How to drill a well for water without equipment

Professional drilling of wells is a very expensive pleasure. Depending on the method of penetration, the cost of services of specialized companies ranges from 15-50 USD. e. for each meter of depth. Note that the task is really not an easy one, and therefore most owners of dachas and estates turn to specialists for its solution. Hence the purpose of this material is to consider options for how you can drill a well on a site with your own hands without the use of expensive equipment. We will describe the available methods so that you can evaluate the complexity and amount of work, and then start moving along the chosen path.

How deep is drinking water

This is the main question that the homeowner raises when organizing the water supply of the home. An exact answer to it can only be given by geological exploration of the suburban area, carried out in recent years. To be convinced of this, it is worth studying the layout of aquifers in the thickness of the earth.

As you can see, the water is located on different horizons, between which impermeable rocks lie - dense loam, limestone and clay. To determine the appropriate layer, we propose to slightly decipher the presented scheme:

1. Closest to the surface are waters that enter the ground due to precipitation - the so-called perched water. In some places, it starts from a depth of 0.4-0.8 m and continues up to 20 m. As a rule, this is dirty and poorly filtered water containing harmful impurities.
2. At depths of up to 30 m, there are cleaner groundwater, whose stock is also fed by precipitation. Most home wells break out to this horizon (its upper limit can be at a distance of 5-8 m from the surface). This water must be filtered before drinking.
3. Underground water accumulations located in the sandy layer have undergone good natural filtration and are suitable for drinking water supply. If you want to make a well with your own hands, then you will need to reach this horizon.
4. The purest water is located in limestone voids at a depth of 80-100 m, which is unattainable using artisanal drilling methods. Since artesian water is under pressure, after punching a well, the flow independently rises to ground level, or even splashes out.

Note. The boundaries of the occurrence of perched water and groundwater are indicated very conditionally, their depth may vary depending on the terrain and other factors.

Location of the source of autonomous water supply

When we figured out between which layers a suitable horizon is located, we need to determine the place for the future source of water supply. We will not talk about dubious options like dowsing with a frame or a vine slingshot, but will give a number of simple tips:

• learn all about neighboring wells and wells: their depth, water quality and location;
• retreat as much as possible from the sources of pollution - septic tanks, street toilets and the barnyard;
• note: wells are not drilled on a hill, for this it is better to choose a lowland.

In any case, you need to be patient. It is likely that you will not be able to get drinking water the first time and you will need to make several attempts.

About drilling technologies

Before we talk about the methods of drilling, we list the types of wells:

• to the water;
• on the sand;
• on limestone (artesian).

A shallow well for water is made in order to reach the upper horizons and organize the supply using a pump. This also includes the Abyssinian well from a pipe of small diameter. Accordingly, drilling into sand and into limestone means deepening to the lower layers, as shown in the diagram above.

This is what auger drilling looks like

There are several technologies for punching narrow vertical channels in the earth:

1. With the help of a drill made in the form of an auger. To reach the desired depth, the drill builds up with new sections as it dives.
2. Core drilling. In this case, the main tool is a hollow pipe with a sharp end, where carbide teeth are welded. In the process of deepening, the glass is filled with rock, which is periodically cleaned out.
3. Hydraulic method (direct or reverse flushing). The bottom line is that the drill is lowered into the channel along with the casing, and the soil from the working area is constantly washed out by the pressure of the water supplied by the drainage pump.
4. The shock-rope method involves driving the same glass and periodically excavating the soil to the surface. It uses the impact force from the free fall of the tool placed inside the casing. Typically, the operator manually raises the glass, tied to the coil with a cable, and then releases it into free flight to the bottom of the well.

Reference. For the passage of loose layers or intermediate water carriers, when the auger or glass enters the slurry, a special device is used - a bailer or a drill-spoon. This is a piece of pipe with a check valve in the form of a petal or a ball, filled with liquid rock with each dive. Then the bailer is lifted and cleaned.

The design of a homemade bailer

In addition to the above methods, water well drilling is carried out using the Abyssinian well technology. In short, a pipe with a diameter of 32 mm with a cone at the end is immersed to the level of groundwater, which is subsequently pumped out of the well by a surface pump.

In order to drill at the well site with your own hands and not use specialized equipment, you can implement only 2 technologies: shock-rope and Abyssinian well. We will tell about them further.

How to punch punch

This is the most inexpensive technology, but rather laborious. For work you will need the following devices:

• a tripod made of rolled metal with a hook and a block on top;
• winch with a cable, equipped with a handle;
• driving tool - a glass and a bailer;
• welding machine;
• manual drill.

Ground punching cup

Advice. If you have a welding inverter and the skills to work with it, you can weld these simple devices in your garage. But the manufacture of home-made devices is justified when you need to break through not one well, but 10 or 20. It’s easier to rent a tripod with a coil.

Before drilling the soil to the required depth, prepare casing pipes. Their diameter should be such that the working tool passes freely inside, but with a minimum clearance, and the length should correspond to the height of the tripod. One condition: impact technology is not applicable on rocks or in soils with stone inclusions. To penetrate such horizons, you will need a carbide-tipped drill.

Independent drilling of a well for water is carried out in the following order:

1. From the first section of the casing, make a filter by drilling Ø8-10 mm holes in a checkerboard pattern with a step of 7-8 cm on a pipe section 1 meter long. From above, close the holes with a stainless steel mesh fixed with rivets.
2. Make a leader hole with a hand drill to a depth of 0.5-1 m. Here it is important to correctly set the tool at an angle of 90 ° to the surface so that the channel is strictly vertical.
3. Insert the first section of casing into the hole, correct the vertical and insert the impact tool inside.
4. Leaving a helper to maintain the casing, raise and lower the glass using the spool. When filling, take it out and clean out the rock. As the soil is removed, the pipe will take its place and gradually sink into the ground. To speed up the process, attach a couple of heavy weights to it.
5. When the edge of the first section drops to the ground, weld the second section to it, strictly controlling the vertical level. Continue in the same way until you reach the water layer.

Welding the next section in level

An important point. Passing the top water, you will surely come across the slurry that falls out of the iron glass. A mixture of clay and water must be selected from the well using the bailer method, installing it instead of a conventional tool.

When the end of the pipe drops 40-50 cm below the groundwater level, stop punching the channel and proceed to “rocking” the source. To do this, lower the pipe connected to the surface pump to the bottom of the HDPE and pour 2-3 buckets of water into the shaft. Then turn on the unit and let it run for 2 hours, controlling the cleanliness and water pressure. The last step is to equip the well and connect it to the water supply at home, as described in. For more details on the drilling process, see the video:

Abyssinian well

Unlike traditional underground channels, the Abyssinian well has a small diameter (no more than 50 mm) and water is pumped out of it by a surface pump, not a submersible one. It is believed that due to the rarefaction created, such a well does not silt, and over time, its debit only grows due to the forced washing out of soil capillaries. In fact, such assertions have no serious grounds.

Before making an Abyssinian well, prepare the required number of casing pipes with a length of 2-2.5 m. Since penetration below 15 m is not expected, it is enough to have 6-7 ready-made segments Ø50 mm on hand, plus the first section with a steel cone at the end - a needle. She will play the role of a drilling tool.

Finished Needle with Mesh

The technology looks like this:

1. Make the first section of the casing - the so-called needle. Weld a metal cone to its end, and make holes on the sides and place the mesh, as described in the previous section.
2. Dig a small leader hole, insert a needle into it and start driving, keeping to the vertical. To do this, you can use the same tripod with a suspended weight or another device.
3. As you sink, weld in new sections and continue to drive in the casing. When approaching the estimated depth, check the appearance of water with a weight on a string.
4. After passing the aquifer, lower the polymer pipeline connected to the hand column into the well. Fill it with water and pump the source for 30-60 minutes until clear water comes out. Then proceed to the installation of an autonomous water supply.

Abyssinian well device

Advice. When you start ordering the manufacture of a steel cone, keep in mind that its "skirt" should be 3-5 mm wider than the casing pipe, so that when driving, the mesh does not peel off the walls of the shaft. To facilitate labor, make the end of the needle as sharp as possible.

The Abyssinian well has one significant drawback: before drilling it, you need to know for sure that there is groundwater in this place. Otherwise, you run the risk of burying all the pipes in the ground, since it is not always possible to extract them back. The advantages of the source are simplicity in execution and minimal consumption of materials. If you wish, you can punch such a well right in the house, as a team of workers demonstrates in the video:

Conclusion

The impact drilling method is really suitable in a situation where you need to make a well in the country on your own. Yes, and the Abyssinian well is arranged according to the same technology. To use other methods - auger, core and hydraulic - you need special equipment - a drilling rig, a drainage pump, and so on. But it is impossible to completely abandon these options, despite the high prices, because the composition of the soil and the depth of the water carriers can be different. You can’t break through the rock manually and you won’t go to the horizon over 50 m.