Ella Sinclair – Prensa
My name is Ella Sinclair and I currently work at Prensa, as an early career professional. Below is a recent summary of a field day installing groundwater wells at a Site south-west of Brisbane, Queensland.
Stepping into the field as an early career environmental professional means every day brings new challenges and skills. One of our recent projects was no exception—full of hands-on problem-solving, technical challenges, and the thrill of being in the thick of fieldwork.
We were installing four groundwater wells, as part of a Baseline Environmental Assessment for a new commercial development. As the Site was still under development, our first challenge was workshopping creative ways to leave these wells so that they would still be standing when construction was finished and the gatic covers could be installed (hence the very tall pvc pipe in the picture).
While planning our Site work and undertaking background investigations, we found there was limited data available regarding the depth to groundwater beneath the site, so we made assumptions based on existing information and the soil lithology gathered during the initial soil investigation. The subsurface lithology comprised sandstone, which meant I got to see rotary air drilling in action for the first time.
Throughout the day I was responsible for supervising drilling and identifying and logging the soils including the moisture content to estimate when groundwater was encountered (it was pretty clear when the driller started to get covered in mud!). Once I was confident that we had reached groundwater, with the assistance of one of Prensa’s Principal Consultants, we worked out at what depth to install the screens and construct the well.
The real excitement on Site began later into the evening as we were developing the second well, water started to profusely shoot out of the first well up to 10m in the air! Turns out, the air lifting used by the drillers to develop this well had pressurised the aquifer causing water to shoot out of the other well like a fountain.
While unexpected, it was an awesome opportunity to tackle new challenges—ensuring the integrity of both wells while learning more about the hydrogeology and the aquifer at the Site. This topic was also a great opportunity to workshop the ‘why’ with the rest of the team once we got back to the office.
I’ve learned that problem-solving on-site is key, and it was rewarding to work through each challenge with quick thinking and adaptability. Days like these remind me why I enjoy fieldwork so much—there’s always something new to learn, and every project brings its own set of surprises that keep things interesting.
