Do-it-yourself well in the country: from choosing the right place to finishing

Together with fire and a wheel, the well is the greatest invention of mankind. Since the first mine was excavated for drinking water, millennia have passed, but there are still many who want to use this useful structure. To make a good well in the country you will need quite affordable tools and materials. We invite you to understand all the tricks of this difficult matter - we will literally walk you by the hand through all the stages.

The well is a fairly wide shaft, which should reach the level of groundwater. The walls of this shaft must be insulated so that the water remains clean. As a lining, you can use:

• monolithic concrete;
• concrete rings;
• concrete plates;
• brick;
• natural stone;
• wood.

A special bottom filter is placed at the bottom of the well, which usually consists of layers of rubble and gravel. Above the structure is equipped with a head. The upper part of the well can be framed with a collar, a lid, a rope, a bucket, etc. Of course, water from modern wells is most often obtained using a pump.

Please note that tubular and shaft wells are distinguished, however, the construction of the first option requires sophisticated drilling equipment, so you can make a well in the country with your own hands only by the shaft method.

Rules for choosing a suitable place for a well

Experts strongly do not recommend the use of folk signs to find a suitable place for a well. Hydrological charts and a knowledgeable hydrologist engineer will cope with this task much more successfully. You can also decide on a place for a well mine with the help of neighbors. If you already have a finished well nearby, you can focus on its location and characteristics.

Pay attention also to the existing facilities on the site. A cesspool or septic tank, a bathhouse, places for keeping livestock and poultry, as well as other potential sources of groundwater pollution should be removed from the well for 30 meters or more. Large water bodies can become such a source of pollution: rivers, ponds, lakes, etc. It is not worth digging a well on the shore, the water in it will still be dirty.

Read more in the article: How to find water for a well: an overview of "grandfather" and modern search methods.

Is your soil dense or light?

It makes no sense to pay for the services of a specialized team if the owners of the site are able to cope with the task on their own.First of all, you should pay attention to the condition of the soil. On dense soils, work is performed as follows:

1. You need to choose a place for the well.
2. Mark the shaft, which can be round or square.
3. Dig out a mine.
4. Isolate the soil with suitable material.
5. Pump out water.
6. Fill in the bottom filter.
7. Make out the top of the well.

Mine walls on dense soils practically do not crumble, but light soils are not so stable. In this case, it is best to use for facing the walls of the mine concrete rings. To do this, a relatively shallow round pit is dug, into which a concrete ring is immediately installed. The excavation is continued from the inside, in the process the ring will lower under its own weight, while protecting the walls of the shaft from shedding. It is recommended to first remove the soil in the center, and then along the edges.

Well shaft walls in dense soil do not need additional reinforcement. On light soils, the probability of land collapse is high, so the walls are immediately reinforced with concrete rings

When installing a well in a country house, a number of safety rules should be adhered to: wear a protective helmet, regularly check the strength of the cables, etc.

Concrete rings are a very common material for a well mine; they are also successfully used on dense soils. In this case, it is recommended to dig from the edge of the ring to the center. Joints of concrete rings should be carefully repaired. The tarred hemp rope copes with this task perfectly.

Features of the well shaft

If the condition of the soil allows, various materials can be used for the well shaft. In this case, it is necessary to regularly apply a plumb line so that the shaft is vertical, and also monitor compliance with the correct dimensions of the shaft.

Option # 1 - monolithic concrete

To make continuous concreting of a well, it is necessary to install a wooden formwork in the shaft and pour concrete mortar into it. After that, the formwork is removed, and the space between the soil and concrete is covered with a mixture of sand and gravel.

If deep well concreting is performed, the upsetting method is used. The well is concreted within the permissible limits, and then monolithic concrete is precipitated to the desired depth. At the same time, a special shoe equipped with a knife must be made in the lower part of the shaft.

Option # 2 - concrete slabs

Elements weighing about 35 kg are suitable for rectangular wells. They are held together with a solution. To reinforce the corners of the structure, you will need to carry out welding work.

Option # 3 - brick

To perform the well shaft, you should take a well-fired red brick of high density. Laying is performed in a circle. Care must be taken that the walls of the shaft are perfectly vertical.

Option # 4 - Natural Stone

Limestone, sandstone or slate are excellent for a well. Like brick, stone is laid in a circle, fastened with a moderate layer of mortar. In the well masonry, the stone should not protrude into the shaft or out.

The well, made of natural stone, will last a long time and will look great in the natural landscape. For masonry, it is recommended to use stones of approximately the same size.

Another important point - the narrow end of the stone should be directed to the center of the shaft. This position is considered more resistant to soil pressure on the masonry, the probability of extrusion of individual elements is reduced. Before starting work, it is recommended to sort the stone by size. The most high-quality is masonry made of stones of the same size.

Option # 5 - a wooden blockhouse

The tree is perfect for decorating a rectangular well shaft. A small log house for a shallow well can be assembled starting right from the bottom of the well. The crowns are mounted on top of each other and pressed together with strong blows. The seams between the crowns should be smeared with clay.On soft soils under the lower crown of the log house it is recommended to lay a number of large stones.

With a large depth of the structure (more than 40 m), they start assembling the log house separately, then install its hole for the shaft and gradually increase to the required size, while choosing the soil. The edges of the lower rim should be sharpened to facilitate lowering the structure. Sometimes for this special steel knives are mounted on the log house. To avoid distortions of the log house in the process, four crowns are undermined at the same time.

The most difficult is the technology of building a large log house from below. In this case, it is necessary to make a series of crowns with a “finger”. Then they are pressed to the main crown with a jack.

Pumping water and filling the bottom filter

After the mine is ready, dirty and muddy water accumulates below. It needs to be pumped out with a good mud pump. You can use a bucket, but it will be too long and tiring. A bucket of silt and a mule accumulated at the bottom is selected. Then you need to wait about 12 hours and pump out the accumulated dirty water. This procedure is repeated daily until clean water appears at the bottom of the well.

After that, the water is pumped out again and begin installation of a bottom filter. First, the bottom of the well is covered with a layer of clean river sand. Then three layers of crushed stone with a thickness of about 10-20 cm each are filled up. At the bottom, you can put a layer of crushed stone of large fractions, then a layer of medium and a layer of small crushed stone. In this way, a so-called direct bottom filter is obtained. Crushed stone can be laid in the reverse order: small, then medium and large. So do the reverse bottom filter.

After backfill, the incoming water may still remain cloudy. You may need to pump out water several more times. It takes about two weeks for the final treatment of the water. During this period, it is not recommended to use well water for drinking or cooking, but for technical needs it is quite suitable. Before the full use of the new well begins, a sample of drinking water should be taken and given for analysis.

How to equip the head?

The installation of the head is the last but very important part of the device of the well in the country. After the space between the shaft and the soil is covered with a mixture of sand and gravel, it is necessary to make a clay castle on top. It will protect well water from possible contamination.

A beautiful and convenient head of the well in the country can be made of wooden beams. It looks like a log house, covered with a roof, mounted on supporting poles

Sometimes a well’s shaft is flush with the ground and simply covered with a lid. Such a utilitarian option is not common. Usually, the owners of summer cottages try to decorate the well by constructing small houses, enclosing the structure, etc. Modern wells, especially in the country, it makes sense to design with such traditional devices as a gate, cable or chain and a clean bucket of galvanized steel. If for some reason the pump fails, the house will not be left without water.

On sale you can find ready-made houses for the design of the well, which you just need to install. You can make such a structure yourself, using a wooden beam. From it you need to make a simple log house, the basis for which are concrete blocks. Waterproofing work will be required. On top of the log house make a convenient ledge on which you can put a bucket. It is recommended to install concrete blocks under the blockhouse on a sand layer about 10 cm thick to prevent deformation of the structure due to seasonal soil displacements.

The blockhouse is closed with a lid, and a roof is installed on top to protect the well from precipitation. The roof can be made from a double row of boards laid with overlap so that there are no gaps. The easiest way to make the roof of the well from a sheet of metal. The roof is mounted on supporting posts with braces.Due to the load, the structure will gradually deform, periodically (every few years) it is recommended to adjust the position of the struts.

The gate for the well in the country is made from a piece of logs of suitable diameter. Five metal washers are used as fasteners

To make the gate, you will need a piece of log about 1.2 m long and about 20 cm in diameter. Using a pair of compasses or a template, draw a circle of appropriate sizes on the ends of the logs and then cut the gate with a planer or ax so that it is even and smooth. Then in the center of the ends you need to make two holes with a diameter of 22 mm and a depth of about 120 mm. For the landing of the gate to be strong, the diameter of the axis of the gate must be 2 mm larger than the holes, i.e. 24 mm.

After that, you need to put the washers:

• two washers on the goal itself;
• two washers on a rack at which the handle of the gate will be located;
• one washer per rack opposite the handle.

Washers help secure the gate in the correct position. In the center of the log house, a cable or chain is attached to which a bucket is suspended. The area around the log house also makes sense to finish with suitable materials: paving slabs, stone, wooden flooring, etc. The originally designed well will become a real decoration of the country landscape.