A well on your property can be a good way to save on the cost of water, whether or not you use it for everyday drinking. You can use well water to water your garden or crops, or for livestock. It can also work as a backup for when your city water supply is cut off, or when you're facing a drought. In most cases well water is very safe for human consumption, but you need to ensure that you have a safe well installed and keep it safe. Note a few tips on how to do that.
1. Only Hire a Professional to Drill a Well for You
There are kits you can buy online that help you drill the ground for a shallow well, or you may decide to rent a large drill attached to a crane and dig your own well. However, water drilling is not as easy as you might assume. If the ground is very moist, soil can collapse into the area of the well. You may also hit rock and need to chip at it rather than try to drill through it, otherwise it too may collapse or you may get too much dust into the well. To ensure that you have a safe well that offers water you can actually drink, rely on a professional company (such as Milne Water Drilling) to do the drilling.
2. Protect the Well from Contaminants
Wells usually have a casing that is like a pipe that lines the shaft of the well. This casing should be protected with a barrier of grout around the sides and it should have a tight-fitting cap on the top, to keep out debris and insects. It's good to check this casing at least monthly to ensure it hasn't developed any cracks and that the cap still fits tightly.
A well may also have a barrier around a raised area and this too should be checked every month, at least. Clean away any leaves, twigs, or other debris that may have collected around this barrier regularly so they don't make their way into the well.
You also want to ensure that you don't store anything near your well, or allow anything to run off into the well. For example, if you use chemicals to melt ice in the wintertime, be sure you then shovel it away from the well and don't allow it to melt and drain toward the well. Don't keep items like pesticides, plant food, or fertilizer near the well. It's easy to think that these items are contained and won't harm the well but one small spill can mean that your well is now completely contaminated.
