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Methods to Dig a Well Have Been

in Existence for Thousands of
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Years
What's New? Hand dug wells and other manual methods to dig a well have been in Select Language
existence for thousands of years. Though mechanized methods are more
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efficient and effective, there are often no options for people and
The Problem communities in need of water.

Sustainability Note: The content on this page has been adapted from publications of
Lifewater International, written by Fred Proby. RELATED PAGES
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Groundwater Manual Methods Used to Dig a Water Well INCREASE YOUR IMPACT!

Bentonite Clay People have been making wells without the use of power equipment for Alleviating
Surface Water thousands of years. Each of the methods described in this section involve Poverty/Advancing
hard work, but most can be carried out using locally-available materials
Hygiene Education and skills.
Prosperity
Hand Pumps An Essential Guide for Helping
the Poor
Pump Suppliers
Hand-Digging.
Water Treatment
Digging a well by hand, using simple tools like a pick and shovel, with a
Biosand Filters bucket on a rope to remove cuttings, is the oldest and probably the most
Ceramic Filters frequently-used method of getting access to groundwater.

Sawyer Filters Advantages:

Sanitation 1 Making hand dug wells requires only
Sanitation 2 common tools and skills, so it can be
done by anyone. In many areas men
Poverty Solutions have specialized in this trade as a
Field Notes business.

Video Library Where labor costs are low, this is

usually the least costly method of CLICK HERE to learn more
Get Involved well construction. In an aquifer with about how YOU can create
Organizations low permeability, a large diameter lasting change!
hand dug wells may produce more
Reading Mat'l water than a borehole in the same
Privacy Policy aquifer.
Introduction to Groundwater
Disadvantages:

Hand digging a well is very

dangerous due to the high potential
for cave-ins and lack of oxygen.
Digging a well is very hard work for
one person. Because it is difficult to
dig very deep, hand-dug wells more
than 30 meters are uncommon. Groundwater Sources

Unless the groundwater seeps in very slowly, it is not possible to dig more
than about a meter below the water table. Digging into rock is extremely
slow.

A hand dug well is very difficult to protect from contamination. There are Locating Groundwater
many ways for surface water to seep in, and the typical bucket on a rope
used to fetch water easily transmits bacteria to the groundwater.

A hand dug well can be protected by sealing the walls, pouring a concrete

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Hand Dug Wells http://www.clean-water-for-laymen.com/hand-dug-wells.html

apron, putting a lid over the top, and installing a hand pump. But these
measures increase the cost of the well.

Sludging.

This ancient drilling method consists of raising and lowering an open pipe
in a water filled hole. During the up stroke, the operator holds his hand Mechanized Well Drilling
over the top of the pipe. Just as the pipe reaches the top of the stroke and
is starting down, the operator uncovers the pipe.

As the pipe is rapidly pushed down, water and cuttings are forced out the
top. The pipe can be as simple as hollowed-out bamboo or joints of PVC
pipe with a sharpened bit at the end. With a suitable drilling pipe, a
borehole can be advanced to at least 70 meters. Beyond about 10 meters,
it is necessary to raise the pipe using a rope and a tripod.

Advantages: Well Site Location

Sludging is much easier and safer

than making a hand dug well. The
materials required are very simple
and can be adapted from whatever
is locally available.

Disadvantages:

Sludging is very tiring and requires Proper Well Construction

a crew of people taking turns. It can
only drill in soft materials such as
silt and sand. Hard clay can be
slowly penetrated but rock can't be
drilled. Large gravel can't be lifted
out of the borehole. The borehole
diameter is typically only slightly
larger than the diameter of the well
casing, so it is hard to install an adequate sanitary seal to prevent Pump Pad Construction
contamination from surface water.

Manual Percussion Drilling.

This form of drilling is said to have been used by the Chinese more than
4,000 years ago. It is still commonly practiced around the world today. It
consists of repeatedly dropping a heavy drill bit connected to a rope or
Basics of Mixing Concrete
cable in a hole partially filled with water.

The bit loosens the soil, or chips off

pieces of rock. Once enough cuttings
have collected in the hole, the bit is
pulled out and a bailer is lowered to
collect the cuttings. The bailer is a
pipe with a one-way valve or flap at
the bottom that lets cuttings into
the pipe but not out. When brought Well Disinfection
to the surface, the bailer is tipped
up to empty the cuttings.

There are many different ways to

raise and lower the drill bit and
bailer, such as pulling on a rope or
using a flexible pole called a "spring
pole"

By adding a sharpened bit and a one-way valve at the bottom of the drill
pipe, manual percussion and sledging techniques can be combined to get
better penetration than sludging and more efficient cuttings removal than
percussion drilling, while being safer than making a hand dug well.

Advantages:

Although manual percussion drilling requires more specialized tools and

more skill than making a hand dug well, it is a method that anyone can
employ and perfect.

It is faster and much safer than making a hand dug well and is capable of
reaching 70 meters or deeper. With a proper bit design, percussion drilling
can also penetrate boulders or solid rock (very slowly).

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Hand Dug Wells http://www.clean-water-for-laymen.com/hand-dug-wells.html

The borehole can be sealed to prevent surface water from entering the
well and with a hand pump installed can provide a good supply of safe
water; another advantage over a hand dug well.

Disadvantages:

Starting the borehole usually requires digging a small-diameter starter

hole more than a meter deep. Lifting the drill bit and bailer is hard, but a
group of people can pull together to share the work.

Drive Point.

Also called a ''sand point'', this method employs a sharpened hard steel
point at the end of a short (less than 1 meter) section of perforated pipe.
A strong steel pipe is screwed onto the drive point and the assembly is
driven into the ground using a heavy sledge hammer.

Advantages:

This is a very simple, one-man

operation that can install a shallow
well in only a few hours.

Disadvantages:

A drive point is only effective in

loose sand where there is a high
water table, such as close to a river
or lake. It is very difficult to drive
more than about 5 meters. It is not
possible to install an adequate
sanitary seal so a well made with
this method is easily contaminated.

Hand Auger.

This manual drilling method uses a

small-diameter open-bottom bucket
with angled teeth at the end to cut
into the soil. The bucket is attached
by a series of steel rods to a
T-shaped handle at the top by which
the bucket is rotated. As the bucket
fills, it is lifted out and emptied.
Additional rods are added as the hole gets deeper. Auguring is normally
used for taking soil samples, but is has been marketed for use in shallow
well construction.

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