Hand dug wells

[Wolfsaber]

Was wondering how many people on here have done a hand dug well? How did you do it and what was the hardest part?

[BENESSE]

I used my left hand as the right was reserved for food prep. And to be honest, the first 50' were really hard. Then I got the hang of it and it wasn't so bad.

[kyratshooter]

Yes shovels are preferable to hands.

The hardest part? Geting out of the hole you dug for yourself.

I have only dug one by hand but I have worked with two or three along the way. With a shallow watertable required for a hand dug well they are very unreliable and espically succeptable to pollutants.

At one historic site we dug down about 10 feet and lined the well, using it as a cistern. We filled it for events as required and drained it in the winter.

[hunter63]

Nope, pounded a few sand points, but my deep well is 185 ft to good water, and was drilled.

Now if you are talking about digging in a dry stream bed for a seep, that's something else......not a "well" just a possible source of water.

Or digging a shallow pit next to a polluted water source so as to try to get some clean water......still should be boiled.

Or Google will show you many references.....example.

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

[Wolfsaber]

Thanks for the link. Just the information I was looking for.

[Adventure Wolf]

I once had to help re-dig out a well that was over a hundred years old. Leaves, branches and a punch of garbage had been thrown into it over a period of like 20 years.

The hard part is we had to setup a pully system to lure people in and pull them out. When we finished, we capped it and put a hand pump on.

Never again.