--- title: "The Data-Driven Well Rehab: Executive Summary | AirBurst" description: A free field guide for water well contractors on diagnosing plugging wells, running pump tests you can trust, and proving rehab results in specific capacity, efficiency, and dollars. image: https://airbursttechnology.com/hubfs/Free%20Content/Data-Driven-Rehab-ExecSum.png --- [Go Back Up](https://airbursttechnology.com/data-driven-well-rehab-executive-summary#top) [Skip to Content](https://airbursttechnology.com/data-driven-well-rehab-executive-summary#body) [![AB-Logo-WHT-CLR-Symbol-SML](https://airbursttechnology.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AirBurst%20Logos%20Final/AB-Logo-WHT-CLR-Symbol-SML.png?width=225&height=34&name=AB-Logo-WHT-CLR-Symbol-SML.png "AB-Logo-WHT-CLR-Symbol-SML")](https://airbursttechnology.com/?hsLang=en) Toggle Menu - [Technology](https://airbursttechnology.com/technology) Toggle children for Technology Main Menu (Press to Return) \> Technology - [Applications](https://airbursttechnology.com/applications) - [Licensing](https://airbursttechnology.com/airburst-technology-licensing) - Resources Toggle children for Resources Main Menu (Press to Return) \> Resources - [FAQ](https://airbursttechnology.com/airburst-technology-faqs) - [Results + Insights](https://airbursttechnology.com/resources) - [Deep Education](https://airbursttechnology.com/education) - [Return-on-Rehab Estimator](https://ror.airbursttechnology.com) - [Licensee Portal](https://ls-portal.airbursttechnology.com) - [About Us](https://airbursttechnology.com/airburst-technology-about-us) Toggle children for About Us Main Menu (Press to Return) \> About Us - [AirBurst® Locations](https://airbursttechnology.com/airburst-locations) - [Contact](https://airbursttechnology.com/contact-us) - [Easy Button](https://airbursttechnology.com/contact-us) - Open Search Search Submit Search Free field guide Executive summary # The Data-Driven Well Rehab Diagnose, Justify, Prove. A field guide for project managers at water well contractors and drillers: how to tell a plugging well from a failing pump, run a pump test you can trust, and prove a rehabilitation was worth paying for. [Download the free ebook](https://airbursttechnology.com/info-form-data-driven-rehab?hsLang=en) About the guide ## A 35-page playbook for the part of the job nobody teaches Written for the project manager who is expected to diagnose a well, recommend a course of action, and then prove the work was worth paying for, usually without ever being trained to do any of the three. [![Data-Driven-Rehab-ExecSum](https://airbursttechnology.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Free%20Content/Data-Driven-Rehab-ExecSum.png?width=500&height=648&name=Data-Driven-Rehab-ExecSum.png "Data-Driven-Rehab-ExecSum")](https://airbursttechnology.com/hubfs/Free%20Content/Data-Driven%20Well%20Rehab%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf?hsLang=en) ## Executive summary Most of us learned this job by standing next to somebody who learned it by standing next to somebody else. There is no four-year degree in well rehabilitation and no licensing board handing out a binder titled *The One Right Way*. That works fine until a customer asks why they should spend money on a well that still makes water, and the most honest answer available is a shrug. This guide is our attempt to fix that. It is written for the project manager who is expected to diagnose a well, recommend a course of action, and then prove the work was worth paying for, usually without ever being trained to do any of the three. ### Stop waiting for the complaint By the time a well owner notices a problem at the tap, plugging has been underway for years and some of it is no longer reversible. So the guide takes a firm position: **the very latest a rehab should be triggered is when specific capacity has dropped about 10 percent from the well's established baseline.** That figure is not a sales target. It is the point past which every future rehab gets less effective and shorter lived than the one before it. ### Six metrics that turn opinions into evidence The heart of the book is a chapter that builds the case from the ground up, one measurable number at a time: - **Specific capacity:** the single best measure of well health, and your rehab trigger - **Wire-to-water efficiency:** what separates a sick well from a tired pump - **Specific energy:** the true cost of lifting a unit of water, normalized so it cannot lie to you - **Dollars per unit of water:** the same number in the language a decision maker signs off on - **Avoided costs:** the new well, the purchased water, and the emergency you helped them dodge - **Total cost of ownership:** the whole picture across a multi-year horizon, discounted to today For each one we cover the same six things: the definition and equation, what it tells you, why it matters, how to explain it to a customer in plain English, how to capture the data in the field, and the pitfalls that will bite you. Steal the client explanations word for word if you like. They are in there to be used. ### We are not selling you a method AirBurst rehabilitates wells for a living and we hold strong opinions about how it should be done, but this is a guide to diagnosis and proof, not a pitch for any one technique. An honest baseline, a clean pump test, and a metric the customer actually cares about will make any competent method look better, including somebody else's. The discipline is the point. ### What you will be able to do - Run a pump test that survives scrutiny. - Tell a plugging well apart from a failing pump, and know which diagnostics are worth paying for on which wells. - Read a step-drawdown test well enough to separate aquifer loss from well loss. - Put a defensible dollar figure on a rehab across a multi-year horizon instead of a day-one snapshot. - Walk into a customer's office carrying numbers instead of adjectives. **The full guide runs about 35 pages, includes worked examples, figures, and a complete reference list, and is free to download.** *Written by Michael Kerper, Michael Judkins, and Michael Yakich of AirBurst Well Services.* [Download the free ebook](https://airbursttechnology.com/info-form-data-driven-rehab?hsLang=en) QUICK ANSWERS ## Frequently asked questions When should a water well be rehabilitated? At the latest, when specific capacity (pumping rate divided by drawdown) has dropped about 10 percent from the well's established baseline. Plugging begins long before it can be felt at the tap, and left long enough it becomes irreversible, so every rehab after that point restores less and lasts shorter than the one before. How do you tell a plugging well from a failing pump? Read specific capacity and wire-to-water efficiency together. If specific capacity is holding but efficiency has dropped, or you see vibration, noise, or sand in the discharge, look at the pump. If specific capacity is falling and drawdown is deepening while the pump checks out, the well is plugging. The guide also covers how to rule out a regional aquifer decline by comparing neighboring wells. Is this guide a pitch for AirBurst's rehabilitation method? No. The metrics are deliberately method-neutral. Specific capacity does not care whose tool is on the truck. The guide is about honest diagnosis and proof, and the discipline it teaches will make any competent rehabilitation method look better, including somebody else's. What is in the full ebook? About 35 pages covering how to tell whether the problem is the well, the pump, or the aquifer; how to design and read step-drawdown and constant-rate pump tests; which advanced diagnostics (downhole video, water chemistry, flow profiling, caliper logs) are worth paying for; six metrics that prove a rehab's value, each with a plain-English client explanation; and a worked ten-year total-cost-of-ownership example. It includes figures, worked examples, and a full reference list, and it is free. From the AirBurst Resources blog ## Go deeper on the topics in the guide View all articles ![](https://airbursttechnology.com/hubfs/p.35%20Specific%20Capacity.jpg) Well Rehabilitation AirInsights AirBurst Experts Sep 23, 2026, 4:03:54 PM 8 min read ### [When Should You Rehabilitate a Well? The Warning Sign Most Owners Miss Until It's Too Late](https://airbursttechnology.com/resources/when-should-you-rehabilitate-a-well-the-warning-sign-most-owners-miss-until-it-s-too-late?hsLang=en) Read More ![](https://airbursttechnology.com/hubfs/WW-Joliet-Location-sml.png) Open Borehole Well Rehabilitation Deep Well (1K+ ft.) Case Studies AirBurst Experts Nov 10, 2025, 9:08:42 AM 7 min read ### [CASE STUDY: Boosting Well Efficiency 191%](https://airbursttechnology.com/resources/revitalizing-a-critical-power-plant-well?hsLang=en) Read More ![](https://airbursttechnology.com/hubfs/AB-Blog-image-1-horz.png) Screened Well Case Studies Special Applications AirBurst Experts Nov 10, 2025, 9:07:09 AM 5 min read ### [CASE STUDY: Well Casing Extraction](https://airbursttechnology.com/resources/airburst-technology-case-study-airxtraction?hsLang=en) Read More --- - [Technology](https://airbursttechnology.com/technology) - [Licensing](https://airbursttechnology.com/airburst-technology-licensing) - Resources - [About Us](https://airbursttechnology.com/airburst-technology-about-us) - [Contact](https://airbursttechnology.com/contact-us) © 2026 AirBurst Technologies  •  (424) 415-8332  •  info@airbursttechnology.com ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Book", "about" : [ "water well rehabilitation", "specific capacity", "wire-to-water efficiency", "pump testing", "well maintenance" ], "alternateName" : "The Data-Driven Well Rehab", "author" : [ { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Michael Kerper" }, { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Michael Judkins" }, { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Michael Yakich" } ], "bookFormat" : "https://schema.org/EBook", "description" : "A free field guide for project managers at water well contractors and drillers on diagnosing plugging wells, running pump tests you can trust, and proving rehabilitation results in specific capacity, wire-to-water efficiency, and dollars.", "inLanguage" : "en", "isAccessibleForFree" : true, "name" : "The Data-Driven Well Rehab: Diagnose, Justify, Prove", "numberOfPages" : 35, "offers" : { "@type" : "Offer", "availability" : "https://schema.org/InStock", "price" : "0", "priceCurrency" : "USD", "url" : "https://airbursttechnology.com/info-form-data-driven-rehab?hsLang=en" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "AirBurst Well Services", "url" : "https://airbursttechnology.com" }, "url" : "https://airbursttechnology.com/data-driven-well-rehab-executive-summary" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "At the latest, when specific capacity (pumping rate divided by drawdown) has dropped about 10 percent from the well's established baseline. 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