Water wells are an important water source, especially in areas which experience a serious dry season and don't have other sources of water.
The ground may act as a filter, providing high quality groundwater. In other cases, the water may be polluted by industrial waste, or contaminated due to poor placement relative to a septic tank, or brackish due to saltwater incursion.
Any form of latrine or septic tank should be placed at a safe distance, to minimize contamination of the water supply. In theory this will depend on the local conditions - soil, fissures in rock, depth of the well. In practice, a distance of 10 m is often used as a safe rule of thumb.
A form of well is also used to collect rainwater - this must be surrounded by a collection area which funnels water into the well. This performs groundwater recharge, and the same well may be used to collect water.
The digging of water wells is a science on itself. Parameters to determine correct placement include looking at the landscape, humidity of the soil, geology, and the trees growing in the area.
Page data| Authors |
Chris Watkins, KVDP |
|---|
| License |
CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
|---|
| Language |
English (en) |
|---|
| What links here |
Appropriate technology, Water pumps, Rope pumps, Treadle pumps, Village-level operation and maintenance, How to build a hand powered pump |
|---|
| Aliases |
Water well |
|---|
| Impact |
612 |
|---|
| Suggestions |
Add a main image |
|---|
| Created |
October 18, 2011 by Chris Watkins |
|---|
| Modified |
June 9, 2023 by StandardWikitext bot |
|---|
| Cite as |
Chris Watkins, KVDP (2011–2023). "Water wells". Appropedia. Retrieved September 20, 2023. |
|---|
| API queries |
basic,
properties, semantic, html, files, more |
|---|
I removed a section, including two links, which weren't directly useful:
More info can probably be attained with Pat Forage International (in particular through Gérard Roso)[1][2]
I had to search for Pat Forage - it's a drilling company, but I couldn't find anything useful.
For the final link, the server was down, so I went to archive.org: here, then translated to English.
--Chriswaterguy 15:37, 21 June 2013 (PDT)
- In regards to PAT Forage International and the fact on whether or not they should be mentioned in the article:
- I actually learned about them through the documentary by Yann Arthus Bertrand entitled "La soif du Monde (A thirsty world)". In this docu, it was mentioned that Gerard Roso dug his water wells by looking at the landscape/trees, and also used techniques from the oil drilling industry. As we don't have info on this, I think it's useful to contact him and perhaps get some manuals, ...
BTW: the interview of Gerard can be seen at the trailer at http://web.archive.org/web/20181124155744/http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org:80/fr/films-tv/la-soif-du-monde (I think the interview starts at 4 mins runtime or so)
KVDP 08:41, 22 June 2013 (PDT)
- Thanks - that makes sense.
- The concerns I mentioned above remain relevant - it's like in Wikipedia, the standard is veriability (which can be assessed by fellow editors). It should be verifiable without having to spend a lot of time researching and finding extra links. Providing that context is the job of the person adding the links or info in the first place. That's much more efficient and fair. --Chriswaterguy 19:09, 22 June 2013 (PDT)
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.
