Advice for Hand Dug Water Wells as a source of drinking water
Is water from a dug well safe to drink? How should it be sanitized?
Types of wells and water supply systems and what to watch out for with each
Well pump & water tank diagnosis & repair procedures
Sources for repair parts & installation instructions for hand pumps on shallow wells and dug wells
Questions & Answers about hand dug water wells and well collapses
This article offers advice for Hand Dug Water Wells and the sanitation and maintenance concerns with this water supply type. We provide advice about what to do when things go wrong.
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Readers should see Hand Dug Well Procedure where we present a case study of the process of digging a well and assuring that its water supply is sanitary. Readers of this document should also see
Water Tank Types and before assuming that a water problem is due to the
well itself, see
Water pump and pressure tank repair diagnosis & cost an specific case which offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost.
The world wide popularity of hand dug wells is accounted for by the ease of construction without specialized equipment, the simplicity of water raising equipment (a bucket on a rope has worked for thousands of years), and the ability of the dug well to hold a large volume of water in storage for times of peak demand.
Hand Dug Wells are usually quite shallow (it's dangerous to dig a deep hole by hand without special reinforcement as the well could collapse in on the excavator) - typically less than 25 feet deep.
Dug wells are usually constructed during dry weather when the water level is at its lowest, both for safety (less likely wet soils cause well collapse) and to determine the necessary depth of the dug well to obtain adequate water supply.
You might see an antique hand water pump shown at the top of this page, or even a rope and bucket for removing water from the well. But don't assume this is the only way that water is being delivered from the well. Often we find a hand dug well whose water is delivered to the building by a One Line Jet Pump.
As we show in this sketch at left, courtesy of Carson Dunlop, Usually a hand dug well is less than 20 feet deep.
Dug wells
have the same sanitation difficulties as springs and cisterns: they are easily contaminated by surface runoff and in some cases may have limited ability to deliver water at modern
quantity and flow rates.
Hand dug wells range in depth from a few feet to as much as three meters and are used worldwide.
Often the dug-well was lined with dry-laid stone.
Dug or excavated wells are the picturesque wells we see on postcards, with an above-ground wall and a bucket lowered by rope into the well.
But dug
wells continue into modern use, often with the installation of either an in-building jet pump draw water from the well into the building. We weren't sure what the little cover in our
photo above was hiding - a dug well, a cistern, or a modern well casing extending above ground.
Sources for repair parts and installation instructions for hand pumps on dug wells and shallow wells are provided at our reviewers list below.
Safety warnings for dug-wells
The hazards of hand dug wells include poor sanitation (ground water and surface runoff easily enter the drinking water supply), and cave-ins during construction or injuries to tools dropped into the well during construction. We are particularly concerned about the safety hazards to children when a dug well does not have a child proof wall and/or cover.
Provide an above-ground wall around the well to prevent children and animals from falling into the well - a drowning hazard.
Provide a safety screen over the above-ground wall to prevent children from falling in to the well
Provide a child-safe heavy, secure cover at ground level for dug wells with no above-ground wall or for any below-ground well pit. At a Connecticut home in the U.S. our clients, whose family included small children, was worried about lead paint hazards as their foremost concern. We arrived early and had already made a note of a rotting and unsafe cover over a hand-dug well.
The client arrived. Her seven-year-old son leapt from the family station wagon and made a beeline for the old hand pump atop the well. As he began jumping up and down, pumping the lever, we ran to him and scooped him off of the well top just before the entire rotting cover fell into the dug well. Our view was that this was an immediate and severe safety hazard next to which the lead paint problem was less pressing.
Direct surface runoff away from the well and test the water frequently for potability and for other surface-borne water contaminants.
Beware of hand dug well collapse hazards - do not enter a hand dug well unless you are properly trained and do not work there alone.
Sanitation Advice for Hand Dug Wells - Dug Well Contamination
OPINION: While 100 years ago or more surface water found in dug wells and springs was often of high quality and potable - at least in some areas of the world.
But today it is very difficult to find sanitary drinking water where surface runoff and shallow subsurface water enter the water supply such as that provided by a dug well. This is also true for other types shallow wells such as Driven Point Wells, and even drilled wells protected by a well casing in some cases.
Shocking a hand dug well (WELL CHLORINATION & SHOCKING) to "fix" a bacteria problem in its drinking water is probably pointless.
It is almost impossible to keep a dug well sanitary - the dug well is completely open to both surface runoff and ground water runoff.
You can shock the dug well, but if you are not going to drill a modern sanitary well (costly), in order to assure safe potable drinking water you will probably need to install water treatment equipment to sanitize the water - after testing to see what contaminants besides bacteria (Interpreting the Level of Bacteria) are present.
Questions & Answers about hand dug water wells and well collapses
Question: Our Old Water Well is Collapsing - What Should We Do?
Do you know of a geotechnical engineer near Screven County Georgia that can assist me in determining what to do with my situation? From what I have been told in the past, there was an old well in my front yard; Very old.
In about 1970 my father walked past it, heard rushing water and the dirt that had been used to "fill it in" fell out the bottom. You could see down about 20-30 feet in the earth. So my father filled in this well with a brick chimney and for years it was fine.
In the last 6 months, the earth has begun to fall again in that area. We added some more soil. That soil is falling lower and lower.
I don't know who to contact in this area that has any expertise in this area.
Do you know who to contact?
- D.L., Georgia
Reply: Put Immediate Safety First where a Collapsing Well is Found
A competent onsite inspection by an expert usually finds additional clues that help accurately diagnose a problem around the well or at your site, including possible subsidence due to a sink hole or other similarly dangerous events.
If there are sinkhole or soil collapse risks the hazards are greater than just a problem with the well or with local groundwater contamination.
It wasn't clear if you are asking about a drilled well or a hand dug well.
Watch out: First: rope off or cover or otherwise prevent anyone from walking anywhere close to the present collapsing well. The safety hazards of soil collapse around a dug well are still more worrisome and dangerous as they could result in someone falling into the opening - risking a fatality.
That said, you will want to
Check with your local building department or cooperative extension to ask about soil formations, subsidences, and well collapses in your neighborhood
If there is any indication that such problems are found in your area, just as you suggested, you will want to consult with a geotechnical engineer is the most competent way to assess your site and well.
Although we cannot make an individual recommendation, your county or state officials or even local engineering firms should be able to recommend a qualified person who is closest to your home.
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"Comparison of large and small diameter wells", Natural Resources Management & Environment Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Corporate Document Repository - Self-Help Wells - see http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5567E/x5567e04.htm
Hand pumps for wells, product sources:
Dempster Industries is a contemporary manufacturer of hand pumps for shallow wells or hand dug wells. At http://www.dempsterinc.com/html/Handpump.html you can find Dempster Industries who can tell you exactly how to repair mechanical problems with your well pump. Here is the Dempster installation manual for a typical hand pump used on shallow wells or dug wells: http://www.dempsterinc.com/PDF%20FIles/Typical%20Hand%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
Water Supply & Drain Piping, Wells, Pumps, Water Supply Equipment
Access Water Energy, PO Box 2061, Moorabbin, VIC 3189, Australia, Tel: 1300 797 758, email: sales@accesswater.com.au Moorabbin Office: Kingston Trade Centre, 100 Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin, VIC 3189
Australian supplier of: Greywater systems, Solar power to grid packages, Edwards solar systems, Vulcan compact solar systems, water & solar system pumps & controls, and a wide rage of above ground & under ground water storage tanks: concrete, steel, plastic, modular, and bladder storage tanks.
Cheating on water tests: Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - make sure your water test is valid
Smart Tank, Installation Instructions, Flexcon Industries, 300 Pond St., Randolph MA 02368, www.flexconind.com, Tel: 800-527-0030 - web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.flexconind.com/pdf/st_install.pdf
Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation, Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation, Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
Water Fact Sheet #3, Using Low-Yielding Wells, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension, School of Forest Resources, web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/XH0002.pdf
Water pressure tanks - how to diagnose the need for air, how to add air, stop water pump short cycling to avoid damage - water storage water pressure tank safety.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop, and from the InspectAPedia bookstore. The 2010 edition of the Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
Crystal Clear Supply provides portable ceramic water filter purifiers and portable reverse osmosis water treatment equipment - see http://www.crystalclearsupply.com/category_s/7.htm
Handbook of Disinfectants and Antiseptics, Joseph M. Ascenzi (Editor), CRC, 1995, ISBN-10: 0824795245 ISBN-13: 978-0824795245 "The evaluation of chemical germicides predates the golden age of microbiology..." -
This well-focused, up-to-date reference details the current medical uses of antiseptics and disinfectants -- particularly in the control of hospital-acquired infections -- presenting methods for evaluating products to obtain regulatory approval and examining chemical, physical, and microbiological properties as well as the toxicology of the most widely used commercial chemicals.
Potable Aqua® emergency drinking water germicidal tablets are produced by the Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., Jackson WI 53037. 800-558-6614 pharmacalway.com
Principles and Practice of Disinfection, Preservation and Sterilization (Hardcover)
by A. D. Russell (Editor), W. B. Hugo (Editor), G. A. J. Ayliffe (Editor), Blackwell Science, 2004. ISBN-10: 1405101997, ISBN-13: 978-1405101998.
"This superb book is the best of its kind available and one that will undoubtedly be useful, if not essential, to workers in a variety of industries. Thirty-one distinguished specialists deal comprehensively with the subject matter indicated by the title ... The book is produced with care, is very readable with useful selected references at the end of each chapter and an excellent index. It is an essential source book for everyone interested in this field. For pharmacy undergraduates, it will complement the excellent text on pharmaceutical microbiology by two of the present editors."
The Pharmaceutical Journal: "This is an excellent book. It deals comprehensively and authoritatively with its subject with contributions from 31 distinguished specialists. There is a great deal to interest all those involved in hospital infection ... This book is exceptionally well laid out. There are well chosen references for each chapter and an excellent index. It is highly recommended." The Journal of Hospital Infection.: "The editors and authors must be congratulated for this excellent treatise on nonantibiotic antimicrobial measures in hospitals and industry ... The publication is highly recommended to hospital and research personnel, especially to clinical microbiologists, infection-control and environmental-safety specialists, pharmacists, and dieticians."
New England Journal of Medicine: City Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Covers the many methods of the elimination or prevention of microbial growth. Provides an historical overview, descriptions of the types of antimicrobial agents, factors affecting efficacy, evaluation methods, and types of resistance. Features sterilization methods, and more. Previous edition: c1999. DNLM: Sterilization--methods.
U.S. Army Field Manual 21-10, Field Hygiene and Sanitation, 1988, web search 07/02/2010, original source: http://www.enlisted.info/field-manuals/fm-21-10-field-hygiene-and-sanitation.shtml The purpose of this manual is to assist individual soldiers, unit commanders, leaders and field sanitation teams in preventing disease and environmental injuries. The manual provides information on preventive medicine measures (PMM) to the individual soldier as well as essential information for the unit commander, unit leaders, and the unit field sanitation team on applying unit level PMM.
When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein's website is www.whentechfails.com/
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