the other about 1,900 feet. The results, after every possible precaution had been taken to insure correctness, gave a rise of 1° F. for every 55 feet down to a depth of 1,800 feet, beyond which the rise was more rapid, being 1° for every 44 feet of descent; but at Fort Randall the temperature at 80° increased at the rate of 1º every 17½ feet. It was once supposed that water from artesian wells was purer than from ordinary wells; but it is found to be a mistake. The lower the water goes, the more impregnated it is with saline and other matter.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
self flowing wells. Named from Artois, France, where deep wells were sunk at an early date. The oldest was sunk in 1126. Although the term is applied in America to any well of great depth, it is applied more correctly only to wells from which a stream of water flows. The water comes from a stratum of sand or gravel exposed to rainfall on higher ground, perhaps a thousand miles away. Water falling on such a stratum, possibly where it is upheaved in a range of mountains, follows it underground, unable to escape upward or downward. When tapped by an artesian well, it rises by reason of pressure toward the level of the highest part of the watersoaked stratum. The flow of the well may be copious at first, owing to an accumulation of imprisoned water, but its permanent flow is dependent on the rainfall or melting snow on the distant outcrop. The more artesian wells in a given locality, the more likely they all are to fall off in supply. Ancient artesian wells have been found in Egypt. There are artesian wells in Italy, Germany, Spain, the Sahara, and in China. London and Paris are situated over artesian basins. A well near Leipsic, the deepest in the world, goes down 5,735 feet. Many artesian waters are wonderfully pure, others are strongly mineral. The Chinese make salt from the brine of deep wells thousands of years old. A well at St. Louis, 2,200 feet deep, is so charged with a sulphurous odor as to be useless for household purposes. Artesian wells are numerous along the Atlantic coast of the United States , deriving their waters, doubtless, from the Appalachians. One of the most noted of these at Charleston, South Carolina , is 1,250 feet deep. A well at Louisville, Kentucky, over 2,000 feet deep, yields 10,000 barrels of water daily. In the Great Plains from North Dakota to Texas are the greatest artesian regions known. The wells derive their water, no doubt, from rainfall on the western highlands. In many locations in South Dakota , Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, and Texas, the flow is sufficient to be of aid in irrigation. Galveston, Texas, has a fine well 3,000 feet deep. See Water Supply 2026 Editor's Note: Artesian water became a marketing byword — bottlers prize the label — but the grander story is Australia's Great Artesian Basin , one of the largest underground reservoirs on earth, which alone makes ranc hing possible across the arid Outback. Like many such aquifers, it is now being drained faster than rain can refill it. (Ed: BR 2026-06-25)