The Abyssinian or Assyrian well is distinguished by its simplicity of design. It will easily provide a small house with clean water. A sealed pipe is used to lift the liquid, thereby minimizing the risk of sewage and microorganisms entering. There is no excessive mineralization as the depth of the mine is not too deep. It is not difficult to create such a well with your own hands.
Features of operation
If the filter element is clogged, the pipe can be blown out with water. If there is no result, you can try changing the filter part of the tip.
The Abyssinian well will serve well and for a long time if you use it regularly. If seasonal use is expected, the installation must be mothballed for the winter. Empty it to avoid freezing and cover the pressure head with a waterproof material against snow and melt water. In the spring, it is necessary to perform pumping, in the same way as before the initial start-up of the water intake structure.
Advantages and disadvantages
- simplicity of design, which contributes to the construction of a well in a short time;
- the ability to supply water to a nearby building;
- small dimensions of the installation, which allow you to hide it from prying eyes in the basement or other utility room;
- economy in the cost of installation and maintenance of the structure.
The advantages include high efficiency: the device is capable of pumping liquid in unlimited volumes. But this indicator depends on the size of the aquifer and the capacity of the pumping equipment used. The larger the water vein and the more powerful the unit, the greater the performance will be. The service life with proper operation reaches half a century.
The downside is that the creation of a well is possible only in an area where the depth of the aquifer does not exceed ten meters. Otherwise, the installed pump will not cope with the rise of water to the surface.
The filter must be checked regularly to ensure that it does not become silted, otherwise the water intake will be ineffective.
User reviews of the Abyssinian water well are mostly positive. The owners of the installations note the possibility of independently creating a well in a short time, low equipment costs and the impossibility of groundwater penetration into the well. Negative reviews, which are associated with a small flow rate of water or a high rate of siltation, are usually left by those who made mistakes in the construction of a water intake structure.
Choosing a suitable site
To equip a well, first of all, it is necessary to determine the location of its installation. This takes into account the following points:
- The depth at which the water layers occur. Only the first layer will be used, the location of which is no more than ten meters from the surface of the earth. You can find out the depth of aquifers by measuring the distance from the ground to the water surface in a neighbor's well. It should not exceed 7 meters.
- Useful properties of water.The site should be located as far as possible from sewer wells or cesspools, as well as farmland. The minimum distance is 10 meters. Water intake is carried out from the upper layers, into which most of all chemical and bacterial waste gets. In order not to pump out contaminated water, you need to take samples and analyze them in laboratory conditions.
- The volume of water in the passing layer. The indicator can only be determined by research carried out by specialized organizations.
You cannot drill a well on the slopes of ravines, steep hills and cliffs. The type of soil should also be taken into account. It is good if the composition is dominated by sand and clay. It is almost impossible to install a structure in hard rocky ground.
Drilling technology
There are three ways to equip a driven well:
- Punching the ground with a barbell. In this embodiment, a small diameter rod is used, which is made of a high-strength metal alloy. This rod is used to apply strong blows to the shank of the filter element until it reaches the first water layer.
- The use of "grandma". By design and principle of operation, this option is similar to the first method. But instead of a percussion instrument, a weight with a hole is used. When clogging, you need to constantly add water to the pipe.
- Auger drilling. A modified manual drill is used for it. This is the most convenient, safe and efficient way to create a well. But the height of the hand drill does not even allow reaching the horizon of the top water, therefore, after deepening by 1.5 m, the rod is extended by the next section.
When performing work, you must observe the maximum accuracy, since if the tip stumbles upon a stone during drilling, the entire structure will collapse.
You cannot simplify your task by using a power tool. The reason for this is the large mass of the lowered column of pipes. The hammer drill and bump stop will simply bounce off the structure.
Well creation stages
To build a well device, you will need a piece of stainless steel pipe with a spear-shaped tip - a "needle", polypropylene elements for creating an external water supply, a filter mesh, a hand pump or pumping equipment installed on the surface with an electric motor. Of the tools, a drilling and hammering device is required, its type depends on the selected type of installation.
A needle tip can be purchased already complete with a filter at a price of 2400 rubles or you can make a filtration device yourself. For this purpose, you need an inch pipe slightly longer than a meter. A tapered tip is welded to it. On the walls of the pipe section, cuts are made with a length of about 2.5 cm, in increments of no more than 2 cm.
The prepared filter is tied with a thin wire and a metal mesh is attached by soldering. Subsequently, it is built up with pipe sections.
If you are worried that you will not find the right elements, you can purchase a complete well kit with a filter needle, couplings, pipes and a downhole. The price tag starts at 4,700 rubles.
The creation of a water intake structure is carried out in four stages:
- Cleansing the soil surface from vegetation. To do this, you need to remove the top layer of soil with a shovel.
- Digging a hole 30 cm deep and 50–70 cm wide.
- Installation of the first pointed pipe.
- Immersing it in the ground by means of a barbell, "headstock" or a sledgehammer. As the pipe deepens, it builds up.
When the meter level of liquid in the pipe is reached, the work stops. When using a drill, a hole is first drilled in the ground, then a pipe with a pointed end is inserted and driven into the ground half a meter.
A manual pneumatic pump-column is connected to the upper end of the pipe section, or pumping equipment with a non-return valve is connected. At the end, the well is pumped through until clean water arrives.
To make the pipe easy to enter the ground, take breaks every hour, during which you feed the hole with water. Under the influence of liquid, the earth softens, the drilling process is faster and easier.
Those who cannot or do not want to engage in earthworks on their own can turn to specialists. Prices for professional drilling of Abyssinian wells start at 15,000 rubles.
To prevent groundwater from entering the well, it is necessary to equip the surface part of the pipe outlet. The area around is poured with concrete to a height of 8-10 cm above the soil level. You can place a reinforced concrete ring in the ground, install equipment in it and cover the well with a lid.
The Abyssinian well is perfect for a small private house or summer cottage. The cost of its installation is much less than that of other water intake structures, and the performance is no worse.
