Construction of a well on water: how to equip a well in the country with your own hands

To protect the well and equipment from external pollution, atmospheric phenomena and vandals, it must be properly equipped. Agree, comfort when using water intake, maintenance of equipment and pipeline is as important as its safety. How to protect, providing ease of use?

Those wishing to carry out the arrangement of wells in the water with their own hands, we will tell you how to competently do this. We will tell you which option is best for your source. You will learn how to build a caisson for the wellhead, how to install the adapter, and where to place the accumulator.

A detailed description of the methods and technologies for equipping a personal hydraulic structure is based on regulatory documentation and experience of well owners. The information presented for review is complemented by visual schemes, photo selections, and video tutorials.

Why do you need to build a well?

After the well has been drilled and before it is supplied with water supply in the house, the source equipment, the selection and installation of water supplying equipment are made.

What tasks solves the arrangement of a water well:

• Ensure the purity of the source. Do not allow contamination from the surface: dust, rain or melt water.
• Protection of the water source, equipment and pipeline from freezing.
• Formation of conditions for the connection and maintenance of equipment.

Water supply equipment (except a submersible pump) can be installed both in the house and near the well. In the latter case, it is necessary to have a technical room of sufficient area at the wellhead where this equipment will be installed.

But even when installing it in a house, having a small room at the exit of the pipeline from the well is very convenient, it greatly facilitates pump installation and its maintenance. The injection of a water pipe into the well, as well as the power supply for the submersible pump, is also performed at the construction stage.

Selection and installation of equipment for the supply of water

Equipment for individual water supply consists of the following elements:

• Pump, it can be submersible or located on the surface.
• Automaticsthat controls the operation of the pump and protects it from overloads.
• Accumulator, open or closed (membrane tank). The latter is preferable, it provides a stable pressure in the water supply.

An open water storage unit has to be installed at the top of the water supply system, in the attic or under the ceiling of the upper floor. Closed tank has no restrictions on the place of installation.

The nature of the arrangement of the well is largely determined by the type and location of the installation of water supply equipment. Consider the basic options for completing the source equipment.

Shallow well surface pump

Surface pump significantly cheaper, easier to install and maintain than submersible. The most rational and economically viable option - a complete pumping station "three in one", the composition which includes a surface pump, a relatively small (20-60 l) membrane tank and all the necessary automation.

Only the suction hose is lowered into the well. Thus, the well arrangement and pump maintenance are simplified. In addition, the hose has a small diameter, which allows its use in the so-called “Norton wells” (abyssinian wells) where the submersible pump simply does not fit.

Pumping stations have only one, but a very significant drawback. The surface pump is not able to lift water from a great depth, for most models the limit is 8-10 m. This limits the scope of the pumping stations to wells and shallow wells.

Due to the low lift height, pumping stations with an overhead pump are often installed as close as possible to the wellhead. Otherwise, you will have to additionally overcome the hydraulic resistance from the water source to the place in the house where the pump is installed.

Deep well submersible pump

To lift water from wells more than 10 m deep, it is necessary to use submersible pumps. The correct choice of the pump and the determination of its suspension height in the casing is a separate and rather difficult question.

In the framework of the article, we just need to understand what additional equipment the pump is equipped with, how it is mounted, connected.

As we have already mentioned, the mandatory elements of water supply equipment of an individual house - hydroaccumulator and control automation. In the case of a submersible pump, the lifting height of which is many times greater than that of the surface pump, there are no restrictions on the place of installation of the closed accumulator.

The membrane tank and control can be placed quite far from the wellhead, the distance to the source slightly affects the operation of the system. A great place to place equipment is a dry and clean technical room in a house, basement or ground floor.

Weatherproofing

To protect the source and equipment from weathering and precipitation, around the wellhead build a protected room, placing it above the ground level or below the surface of the earth:

Option # 1 - overground "house" -Pavilon

At first glance, the easiest way to put a small “house” - pavillon over the water intake structure. It can be slightly deepened, like the entrance to a detached cellar, sprinkled on the sides with soil, making a kind of bench. This will reduce heat loss.

Similar pavilions make over industrial wells. But in the private courtyard you see them infrequently. "House" takes place on the site, clutters it, which is doubtful from an aesthetic point of view. In addition, the elevated pavilion is not easy to warm effectively.

Option # 2 - placing the source inside the building

Infrequently used, but quite rational technical solution arrangement water well - placement of a water source in the basement of a dwelling house or inside an insulated economic building, winter greenhouse, greenhouse. It is, incidentally, a very popular reception in the construction of stone buildings.

The well and equipment under the roof are reliably protected from all atmospheric influences, thieves and vandals. Simplified installation and service work. Vibration equipment does not create, from noise - quiet clicks when the relay is triggered. But they are almost not audible outside the technical room with the door closed.

However, the placement of a well in a house or insulated hozblok infrequently. This is explained by the fact that to implement this option, you must first drill a well, let alone build a house. We have the vast majority of developers do the opposite.

Option # 3 - Underground Caisson Well

The most popular type of containment over a private well is a well. It will be correct to call it a caisson, this is an adequate technical term. Installed in the ground caisson is good because it does not clutter up the site, on the surface we will see only a small hatch, located flush with the ground.

To warm the underground room is much easier than the aboveground, besides its lower part, located below freezing depth, in winter is in the zone of positive temperatures, receiving a certain amount of heat from ground. The problem is only waterproofing. Caisson can be purchased ready for installation or build yourself.

Factory caisson is completely ready for installation. It is required only to open a ditch and to lower the tank on the necessary mark. In the caisson there are already necessary technological openings, it remains to enter communications through them through hermetic cuffs: a water pipe and an electrical cable.

Ready caissons are made of steel or polymeric materials. Metal tanks are stronger, they are not afraid of frost heaving, impacts, they can be installed in problem soils prone to displacements.

Plastic caissons are not subject to corrosion, almost do not form condensate on the inner surface. Unfortunately, the factory caissons are expensive. But it can be installed in a few hours, waterproofing issues are solved reliably.

Caisson really build and independently. Most likely, it will cost much cheaper than the factory. It may be stronger. However, time and effort will have to spend a lot. The easiest option is to bury a pair of reinforced concrete well rings into the ground, covering them with a lid and a hatch with a neck on top.

The bottom will have to concreted. It is rather difficult to make reliable waterproofing. reinforced concrete caisson. If you do it outside, it is better to use rolled bituminous material or high-quality mastic. However, you will have to dig up a too large excavation in order to have access to the walls of the well.

You can make the insulation from the inside, carefully staking the seams and smearing the inner walls, bottom and “ceiling” of the caisson with a polymer-cement composition.

To build a caisson on their own can not only from the factory rings. The design can be monolithic, brick (need well-baked red brick), small-sized concrete blocks can be used. Decommissioned steel barrel is also suitable.

The size of the protective structures of the well

What should be the size of the caisson above the well? It depends on where the equipment will be installed. If in the house, dimensions 80x80 cm are enough for the installer to “turn around” by lowering the pump.

When placing a pumping station or a separate membrane tank in the caisson, we recommend adding 50 cm from both sides to the dimensions of the equipment (conventionally front and side). It is better, of course, if it is more than place for service.

If we talk about concrete wells: the diameter of typical reinforced concrete rings is 90, 150 and 200 cm. 90 cm - the smallest possible size for a caisson without equipment, 150 cm - for buildings with equipment of moderate dimensions.

A rather large individual pumping station or a hydroaccumulator of 200 liters will fit in a round two-meter well. The height of the caisson is the height of a person or two typical concrete rings.

We also mention that in areas with severe winters the bottom of the caisson should be located at least 15 cm below the depth of soil freezing. Even better, all its lower third will be located in the non-freezing zone.

Warming the upper part is necessary, it is better to do it outside, but you can also from the inside. Any heat-insulating material that does not suffer from moisture is suitable, extruded polystyrene foam is ideal.

Ensuring casing tightness

Into the well casing, which supplies the house with drinking water, neither dust nor condensate generated in the caisson, nor rain and melt water, should be allowed to enter. If this happens, harmful microorganisms can get into the clean underground source from the surface and “cure” it will be difficult and expensive.

To protect the source serves wellhead - A special steel cover, equipped with technological holes for the passage of communications and a reliable hook for the suspension of the pump. The cap is selected on the diameter of the casing, it has a rubber crimping cuff, sealing casing. The water pipe and electrical cable are also inserted through hermetic seals.

We do not recommend cutting the casing close to the caisson floor. It is better to leave a segment with a height of 25-40 cm above the concrete surface. First, it will be more convenient to mount the pump with the tip. Secondly, with a slight flooding of the caisson in the wellbore will not get water.

Using a downhole adapter

Pavilion or caisson best protect the source of water supply. However, both of these solutions are not cheap. If we are talking about a solid country house and a vast area, the noticeable financial costs of setting up a well are certainly justified.

But what should a developer who does not have an infinite budget do, build a poor rural house or a modest summer cottage? For arrangement of a well at the dacha there is an economical alternative solution - downhole adapter.

With it, the water pipe coming from the house, you can enter directly into the casing of the well. No caisson needed. True, if necessary maintenance, the adapter will have to dig, because it is in the ground. But the need for this rarely arises.

The downhole adapter is a collapsible fitting, consisting of two parts: external and internal. The outer part is located outside the casing and serves to connect to the water pipe going into the house.

The pipe from the pump is connected to the mating interior. Both parts of the adapter, connecting on the casing, have a radial shape that repeats the diameter of the barrel. Elements are connected through a double hermetic seal.

The adapter should be placed below the depth of soil freezing and installation should be done with great care. The casing pipe remains on the ground, it is left low protruding above the ground level. A cover is mounted on top into which an electrical cable is inserted to power the submersible pump.

In severe frosts, the cold will penetrate inside the well through the casing. Therefore, if the winter temperatures fall below -20 ° C, we recommend that the well be covered for the winter with spruce paws, straw or otherwise insulated.

The only, but weighty advantage of the adapter over the caisson is cheapness. Among the shortcomings: the complexity of equipment maintenance, poor security from mechanical damage electrical cable, less reliable suspension of the pump (it does not rest on the cable, but on only one water pipe pipe).

And yes, water supply equipment can only be installed in the house. You can mount the adapter yourself, but you need a special key with a long nozzle, some technical skills and a lot of patience.

In conclusion, we say that a “cheap and angry” downhole adapter is really cheap. However, it cannot always be used and does not provide the same level of source protection and durability as the caisson.

Well Tips

We hope that from the foregoing it is clear in general terms how to equip a well with your own hands.

Let us give our readers some useful tips:

• If the groundwater level on the site is high and is located above the depth of soil freezing, it is better to have a protective room on the surface, rather than underground. Or use an adapter.
• In a house with year-round living try to place water supply equipment in the main building: plenty of space, warm and dry. It is convenient to maintain, the equipment will last longer.
• Equipment for home with seasonal living is better placed in an underground caisson. An unheated house will freeze, and a positive temperature will remain in the caisson. By the way, you need to remember to drain the water in your country house for the winter, if you do not live in it for more than a week.
• In problematic soils (heaving, with inclusions of rubble with sharp ribs, in quicksand), it is desirable to drive the water pipe from the house to the caisson or adapter in a protective casing. The electric cable is always placed in the protective pipe PND.
• It is better to make the connection of hydraulic equipment to the system through shut-off valves with collapsible connections. If necessary, it will simply be serviced or replaced.
• Do not forget that regardless of the type of equipment in the wiring diagram should include a check valve after the pump and a coarse filter in front of the accumulator.

In addition, during operation it is necessary to monitor the pressure level in the pneumatic element of the membrane tank. Check monthly, if necessary, should be pumped up.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Finally, videos that vividly show the process of arranging an underground water source.

Video # 1. The process of self-construction of insulated caisson from concrete rings and the input of water supply to the house:

Video # 1. Cost-effective well construction - self-installation of a downhole adapter:

Proper arrangement of the source of individual water supply guarantees excellent water quality and eliminates problems with the repair and periodic maintenance of downhole equipment..

Those who wish to tell about their personal experience in arranging a well outside the suburban area are invited to leave comments in the block below. Here you can share useful information on the topic and ask questions.