This method has been tested in practice. Hundreds of wells have been drilled using this method. All are still working today. Some were driven to a depth of more than 20 meters, into artesian layers of water.

You can drill a water well on your property, despite the seeming enormity of this process, on your own, i.e. manually. To do this, you will need a metal auger, the so-called coil, for which a fishing ice ax is quite suitable. This method of drilling a water well is the cheapest possible.

Necessary tools and materials for drilling a water well:

The main tool that will be used is an auger with extension arms; in the absence of a special one, you can safely use a fishing drill. For better process efficiency, it is recommended to weld reinforced cutters onto the cutting edges of the drill. For this purpose, you can use a couple of files, which can be sharpened with an ordinary grinder. And of course the pipes for the elbows, the diameter of which is 25 mm.

You will also need a shovel, a cart for removing the selected soil, a pump and a hose for “swinging” the well, a barrel or a high table on which you will need to stand and sift out the gravel.

Preparing the pipe for lowering into the well

Before lowering pipes into a well, they must be properly prepared. This is an important point, because the drilled section tightens very quickly and the pipes must be lowered immediately after removing the drill. Pipes can be purchased at specialized construction stores; thick-walled polyethylene pipes are best suited.

Preparation of the pipe consists of drilling perforating holes, approximately at a distance of 0.5-1.0 meters from the bottom end and over a distance of 1.5-2 meters. It is enough to make the holes with a 6 mm drill; if you make them wider, you will need a filter mesh.

Then guide bars are prepared, which are attached to the surface of the pipe. The bars are necessary to center the pipe in the well and provide equal clearance in order to evenly distribute the filter gravel screenings.

Technology for drilling a well manually using an auger

The place where the well will be installed must first be leveled. To begin with, a guide recess for the drill is dug to a depth of 2 shovel bayonets. Having assembled the tool, you can proceed directly to the drilling process itself.

At the initial stage, one person can easily rotate the drill, but as you get deeper, additional help will be needed. The deeper the drill goes, the harder it will be to rotate it, so you can use water to soften the soil. Making two or three full turns, the drill is pulled out and freed from the soil, dumping it into the cart. The sludge is poured away from the work site so that it does not create additional interference.

Thus, they drill until the tool handle drops to the ground. After this, the drill is extended with an additional elbow.

After the handle has been lengthened, naturally the size of the tool no longer allows working with it while standing on the ground. Just for this case, you need a metal barrel or other pedestal, standing on which you can rotate the drill by the handle. Or they use gas pipe wrenches for the handle.

Increasing the bends, drilling continues until entering the aquifer. This moment will be very clearly visible from the condition of the soil being removed. At this phase, it is possible for the tool to be tightened, so you should remove the cuttings in small portions, otherwise it will not be possible to pull out the drill manually. If, nevertheless, the drill is “sucked in”, so that it can no longer be pulled out by hand, you will have to resort to an Archimedean lever, using two logs and a barrel for this, or buy a lever chain winch.

To prevent high water from entering the well, its depth must be greater than the first clay layer. Before lowering the pipe, it is necessary to raise and lower the drilling tool several times, like a piston. This will remove possible obstacles in the way of the pipe and make its descent much easier. After the pipe is completely lowered, the gap should be filled with gravel screenings - this is usually a sand-gravel mixture screened from sand. Without sand, as sand can penetrate inside the well.

How to pump a well

In order to quickly pump the well, it is better to use a powerful centrifugal pump. Such a pump is capable of handling very dense media. Although you can get by with a regular household pump. In order for the vibration pump to work more efficiently, you should periodically lift it and shake the water with the assembled knees to lift heavy particles from the bottom, and then continue pumping water again with a pump with a lower water intake, otherwise the pump with an upper water intake will contribute to silting of the well.

When the well is rocked, the filter gravel screenings will shrink, so it should be added periodically.

The process of rocking the well is quite time-consuming, so you should worry about the drainage channels or try to reach the drainage ditch with a hose.

Once the well is fully pumped, it should be equipped with a pump for everyday use.

Advantages and disadvantages of manual water well drilling

The advantage of manual drilling of wells, in addition to the low cost already mentioned above, is the fact that there is no need to bring bulky special equipment to the site, therefore, your green spaces or landscape design will not be damaged.

Having a relatively shallow depth, such wells are pumped much faster and are less susceptible to tightening.

If there is no electricity, water can be obtained using a hand suction pump.

The main disadvantage of manual drilling is the limited depth. Disadvantages include criticality to soil density and a shortage of specialists ready to undertake repairs if necessary, although this has a lower probability of occurrence than with deep machine wells.

Video on how to drill a well manually with your own hands:

Drilling a water well yourself is difficult, but exciting. And it is quite feasible if you study the issue, then act according to a well-designed plan, follow existing rules and pay attention to the advice of specialists.

Today, such a well is the most affordable possible method of independent water supply. And if you take into account the current cost of drinking water, the costs of drilling it yourself, developing it and equipment will pay off quite quickly - in about a year.

In such a matter as drilling water wells, there are no standard instructions. This is not an easy matter, requiring a comprehensive and necessarily individual approach. Experienced drillers know this for sure. And to help beginners, you can give a number of recommendations and advice from professionals. Then, even on the first try, you will be able to get “your” water of good quality and in the required quantity.

Where to drill?

How aquifers form in nature can be seen in the following diagram:

High waters, lying to a depth of 10 m, form predominantly atmospheric precipitation. Such water can be used for drinking after purification (filtration through shungite, boiling), and for technical purposes, perched water is taken directly from the well. As for the flow rate of the well under it, it is too small, and even unstable.

For drinking water, it is best to drill a well into interstratal waters on your own (they are indicated by red arrows in the diagram). Of course, the highest quality water is artesian, but it is almost impossible to get to it on your own, even if you know for sure where to drill. And in addition, individual development and extraction of such a valuable natural resource is prohibited by law, including criminal liability.

On your own, you can only drill a well into a non-pressure formation - that is, into sand saturated with water and lying on a clay bed. Hence, another common name for such wells is “sand” wells, although the aquifer in them can consist of pebbles, gravel, and some other substance. Their debit is small (if there are 2,000 “cubes” per day, then this is very good) and can fluctuate.

The depth of free-flow water is 5-20 m from the surface of the earth. And such water can already be drunk, however, after the well has been pumped up and the quality of the produced liquid has been properly checked by the regulatory authorities.

note! The design of any well into a free-flow formation is quite complex, since it requires filtering out sand during production. The lack of pressure also adds complexity - in connection with this, a number of requirements arise for the pump and the water supply system as a whole.

Pressure strata are lower than unconfined strata. The depth range of their occurrence in the ground is from 7 to 50 m. Such layers are dense rocks: fractured, water-resistant (loam, limestone) or gravel-pebble deposits. The highest quality water can be obtained from limestone. And wells (they are also called “limestone wells”) drilled into this rock last quite a long time. Their flow rate, like that of many other pressure wells, is up to 5 cubic meters of water per day. These structures are also distinguished by high levels of stability. Water is lifted almost to the surface of the earth by its own pressure, so any pressure wells, as well as the corresponding water supply systems, are much easier to equip.

Important circumstances

When planning to drill a well for water, you should remember:

1. In places where water is withdrawn en masse and uncontrollably from unconfined strata, soil suffusion becomes possible, which, in turn, leads to unpredictably sudden ground failures.
2. On the Russian plain, the critical depth for self-drilling is 20 m, and if you need it deeper, you should order a well from professionals, since the cost of a self-drill is no longer justified.
3. The service life of a self-made well depends on the regularity of water intake from it. So, if a well is made “for sand”, and water is taken from it regularly and little by little, it will last up to 15 years, “for limestone” under the same conditions - up to 50 years. When a well is used occasionally, and even periodically pumped to the bottom, the service life of the structure is reduced to 3-7 operational years. But repairing a well or restarting it is so expensive that it is easier and cheaper to drill a new one. Therefore, if you encounter free-flowing water at a depth of 12-15 m, you should not stop drilling. It is better to move on and reach the limestone.

If there are difficulties with funds, time and effort, it is more correct to start with exploratory drilling using a needle well. Such a well will also cope with the role of a temporary source of water supply until auxiliary production resources are found and used.

Well or well?

Work on the design of a well is more difficult and dangerous than the production of a water well. But the well is repairable .

You can draw as much water from a well as the “earth will give”, while the well itself “pulls” water from the earth layers. That is why the service life of wells is limited, and they can change the geology of a particular area for the worse. And a well-designed well is not only exploited for decades, but also for centuries and even millennia, if it is carved into rocky ground. And these structures have absolutely no negative impact on the environment.

It is considered a competent approach to organizing water supply to dig a private water well “with an eye toward” a collective artesian water supply system, which is durable and safe. If there are no such plans, they dig a well. And a major water supply system is being built. The used well is concreted, and the land around it is returned to economic use.

Types of wells

A water well is a long and narrow shaft in the rock. It is into this that the drill or drilling apparatus is lowered on a long rigid rod assembled from pipes or on a cable. A casing is placed in the shaft, which protects its walls from destruction and maintains the pressure of the surrounding rock. Such casing either sits tightly in the trunk, or is formed with an annular space filled with backfill, clay (the so-called “clay castle”) or poured concrete mortar.

As for the lower end of the trunk, it can be plugged, open, or with a stepped narrowing - a bottom. An intake device is made in the face or simply from below.

The upper part of the casing is the head of the well. A set of devices called “well development” is placed in it or around it.

Wells can come in a variety of designs, but the ones most suitable for DIY projects are:

Drilling methods and drilling tools

The following methods are suitable for self-drilling wells:

All of the above methods are so-called “dry drilling” methods. If we talk about hydraulic drilling, you have to work in a layer of water or drilling fluid, which makes the rock more pliable. Hydrodrilling is considered an unecological and costly method, so amateurs use it extremely rarely. In addition, it requires special professional equipment, whereas with any of the dry methods you can get by with:

The cutting edges of all of the above drills are made of hardened steel. You can see the diagrams for making homemade drilling rigs for water wells in the figure:

Diameters vary depending on the caliber of a particular well.

Rocking up a homemade well

A drilled well is not everything. It will not provide water of the required quality in the required quantity. To do this, it is necessary to open the aquifer or “pump” the well. If you open the formation (directly or inversely - it doesn’t matter), water can be obtained within 24 hours, but complex, expensive equipment will be required. And pumping up the well will last several days, but for it it is enough to have the most ordinary household submersible pump (only a centrifugal one, because a vibration pump will not work).

To pump a drilled well, the silt is first removed from it with a bailer, and then water begins to be pumped - completely, as soon as a volume has accumulated to cover the pump involved.

You can do the rocking with the help of a manoeuvre, but then you will have to scoop up water for a long time - 2 weeks, no less.

Important: The pumping of the well can be considered complete when the transparency of the water reaches 70 cm. You can check this in an opaque vessel (for example, in a clean barrel), using a white enamel or earthenware disk, the diameter of which is approximately 15 cm (take, say, a saucer or pan cover). You should look at the submerged disk strictly vertically, and as soon as the liquid begins to spread along its edges, blurring the contours - this is already opacity, you need to stop. As soon as transparency is achieved, you need to take a water sample and submit it to a laboratory for analysis. If the regulatory body confirms the quality of production, the annulus of the well is concreted or sealed with clay, and then a filter is installed.

Filters

The quality of water from any well is largely determined by the presence of a special well filter. And this part is more susceptible to wear than others included in the well structure. This means that your choice should be approached responsibly.

For wells “for limestone”, for example, a simple mesh filter will be sufficient - that is, perforation on the lower casing bend. It can also become the basis of a well filter “for sand” (in combination with gravel backfill). In this case, the requirements for perforation are as follows:

• hole diameter from 15 to 30 mm, depending on the soil;
• duty ratio (the ratio of the total area of ​​the holes to the area they occupy) 0.25-0.30;
• the arrangement of the holes is transverse, in a checkerboard pattern;
• the area (total) of the holes must be no less than the cross-sectional area of ​​the casing pipe (its lumen).

When a pump is placed in a well equipped with an internal filter, the bottom of this well is considered to be its (filter) upper edge. Because of this, the single volume of water intake is significantly reduced. In addition, the filter heavily silts up the well structure, because water seeps into the gap between it and the casing pipe. Both the service life of the filter itself and the pump are reduced, since sand inevitably gets into the latter. Therefore, the pump is often placed in a separate pipe, which is attached to the filter outlet. But for this you need to make a hole with a larger diameter.

If drillers have an expensive and structurally complex centrifugal pump at their disposal, everything is simple - it is connected to the outlet pipe of the filter, and as a result, both silting and sanding stops. But when there is no such equipment, you have to come up with something.

note! Many craftsmen make filter parts themselves using PVC pipes, polymer mesh and springs made of stainless materials. But such designs rarely last long, and they don’t filter water very well.

It’s better to spend money, but choose and buy a truly reliable, well-functioning filter. Moreover, there is plenty to choose from:

Do-it-yourself well construction

In order for water from a well to be supplied to the house, this well must be equipped and coordinated with the water supply system. For this:

• install a steel or concrete caisson;
• equip a stone pit;
• or install a downhole adapter.

The latter is the most modern method of well equipment. And install it like this:

1. When the water flows, they decide how much deeper it can go based on the speed of its clearing. And then the last casing pipe is cut to size from above.
2. They dig a trench towards the house so that it is deeper than the standard indicators for soil freezing.
3. A hole for the adapter is cut out in advance in the pipe and it (the adapter) is installed, plugging the pipes.
4. The pipe is placed and drilled, with the outlet of the adapter oriented into the trench just below the freezing mark of the soil.
5. They rock the well, install a filter and lower the pumping equipment.

Water in a summer cottage or in a private home is a necessary resource that cannot be lived without. However, organizing a public water supply is often impractical. Due to the remoteness of land holdings from each other, centralized water supply is an expensive proposition. It is easier and cheaper to use an individual water source. True, you first need to organize it. Own well will provide its owner with confidence that the economic needs of the site and housing will be met. At the same time, the owners will not have to pay for water supply, counting every cubic meter of water spent. Digging a well is difficult and expensive, but drilling a well yourself is possible if you are familiar with the drilling technology and the type of well construction.

Types of wells and their features

Before drilling, the site area must be examined, determining the level of groundwater. The amount of work that will need to be done to make the well water-bearing will depend on this parameter. The type of well is chosen taking into account the depth of the water-containing formation.

If water is found at a depth of 3-12 m, choose the “” type. At a depth of up to 50 m, a sand well is used, and an artesian well, if the water lies in the ground at least 200 m. Almost every summer resident can do the first two types manually, but an artesian well will require a drilling rig and professional drillers.

Drilling a sand well by hand

This type of source involves pumping water from a depth of up to 50 m. A sand well is called this because it “gives water” from a water-containing sandy layer of soil, the depth of which is usually just fifty meters. This depth does not guarantee the purity of the water, so it is recommended to periodically check the contents of the well at the sanitation station for the presence of organic and chemical compounds.

To organize a sand well, a classic scheme with a pump is used. And to purify water from suspended matter and debris, use a filter installed at depth. The filter needs to be cleaned regularly. The service life of a sand well is about 15 years.

Organization of the “Abyssinian well” well

This is the simplest needle hole to make. It is shallow, so care must be taken to carefully select a place for it.

There should be no septic tanks, garbage heaps, cesspools or sewage pits nearby. Due to the shallow depth, harmful substances can seep into the source, polluting it.

If the ground does not contain pebbles or other hard rocks, drilling a well can be done in the area around the house or directly in the basement of the house. The well in the basement is convenient to use even in cold weather. The home well is equipped with a manual column and a pump so that water can be used regardless of the availability of electricity.

Drilling an artesian well

Provided that there are already wells of this type in neighboring areas, there is a high probability of water occurring in a limestone formation in this area. In other cases, drillers are ordered to test a well to determine the depth of water. An artesian well can provide water to several areas at once. Often drilling is ordered together in order to save money and get the desired result.

The choice of well type depends on the type of soil and the planned amount of water consumed. An Abyssinian well and a sand well will provide a low flow rate. And if the flow rate is from 10 cubic meters per hour, you will need to install an artesian well. It is better to drill any well away from potential pollutants and close to the house so that there are no problems with laying the water supply.

Drilling equipment and tools

When drilling artesian wells, professionals use drilling rigs. For smaller wells, a regular tripod with a winch is suitable. It will lower and raise the drilling tool, consisting of a core pipe, drill rods, a drill column, and a drill.

Special equipment, without which it is problematic to make a well, is a drilling tool that will help you go deeper into the ground (auger), a tripod and a winch. To drill a well with your own hands, you will need a metal auger. An ice screw, which is used for winter fishing, can act as an auger. The main thing is that the drill is made of high-strength steel. This is the cheapest option for drilling a well. In addition to the tripod, you will need pipes of different diameters (water pipes, hoses, casing), valves, caisson, filters, and a pump for the well.

Drilling work: stages

1. First you need to dig a hole or pit, the dimensions of which are 150 by 150 cm. To prevent the recess from crumbling, its walls are lined with plywood, boards, and pieces of chipboard. Another option is to dig a trunk with a diameter of 15-20 cm and a depth of 1 m with an ordinary drill. This is done so that the pipe is more stable in a vertical position.

2. A strong metal or wooden tripod (called a drilling derrick) is placed directly above the recess, securing a winch at the junction of its supports. Towers made of logs are more common. A drill string with one and a half meter (if drilling independently) rods hangs on a tripod. The rods are threaded together into one pipe and secured with a clamp. This design is used for lifting and lowering equipment.

The pump is selected in advance in order to determine the diameter of the future well and core pipe. The pump must pass freely into the pipe. That is why the difference between the diameter of the pump and the internal diameter of the pipe should be at least 5 mm.

Lowering and lifting drilling equipment is the drilling of a well. The rod is rotated while simultaneously hitting it from above with a chisel. It’s much more convenient for two people to do this: the first one turns the gas wrench, and the second one hits the bar from above, breaking through the rock. Using a winch simplifies the process: it makes lifting and lowering equipment into the well much easier. The rod is marked during drilling. Markings will be required for orientation. The markings help determine when it is time to pull out the rod and clean the drill. It is usually recommended to do this approximately every half meter.

3. To make it easier to overcome different layers of soil, special drills are used.

• spiral drill (otherwise, coil) - for clay soils;
• drill bit for loosening hard soils;
• drill spoons for sandy soil;
• The bailer helps lift the soil to the surface.

4. It is easier to go through the sand layer with a spoon drill, adding water while drilling. If the soil is hard, use a chisel. Drill bits come in cross and flat types. In any case, their purpose is to help loosen hard rocks. They overcome quicksand using the shock method.

For clayey soil, you will need a coil, a bailer and a spoon. Coils or spiral drills penetrate clay soils well because they have a design similar to a spiral, and the pitch of the spiral is equal to the diameter of the drill. The size of the lower base of the drill is from 45 to 85 mm, the blade is from 258-290 mm. Pebble layers containing gravel are pierced, alternating with a bailer and a bit, with casing pipes. Sometimes you can't do without pouring water into the hole. This can significantly simplify the task of drilling a well. The option of drilling a well using a pump is also worth considering.

Soil drilling process

5. If the rock brought to the surface has become important, then the aquifer is already close. You need to go a little deeper to cross the aquifer. Drilling will suddenly become noticeably easier, but you cannot stop. You need to find a waterproof layer with a drill.

Well construction and pumping

Once the required depth has been reached, the next stage begins - arrangement. A filter column consisting of a pipe, a settling tank and a filter is lowered into the finished well. You can make it yourself from a filtration mesh, perforation and casing pipe, or use a ready-made, store-bought sand filter for a submersible pump.

To strengthen the pipe, the space behind it is filled with 5-mm crushed stone or coarse sand. The backfill must be above the filter level. The filter is the most important element of any well. The main function of the filter is protection from sand and large impurities. In parallel with backfilling, water is pumped into a pipe with a sealed upper end. This manipulation helps to flush the annulus and filter. After washing, a natural barrier is formed for large impurities. Bailout of a well with a bailer attachment or auger pump means that water is pumped out of a fresh well until the water becomes clean and clear. This stage is called buildup. An electric centrifugal pump is most often used for it. The advantage of this mechanism is that it can pump high-density liquid media. A regular household pump is also acceptable, but it will require more effort and time. If there are problems with the power supply, it is possible to use a hand pump.

After pumping, the pump is lowered to a depth on a safety rope (see picture above). A water pipe or hose with a diameter of 25 or 50 mm is connected to it. The choice of diameter depends on the capabilities of the well - the amount of water that can be pumped out of the well in a certain period of time.

If a metal pipe is used, the pump is not fixed. Instead, a waterproof cable coming from the pump is attached to the pipe.

Well pump. Peculiarities

To select a pump of the correct power, you must take into account such parameters as:

1. well flow rate, indicators of its depth;
2. casing diameter;
3. distance of the well from the house.

The required pump power directly depends on these parameters. For shallow depths (up to 9 m), a self-priming surface pump is suitable; in other cases, a submersible well pump will serve well.

After the pump is immersed, a pipe is brought out into the wellhead, equipped with a caisson, welded to its head. A valve is installed on it, which will open the way for water to the top and regulate the flow. If the water intake rate is excessive, the low-productivity well will quickly dry up, and the pump, running idle, will fail. Pipes are connected to the caisson, which will serve as a water supply to the room. They require waterproofed and insulated trenches. You can read about how to choose a pump for a well, and about how to choose a pump for a well.

Well operation

Wells of all types need timely cleaning. Signs that an aquifer well requires service may include: jerks in the water outlet, the presence of air pockets or impurities (silt, sand) in the flow. If you miss the moment of maintenance, the productivity of the well may no longer be restored. To restore normal functions, the well is purged with a water or air compressor. More radical cleaning methods include acid or electricity. However, these methods are risky and are best left to specialists.

Tips for those who make a well themselves

Before starting work, it would be a good idea to ask your neighbors what the water level is in your area. If there are wells nearby, take a look there.

A water level above 5 m is good news, because the only tools needed for drilling are a garden auger.

A small-sized drilling rig or mechanical drilling device - “handbrake”, can be rented. This way you will have the opportunity to use convenient equipment and not pay a lot of money for it.

You cannot lower the water pipe into the well all the way to the bottom. It should not reach the deepest point by about half a meter. This way the water will go up better.

The pipe leading into the well must have ventilation holes on the surface, otherwise, without air access, the water will quickly become musty. It is convenient to equip the pipe with a hinged cover so that there is constant access to the well.

The most convenient way to equip a well is a solid plastic pipe.

After the well is operational, be sure to submit your water for examination. Water is recognized as drinking water if its transparency is at least 30 cm, the nitrate content is no more than 10 mg/l, there are less than 10 E. coli in 1 liter, and the maximum rating of smell and taste is 3 points.

Disadvantages and advantages of manual well drilling

Advantages: low cost; no need for bulky special equipment to enter the site; due to the relatively shallow depth, homemade wells are pumped faster and take less time to tighten; If there is no electricity, water can be obtained using a hand suction pump.

The main disadvantage of self-drilling is the limited depth and lack of specialists who can help maintain a homemade well. Thus, after reading this article, we hope that you will not have any questions about how to drill a well with your own hands.