Heavy-Duty Hose Reels for Water Well Rehabilitation

Why ordinary hose reels are unsuitable

Deploying a downhole tool in a deep water well is a different problem from spooling a pressure-washer or workshop hose. A reel built for well service has to handle several demands at once, and it is where each of them meets that ordinary reels fail:

• Extreme hose length and accumulated weight. Hundreds of metres of high-pressure hose, plus the water inside it, add up to a heavy, growing load on the drum as the tool descends.
• Suspended tool weight. The reel carries the impulse tool or downhole equipment on the end of the hose — it must lower and hold that load under control, not just store hose.
• High working pressure through a rotating joint. Pressure has to pass from the fixed supply into the turning drum through a high-pressure swivel, without leaking as the reel rotates.
• Controlled lowering and retrieval. Speed must be smooth and adjustable so the tool travels the well at the right rate — and stops exactly where needed.
• No uncontrolled drum rotation. A free-spinning drum under load is dangerous; an automatic brake has to hold it whenever drive is released.
• Clean spooling. Without level rewind, long hose overlaps, crushes and jams on the drum.
• Field operation without site power. Many well sites have no mains electricity, so the reel needs its own power source.

A garden or general-purpose reel meets none of these. Flow Industries builds reels specifically for this duty — which is why they are used with AirShock® and other downhole tools in the field.

Reel configurations

Every reel is built to the job, in one of three drive types. The two most common for well service are shown below; manual and OEM configurations are available on request.

Hydraulic hose reel

Heavy-duty hydraulic drive for the largest hose capacities — up to 600 m — with smooth, variable speed control ideal for deep wells and heavy hose loads. Driven by a self-contained gasoline-engine power pack, it needs no mains power on site. Fully welded steel spool, high-pressure swivel and fluid path, level rewind and built-in automatic brake.

Electric hose reel

Compact electric-drive reel for lighter, powered deployment where site electricity is available — the same rugged construction, high-pressure swivel, level rewind and automatic brake in a smaller, mains-powered package.

Manual & custom OEM reels

Manual reels for lighter duty, and fully custom OEM reels engineered to a specific tool, hose, pressure and vehicle. Carbon-steel or stainless construction, with mounting and controls specified per project. See custom engineering →

Technical specifications

Because every reel is engineered to the application, the values below span the standard range; project-specific figures are confirmed at quotation.

Need a datasheet for your hose, pressure and tool weight? Request a reel configuration and we'll confirm exact figures.

Water-well applications

The reels are built for deep-well service where a tool must be lowered, powered and retrieved under pressure:

• Water-well rehabilitation — deploying impulse and other rehabilitation tools to the treatment zone and retrieving them under control.
• Well development — running tools through the screen in controlled intervals during new-well development.
• Downhole cleaning tools — carrying high-pressure hose and equipment for screen and gravel-pack cleaning.
• Nitrogen and compressed-air tools — maintaining a high-pressure gas path through the swivel to the tool.
• Deep-well service operations — powered lowering and retrieval in wells to 600 m, with automatic braking to hold the load at any depth.

Because the reel is the link between the surface and the tool, matching it correctly to the tool weight, hose and depth is part of a successful job — see planning gas supply for an AirShock® job.

Custom reel engineering

Flow Industries developed its own reel line after years of not finding heavy-duty reels good enough for its customers' work. Every reel is engineered around the application, not adapted from a catalogue. We design to:

• Hose diameter and construction, and minimum bend radius
• Hose length and the resulting drum capacity
• Working pressure and swivel rating
• Suspended tool weight and required line pull
• Required lowering and retrieval speed
• Available vehicle or skid dimensions and mounting
• Site power supply — gasoline-hydraulic, electric or external hydraulic
• Environmental and corrosion conditions (carbon steel, stainless, coatings)
• Applicable certification requirements

Beyond water wells, the same engineering serves marine, military, aviation, drilling and OEM applications — contact us to discuss an industrial or custom reel.

See the reels in action

Frequently asked questions