Interactive lesson

Wells and springs, step by step

Interactive lesson: from choosing the spot to a well or spring box you keep in good order for years — distances, spring capping, concrete rings, safe descent, the driller and chlorination.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Spring, dug or drilled

Before you choose, look at what you already have and what the neighbours have.

Ask three neighbours — How deep is the water, is it hard, iron-rich or cloudy, and does it run dry? That is the best and cheapest hydrogeological survey you will ever get.
Capped spring — Water flows by itself, often with no pump. It weakens in summer and is easily polluted from the surface.
Dug well — Concrete rings, roughly 4–12 m (13–40 ft). A large store in the well, but dangerous work and shallow water that is vulnerable to pollution.
Drilled well — From 15 to 100 m and more (50–330 ft+). Deeper, better protected water and a steady yield, but expensive, and you need a driller and often permission.

Why: If everyone in the village has dug wells of 6–8 m, the water is shallow. If the neighbours drill to 60 m, a dug well will give you nothing.

Ask a local well contractor too: how deep the water is, what it is like and whether it runs dry.
A driven well (sand point) only works in sand and gravel, down to 7–10 m. It does not work in clay or rock.

2. Where to dig

Water in the ground travels, so distance, direction of flow and depth matter more than anything else.

Uphill, not downhill — Groundwater usually flows the way the land slopes, towards a stream or valley. Put the well uphill of the house, septic tank and livestock housing.
At least 30 m — From the septic tank, outdoor toilet, muck heap, livestock housing and fuel, roughly 30 m (100 ft). From a soakaway or drainage field, 30–50 m.
Measure the distances — Pace or tape it from the well site to every pollution source. If one is closer than the minimum or uphill, look for another spot.
Access and position — Leave access 3 m (10 ft) wide for a lorry. Not under power lines, not in a hollow and not under trees whose roots get into the joints.

Why: Whatever soaks in from a septic tank, a muck heap or a manured field reaches a shallow well sooner or later. The figures are rough; check required distances with the competent authority.

Limestone and karst ground does not filter water: there even 100 m from a septic tank is not safe, and drinking water is always treated (H04-06).
Before digging or drilling, ask the environment regulator or state water agency and your council or county health department what paperwork you need. In the US, call 811 before any digging.