When answering the question of what a well and an Abyssinian well are, it is worth turning to history. The fame and name of this water source appeared during the era of wars with the colonies. The British in the 60s In the 19th century, the Norton drill was used to provide troops with water. The source of water supply gained popularity, which it still enjoys today.

After the creation of a similar device, Abyssinian wells were tested in Russia. Attempts to organize a water supply were made by unskilled workers who randomly plugged 5 wells in Tsarskoye Selo, most of which provided water. Drilling of Abyssinian wells took place at a depth of 4-10 meters.

Abyssinian wells for sand and water: design diagram

The construction of an Abyssinian well is simple and affordable. A small diameter pipe is required. It is used to pierce the soil, lowering the product to the location of the aquifer.

Drilling an Abyssinian well is faster when the projectiles have needles at the end. They are welded to the projectile. Upon completion of deepening the pipes, they are installed self-priming pumps. The operating principle of the models is vacuum, thanks to which water rises to the top.

The Abyssinian well is characterized by the presence of structural elements in the form of:

pipes. Dimensions: diameter – up to 1 inch, length – up to 30 m. Design feature: filter (perforation and fine mesh) at the lower end;
pumps. They are attached to the top of the pipe. A pump pumps water from an aquifer.

There is no casing pipe. But the following details are present:

pulley;
drill string and projectile;
rope;
clamps: upper (with axles for pulleys) and lower;
woman made of concrete with a reinforced layer.

Abyssinian well in the country: pros and cons

The world-famous Abyssinian driven well has the following strengths:

durability. Abyssinian well with your own hands will last up to 50 years (subject to proper drilling);
low degree of complexity of work. The simplicity of the process determines high speed building a well on a summer cottage. In the presence of specialized equipment(drill column with projectile) work takes several hours;
adaptation to the premises. A mini-well can be organized on a site, in a house, in a garage, in a utility room. It doesn’t matter whether there are plantings on the site - they will not be damaged;
compact size. Making a well requires a minimum of materials, time, and money, since the dimensions of the product are small;
quality water. To obtain high quality water, you need to choose appropriate place for a well. At a depth of 5-30 meters there are no harmful impurities that pollute or mineralize the water beyond the norm;
performance. Depending on the amount of liquid in the aquifer, pumps can pump out up to 50 liters of water in 1 minute;
low cost. The cost of constructing a well is on average 20-25 thousand rubles, while drilling an Abyssinian well with your own hands will cost 2 times less;
drilling depth – up to 20 meters;
no need to obtain permits in the form of licenses and other similar documents.

The product has fewer disadvantages, but they also exist:

without a filter (fine mesh and pipe perforation), the quality of water decreases due to siltation;
the productivity of the well depends on the amount of water reserves available in the aquifer; if there are none, you will have to drill in another place;
the lack of water in a particular area requires the removal of the drill, which in some cases gets stuck in boulders located in the ground;
long-term non-use of the water source for its intended purpose requires cleaning. If the pipe diameter is small, cleaning the narrow hole becomes more difficult;
restrictions on the depth of the aquifer. You can drill up to 30 meters deep, but the aquifer must be at least 8-9 meters deep. Otherwise, you will need to deepen the pump.

Abyssinian well: competent drilling

Well construction involves 2 types of drilling:

exploration The goal is to determine the location for the well and find out whether there is water in the aquifer. Reusable equipment is used for drilling. If there is no liquid in one area, the drill is pulled out and the search is transferred to another area;
confident. The goal is to equip a well. Confidence in the presence of water at the required depth is determined by the presence of an active well at 20-50 meters. A home-made projectile is often used as equipment.

In addition to the neighbor's well, natural sources are indicators of the presence of water in the aquifer: barrels, springs, springs, spring ponds. The presence of bodies of water within a radius of 500 meters guarantees 80% success. It is worth noting that the river is not an indicator.

The location of water is determined by vegetation, but does not give high precision result and quite complex. Terrain analysis is carried out when it is dry. Places below the main level of the site with representatives of flora that love moisture and feed on it (for example, nettle, burdock) are being examined.

An object such as an Abyssinian well and its drilling is impossible in the following areas:

on the slopes of ravines;
on steep hills;
on the cliffs.
Certain places require maintaining distance:
areas for keeping and feeding animals and birds (sheds, poultry houses), heaps with compost - 15 m;
heaps of manure, cesspools– 30m;
poultry and livestock farms and yards, cemeteries – 300m;
landfills, chemical and sensitive production facilities, sewage settling tanks, artificial embankments made of redeposited material - 3.5 km.

How deep to drill is determined using an aneroid barometer. An indicator of 760 mm of mercury (1.05 MPa) is 10.3 m of water column.

The needle hole is drilled until the tip of the needle reaches the waterproof underlying layer of water. If the rate of penetration of the drill increases when interacting with the aquifer, and decreases with the underlying clay, it is time to stop drilling - the goal has been achieved. Compliance with this rule will ensure 3 components of a good water supply:

quality water;
stable operation of the well;
long-term water supply.

You can check whether you have reached the aquifer using a pipe. Its diameter is smaller than that of the well, one end is welded. Thanks to the cord, the meter is lowered to a depth and then taken out.

Step 1. Select a location for the future well. Prepare the area and clear it for equipment installation.

Step 2. Dig a 1 m3 hole. If you intend to use a well all year round, depth below freezing level.

Step 3. Place the tip of the equipment in the center of the dug hole.

Step 4. Begin the driving-drilling process.

If you are using a garden auger, screw it into the soil layer and then lift it up along with the soil. Such equipment is used for wells up to 5 meters deep.

If you use a socket headstock for work, then press the top of the equipment with force, the impulse passes to the pipe. A socket headstock is equipment that is used in pairs.

Step 5. Bury the pipe while drilling.

Step 6. Sprinkle the soil evenly and then compact it.

Step 7. Increase the length of the pipe.

To ensure that the pipe enters the ground easily, take breaks after 1 hour, during which you replenish the soil with water. Under the influence of liquid, the earth softens, the drilling process is faster and easier.

Step 8. When the water level in the pipe reaches a meter, stop working.

You have learned how to make an Abyssinian well, now about the equipment. At independent arrangement For water supply in a suburban area, it is important to choose the right pump for an Abyssinian well.

If the depth of the well is more than 7 meters or the water rises more than 7 meters, it is more advisable to use pumping station. It is a compact product consisting of a pump, an electrical cable, and a ballast. The hose is not included in the kit.

The use of a pumping station guarantees a water pressure of at least 45 m, and a flow rate of 20 l/min. The product is equipped with a filter that has a certain throughput. The cost of the product depends on this.

In addition to the pump, it is reasonable to use a bailer in the well design. This is a projectile designed for loose soil layers. Choose a product with a caliber 4-5 smaller than the internal diameter of the well.

A bailer drill is necessary when the well is used seasonally. Long breaks have a detrimental effect on the condition of the structure and the purity of the water; clay may enter. The main purpose of the bailer is cleaning.

Do-it-yourself well: operating features

The final stage of arranging a water supply system is commissioning. Before this, you need to install a check valve and connect a pump or station. Polyethylene pipes are most often used low pressure.

At the end installation work pour water, connect the hose, start the pump.

Initially the water is flowing It's cloudy and you can't drink it. To clean the liquid, the well is pumped for a couple of hours. Subsequently, the plants are watered with well water and vegetable crops, used on the farm. To drink such water, it is better to play it safe - submit samples to the SES for testing.

Do you want the Abyssinian well made of plastic pipes to serve for a long time, the lens around the filter not to be deformed, the quality of the water not to decrease, and the reserves of the aquifer not to decrease? Use it regularly.

If on suburban area you come seasonally, prepare the well for downtime:

drain the water from the pipe;
cover the pump with moisture-resistant material;
Pump the well before use.

Abyssinian water well: to drill or not

Summing up the review of this type of water supply for suburban areas, it is necessary to once again emphasize the advantages that the well has. The compact size and specific features of the device allow you to place the product in any convenient place: in the garage, in the utility room, in the basement of the house, on the street. Thus, the water source is close and does not take up much space.

Equipping a water supply system in this way takes little time - within a few hours. The work is not highly complex and does not require specialized equipment. You can make the equipment yourself, and also drill a hole yourself, reaching the aquifer.

The depth of the wells and their specificity do not require obtaining a permit or going through a licensing procedure, as is done with the development of an artesian source.

However, do not forget that the manufacturer of the well, the quality of the water directly depends on how regularly you use it. If there are periods of downtime, it is necessary to prepare the water supply system for them. And then, even after time and several seasons, you will have clean water on your site.

In addition, such a well is not suitable for those who regularly need large amounts of water. In this case, it makes sense to consider other options.

In a remote area of the house, they almost always mention digging a well or an ordinary well.

Indeed, sand wells or wells are the simplest and most reliable ways to obtain water on the site. They are durable, functional and quite comfortable. However, the labor intensity during their installation or maintenance cannot be ignored either.

Meanwhile, there is another way - drilling an Abyssinian well. Moreover, you can do this process entirely with your own hands.

1 Technology for creating an Abyssinian well

The Abyssinian well was invented during the colonization of Africa. Then the English troops were able to push back the natives precisely thanks to this wonderful invention. After all, to drill such a well, it is enough to have metal pipes and make a primitive driving drill.

Everything else is collected during the work process. And the process itself is done entirely with your own hands and in a fairly short period of time.

If we take into account reviews from users of Abyssinian wells, then creating such a source takes from 3 to 10 hours, depending on the type of soil, characteristics of the aquifer, etc.

The Abyssinian well itself is a small-sized source of water that extracts it from the upper soil layers. To equip an Abyssinian well or well, as it is popularly called, you need to make sure that your aquifers are at a depth of up to 8 meters.

If they are located deeper, then you can also start working, but you most likely will not be able to do it without special equipment.

For work, improvised tools are used. You don't need direct access to water or anything like that. This is the peculiarity of Abyssinian wells. They are very mobile and autonomous.

You just need to score on purpose assembled pipes into the ground to a depth of 8-10 meters. Pipes are assembled in sections using threaded fittings. The lowest section of the pipe will be a special filter section with a needle.

The needle is the cone-shaped tip on the pipe. It is very durable and is intended directly for driving the body of the well into the ground. Since in upper layers If the soil mainly contains sand and other soft rocks, then you should not have any problems with clogging.

After the needle there is a filter pipe. This is a piece of pipe 1-1.5 m long, in which many holes are cut. As a rule, one hole is made on each side of the pipe in increments of 3-4 cm.

The pipe is wrapped with wire and mesh, creating a special filter. It’s quite possible to make a filter with your own hands and in just a few tens of minutes.

The operating principle of Abyssinian wells is very simple. A riser clogged to the required level reaches the aquifer layers of sand. They are usually located at a level of 6-8 meters underground.

Which means that the aquifer will flow directly onto the filter. Since sand conducts water well, within a few minutes the pipe will begin to fill with it.

When liquid appears in the well, work can be stopped and started. In most cases, after thoroughly flushing the pipes, all that remains is to wait for a day until the water clears itself and the well begins to produce clean water.

At this time, you can make a special pump or concrete the area around the well exit. Then all that remains is to attach the pumping mechanism and use this miracle of technology for your pleasure.

1.1 What are the advantages of Abyssinian wells?

As you already understand, Abyssinian wells have many advantages over more traditional sources. It is very difficult to list them all, but the main ones should still be noted.

Let's consider the main pros and cons of such sources.

Main advantages:

You can make a well with your own hands;
The work takes a little time;
There is no strict need to use special tools;
Practicality;
Mobility;
Ability to work in any conditions;
Good debit;
No problems with liquid overflow, silting, etc.;
Easy to maintain;
Takes up little space.

As we can see, it’s not for nothing that these wells are so popular in our area. They are very easy to assemble. You can make all the tools and drill the hole yourself. And the work will take less than a day.

If you suddenly stumble upon a large cobblestone or layer of pebbles, it’s not a problem. After all, at any moment you can take out the needle and try your luck somewhere else.

When finished, the Abyssinian well takes up very little space. At the same time, you can connect either a regular pump or any pump to it. Moreover surface pumps they will also be useful here, since the depth of the aquifer will rarely be below 8 meters.

Main disadvantages:

Abyssinian wells have much fewer disadvantages, but they still exist. However, those who do not understand the very purpose of the work being performed consider them to be disadvantages. Of course, such a well is unlikely to cope with the water supply of a large family and their domestic needs, but this is not required of it.

It is worth understanding that the Abyssinian well is rather an auxiliary element of the water supply system. It will provide you with drinking and domestic water in sufficient quantities. But it is not intended to fully supply large facilities.

Andrey, 38 years old, Kostroma:

At one time I became very interested in this technology. I needed to make a water supply for the dacha and with minimal costs. I was captivated by the opportunity to complete the work with my own hands. I did everything according to technology and finished it with my friend in 11 hours. I am completely satisfied with the result.

Valentin, 27 years old, Altai:

I have two Abyssinian wells on my property. And I scored both with my own hands. Very useful thing, I'll tell you. With minimal labor costs, it produces a decent flow rate, high-quality water, and practically does not require maintenance. An ideal choice for country water supply.

Konstantin, 58 years old, Astrakhan:

A couple of years ago I ordered such a well from the guys. I listened to reviews from neighbors and realized that I needed it. The workers at my site had to work hard because the soil is not uniform. Twice we came across a large boulder. The second time they even bent the pipe. Fortunately, you can make a new one with your own hands and in just a couple of tens of minutes. Therefore, they completed the work before dark. The well has never let me down since then.

2 Selection of pipes for a well and installation stages

Before you begin the actual work, you need to select the pipes that will make up the body of the driving needle. It is worth understanding that this needle remains in the hole constantly and performs the functions of a casing structure. Therefore, it must not only be durable and reliable, but also suitable for constant contact with liquid.

From modern pipes Most often they use good old metal and polymers. The metal can be galvanized; it resists corrosion better and withstands the influence of microorganisms well. However, over time, it will still lose its properties.

Plus, the metal is very durable and it is extremely difficult to damage such a pipe. Needle tips are almost always made of metal.

From polymer materials Reinforced thick-walled polypropylene and low-density polyethylene are best suited for pipes. Both materials are quite durable and also have excellent anti-corrosion characteristics.

As for the specific parameters of the pipe, inch samples are used in the work. Wall thickness metal products it could be anyone, but plastic pipes only thick-walled ones with a thickness of 5 mm or more are used.

As you already understood, the lower section of the pipe will be a filter section. It is processed with a drill, then wrapped with wire. Next comes a membrane, mesh filter or something similar. Then the whole thing is once again tightly tied with wire.

The pipe itself is connected using threaded fittings. It is also possible to use welding, but this adds certain inconveniences. The quality of the connections, of course, will be very high, but you won’t be cutting pipes every time something goes wrong.

Now let’s look directly at the working algorithm by which Abyssinian wells are installed.

2.1 How to drill an Abyssinian well with improvised tools? (video)

The Abyssinian well, whose other names are needle well and downhole, appeared in the 19th century. and today attracts with its performance and durability. Having a set of equipment, you can do it on the site yourself in 1 day and provide water to a country house.

Operating principles of the Abyssinian well

Water does not accumulate in the needle well; it enters the aquifer when a vacuum is created in it manually piston pump. The source is fed through the upper and lower layers of soil - from a depth of 3-12 m. The water in most cases is soft, clean, and does not contain ferrous iron.

The well's flow rate is 0.4-1.5 m³/h. If it is equipped correctly, it will last 10-30 years or more and will provide water as long as there is water in the formation. At first, its flow rate increases due to the aquifer lake, which is formed during the buildup.

The well will last longer with regular operation. If it is not planned to be used in winter, it is preserved: the water is drained and the pump is covered with waterproof material, and pumped in the spring.

Design specifics of the needle well

A special feature of the design is that the water pipe has a small diameter and is both casing and operational.

The bottom hole consists of:

from the pump (located on the surface);
from the trunk;
from the filter;
from the tip (located in the water).

You can make the parts for constructing a well yourself. or order their production. You will need:

steel seamless pipes with thick walls, the thickness of the trunk does not affect the flow of water, but a large diameter structure is more difficult to hammer in;
tip 10 cm long.

The tip is a metal needle from an Abyssinian well that pierces the soil. Its diameter at the widest part should be 2-3 cm larger than the outer diameter of the barrel and filter, this is necessary to reduce their friction with the ground. The tip can be shaped like a cone or a pyramid. It is machined from steel lathe. Welded structures are not used - they will not withstand the load.

The wellbore consists of metal pipes 1.2-1.5 m long and one piece 1 m long, which will completely go into the aquifer; there is a tip at its end. The best option– seamless steel water and gas products with an outer diameter of 25-40 mm. At their ends, 7 turns of thread are made; it must be of high quality in order to withstand the hammering of the barrel.

hammering with a barbell - a small metal rod;
sledgehammer or headstock;

When plugging pipes, it is better to use a headstock, because its surface allows you to center the blow and avoid distortions. The well trunk is made in the following sequence:

They remove 20-30 cm of turf and drill a hole with a diameter of 15-20 cm to a depth of 1 m or dig a shaft of the same depth with a cross-section of 0.7x0.7 m.
A tripod without flooring is installed above the well, because The length of the driven fragments is small, and a load weighing 25-30 kg (headstock) is attached above it.
A pipe with a filter is placed in the center of the well, ensuring its stability, and driven in with the blows of a falling headstock.
The barrel is extended by screwing the sections with a threaded coupling. To ensure the strength of the connection, plumbing tow is placed in the thread.

If the fragment is difficult to drive in, pour water into it and stop work for about 1 hour until it is absorbed into the ground. But, if the soil is too hard, they use preliminary drilling of a well and lower the trunk into it. The method reduces the risk of joint deformation.

You can make sure that the needle has reached the aquifer in the following ways:

a small tube is lowered into the barrel; when it comes into contact with water, a pop will be heard;
pour water into the barrel, it will go away quickly if the needle is in the liquid.

A pump is attached to the trunk and water is pumped out.

Improvement of the antediluvian filter

With high-quality filtering, there will be no clogging of the well in any type of soil, even in clay, it will last longer with high productivity. A good filter should be as porous as possible. You can make it yourself, using as a basis a galvanized pipe 60 cm long, 3 mm thick and with an internal diameter of 25 mm. Holes with a diameter of 1-1.5 cm are drilled on each side in increments of 3-4 cm. A total of 40-60 holes are needed.

To improve water quality, the device is improved:

The area with the holes is wrapped with stainless wire with a diameter of 1.5 mm, making the distance between the turns 4 mm.
The top is tightly covered with a layer of stainless galloon mesh, which does not allow small particles of sand and clay to pass through. They attach it with clamps or weld it with solder without adding lead.

Modernization increases the service life of the system by 2-3 times.

Conditions for the construction of an Abyssinian well

Setting up a well for clay soils and sands. Soils with shallow limestone and sandstone are not suitable for this. 2 people are enough for the work. But we must take into account that when constructing a well independently, drillers will not be able to crush hard rock with the tip. Therefore, if you find an obstacle, such as a large boulder, it is better to bypass it and start working in another place. The device is easily dismantled.

If you plan to lift water with a pump, you must take into account that it is impossible to do this with a submersible pump; only a surface station is suitable, but it is effective at a well depth of no more than 9 m.

My own hydrogeologist

The area is suitable for driving a well needle under the following conditions:

it is in a lowland;
moisture-loving plants grow on it, such as nettle, hops, burdock;
there are springs, springs or other sources within a radius of 500 m drinking water.

The presence of a river is not always a favorable sign, because... its channel may turn out to be transit. A good water-bearing formation is located in a vein with coarse sand. If there are no wells nearby, you need to find out the reason for this. When conducting research, it is necessary to take into account that the water surface rises in the spring and during the rainy period, and find out what the differences in water levels are and whether the sources dry up in the summer.

The best site for an Abyssinian well will be one where burdock, hops and nettles will grow.

If the depth of neighboring wells is no more than 15 m, and the distance to the water surface is up to 10 m, you can choose a place to drill a well. To do this, it is necessary to find out the location of septic tanks, cesspools and other polluting factors in neighboring areas and exclude places falling within their zone of influence.

To find points of close occurrence of water, you can study geodetic maps that show soils and aquifers, or make a frame apparatus:

Bend 2 pieces of rigid aluminum wire, 40-45 cm long, at an angle of 90° at a distance of 8-12 cm from the edge, the bent ends will serve as handles.
Hollow tubes or branches of shrubs (elderberry, willow, viburnum) with the core removed are placed on the handles.
The ends of the wire are bent so that it moves freely in the handles.

The frames are held at chest level and slowly moved around the area. In places where a water vein is close, the ends of the frames converge. It should be taken into account that this device cannot determine the depth of water.

The most convenient place for a well is near a building where water is needed ( summer kitchen, baths, houses). It can be installed in a basement or garage, then there will be no need for insulation for the winter.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

The main advantages of the Abyssinian well are its simple design, low cost and environmental friendliness. It does not require any permits, registrations or licenses. But before drinking water from new well you need to take samples for chemical and bacterial analysis and, if necessary, install a filter system.

Setting up an Abyssinian well with your own hands is a great way to provide water country cottage area or a country house. Many people who heard this exotic name for the first time may ask a logical question: “What is an Abyssinian well?” This term means simplified version autonomous well, buried only to the upper aquifers. Other synonymous names for such a water-bearing source are Norton's well, needle well.

Features of the Abyssinian well

A similar system for constructing wells was developed by the British in the 19th century to provide water to their colonial armies operating in Africa and Asia.

Today, the construction of an Abyssinian well is becoming a fairly popular type of water supply in our country.

Let's take a closer look at what an Abyssinian well is, its advantages and disadvantages. The Abyssinian needle well differs from other artificial water intake systems in a number of features:

Its installation is possible only in soft soil - loose sand or sand and gravel.
The depth of the Abyssinian well usually does not exceed several meters, rarely up to 10-15.
Casing pipes are buried not by drilling, but by directly driving them into the ground.

The popularity of the Abyssinian well is explained by a number of advantages that distinguish it from other types of wells. First of all, it is the simplicity and low cost of the work. Pipes are buried in the ground without the use of drilling rigs or any other expensive technical means.

For these purposes, enough simple devices in the form of a hand piledriver or even just a massive sledgehammer. Therefore, it is quite possible to make a needle well with your own hands. If desired, this can be done even by one person, maximum two.

Another advantage of this technique is minimum size work site. To install a piledriver with a tripod for driving pipes, you will need a platform of 2.5-4 m 3. This is an important factor when it is necessary to install a well on a personal plot with outbuildings, garden trees and bushes.

In such conditions, heavy drilling equipment simply will not be able to approach the desired point, or will cause irreparable damage to the landscape of the site. The water in the needle well is quite clean, since it is settled in sandy soils, which act as a natural filter.

Preparing the necessary materials

The set of working equipment, as well as the construction of the Abyssinian well, are very simple. To work you will need the following tools and components:

Steel pipes with a diameter of 1-1.5 inches and a length of 1.5 - 2 m each. The lower pipe, which will be clogged first, must be perforated - water will flow through it into the well.
A mesh filter placed over a perforated pipe.
Threaded couplings for pipes of the appropriate diameter.
Well needle. It is a cone-shaped metal tip and is designed to facilitate deepening of the pipe. The needle for an Abyssinian well should be slightly wider than the diameter of the pipes. This will reduce their friction against the ground when driving.
Steel suspended hammer-headframe or massive steel “woman”. Inside such a percussion tool should have a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe. This will allow the impact to be centered when lowering the piledriver.
, placed on the top of the pipe. It is made of hard types of steel alloys and serves to prevent flattening of the upper part of the pipe when hit by a driving pile driver.

The driving equipment can be installed on a special tripod structure, on top of which blocks are fixed. A cable is thrown over the blocks, using which the pile driver is lifted to a height. Can also be used for hammering manual method- an ordinary sledgehammer, or a metal woman with two hands. Threads are screwed onto the ends of the pipes to connect them using couplings. During operation, a driving tip is screwed onto the top of the pipe being driven.

Choosing a location for a well

Important for the proper functioning of the Abyssinian well is right choice its location.

First of all, the work makes sense if the soil at the location of the well is relatively soft. If, however, a layer of rock or compressed clay is found in the thickness of the ground being pierced, then the work will have to be abandoned and try your luck in another place.

It is also important to know the approximate distance from the surface to the upper aquifers. The most effective is an Abyssinian well with a depth of 5-8m. The greater depth will make pumping water using a hand pump or most pumping stations problematic. The closest location of water to the surface of the site can be determined by the growing grasses and trees. Some plants like moist soil, others prefer drier soil.

You can determine the approximate distance to water in this way using the table below:

If such grasses and trees grow on your site in a “wild” state, then the chances of success when constructing an Abyssinian well can be assessed as very high.

Another ancient way of finding water is using a vine. Of course, in central Russia it is quite problematic to find a grapevine, but it can be successfully replaced by two copper wires 15-20 cm long, each bent at a right angle. Holding these wires parallel to each other in relaxed hands, walk around the area. Where the water comes closest to the surface, the wires will have to cross.

Arrangement

To supply water from an Abyssinian well upward, use either hand pump, or electric pumping equipment. Hand pumps are mounted on top of the topmost pipe facing outside. Electric pumping stations should be placed in buried and insulated caissons. This is due to the fact that such equipment can only function at positive temperatures. Freezing of water inside the surface pump will lead to its failure.

Caissons are concrete wells, at the bottom of which the well itself is located. It is recommended to make the depth of the caisson below the depth of winter soil freezing. For different regions of the country this indicator is different: for the southern Black Sea regions - about 0.5 m, for middle zone Russia – 0.8-1.2 m, for Siberia – 2-3 m.

The caisson should be equipped with a tightly closing hatch and insulated.

The Abyssinian well in the well is connected to pumping device using a hose lowered inside the pipes. The bottom of the caisson should be concreted so that the slope is from the well to the edges of the well. Sometimes, in order to avoid emergency flooding of the caisson with a pumping station, it is equipped with a drainage system.

In this case, the slope of the filler floor should be made towards the drainage hole. When choosing pumping equipment, you need to be guided by the debit indicators of the well, that is, its productivity. If you install an overly powerful pump, it can quickly drain the well and eventually burn out.

DIY Abyssinian well

Let's consider step by step how to make an Abyssinian well with your own hands.

Preparation of the workplace. The first step in preparing the site is to remove the turf. At the point of driving using a simple garden borer We make a depression 0.5-1 m deep.
If a pile driver is used during the driving process, you should step by assembling a device for lifting it - a tripod made of beams or metal elements.
Pipe preparation. We attach a cone-shaped tip to the first perforated pipe to be driven in and install it strictly vertically in the hole.
At the upper end of the pipe we attach a drive-in tip.
We begin to strike the driving tip with a piledriver or a hand hammer. In a pliable sandy soil The pipes go into the soil quite quickly. Using a hammer weighing a quarter of a quintal, you can bury a metal pipe with a diameter of 2.5 cm a meter in just 7-8 blows.
When the first pipe almost completely goes into the ground, we attach it to it using a threaded coupling next pipe, and continue working according to the same scheme.
Pipes should be plugged before penetrating into aquifers. One of the most common mistakes when plugging an Abyssinian well is passing through the aquifer. To avoid this, you should pour water into them when the pipes are deep enough. The upper aquifers are unconfined and highly porous. Water poured into the pipes will immediately leave through the perforations and mesh filters. If everything happens this way, it means that you have reached the aquifer and you should not continue to bury the pipes any further.
A pump is connected to the well and pumping begins. Initially, the water will be cloudy, mixed with sand and suspended microparticles. But after pumping 100-200 liters, it will become noticeably cleaner.

Well maintenance

Abyssinian wells are quite durable. With proper care and maintenance, they can last at least 30, or even 50 years. To do this, you should use the well regularly, without stopping pumping water from it for a period longer than two months. In this case, the water lens around the perforated pipe will maintain its purity without becoming cloudy or silting.

If you use the Abyssinian well only during the summer season, the pumping equipment will need to be mothballed for the winter. In the spring, you will have to pump the well in a new way, as at the time of the first start-up.

Conclusion and video “Abyssinian Well”

Thus, the construction of the Abyssinian well is the most simple option providing dacha or personal plot water. It can be easily set up with my own hands, with a minimum expenditure of money, effort and time. In the video you can carefully familiarize yourself with all the nuances of arranging an Abyssinian well on your own site.

The Abyssinian well is a sand well; water is drawn from the first sandy aquifer. main feature– shallow depth, simple device and low cost.

They are fed from the upper groundwater - the so-called perched water. Groundwater are not separated from the surface by an impermeable layer, so they may contain dissolved organic matter from septic tanks and cesspools, pesticides, and heavy metal salts.

Artesian wells extract water from deep, pressurized sandy or limestone horizons. The water there contains a lot of dissolved mineral salts; there are artesian waters with a high content of dissolved divalent iron. To purify water to potable quality, a complex filtration system is required.

The water in the Abyssinian well is different high quality. Waterproof clay layers reliably protect the first sandy aquifer from the penetration of contaminants from upper layers soil, while the water does not contain excess mineral salts.

The waters of the first sandy horizon are free-flowing, so a pump is needed to pump out the water. For Abyssinian wells, surface manual or electric pumps are used, the operating principle of which is based on the vacuum pumping method. This is limited maximum depth to the surface of the aquifer, not exceeding 8 m. In this case, the depth of the well can reach 14-15 m.

An electric pump or with a hydraulic accumulator is installed in a caisson directly next to the well or in a warm room at some distance. Allowable distance to the premises, as well as the installation diagram of the pumping station are shown in the figure.

A hand pump is installed directly above the well. For year-round use, it is placed in an insulated caisson or room. The well can be drilled inside the house, in the underground - in this case, insulation is not needed.

The service life of an Abyssinian well is limited by the life of the pipes and pump and averages 10-30 years with regular use. Galvanized, or even better, pipes made of of stainless steel, will not only last much longer, but also will not worsen the quality of water.

Note! You can make an Abyssinian well in one day if you have the necessary components and tools for driving.

Preparing the necessary materials

The design of an Abyssinian well is extremely simple and consists of a set of metal pipes 1-2 m long, connected to each other using couplings, a filter pipe at the bottom for water intake and a pump on the ground surface.

Step 1. Pipes are preferably galvanized or stainless steel to protect against corrosion, pipe diameter is 1-1½ inches (approximately 2.5-3.8 cm). Copper pipes are not suitable due to the softness of the metal; moreover, copper is capable of releasing free ions to water, poisoning it. On pipes, except for the lowest one, external threads are cut on both sides.

Step 2. The lower pipe, which is a water intake with a filter, is perforated. The length of the perforated part is 700-1000 mm. The diameter of the holes is 8-10 mm, the center-to-center distance between the holes is 50 mm. The holes are arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Stainless wire is wound over the perforated part according to the diagram.

Instead of wire, you can use a fine mesh harpoon or plain mesh made of stainless steel. The mesh is tightly wrapped around the perforated part of the pipe and soldered at all joints.

Note! Soldering is performed with food-grade solder, lead-free or with a minimum lead content. Suitable brands solders: POSu 95-5, POM-1, POM-3.

A thread is cut at the upper end of the pipe to connect to the coupling.

Step 3. A spear-shaped tip made of hardened steel is welded to the lower end of the pipe, making it easier to plug the well. The diameter of the tip at the junction with the pipe should be 15-20 mm larger than the diameter of the pipe - this makes it easier to pass through the ground when driving.

Step 4. The number of pipes in the set depends on the expected depth of the well. They are connected using a threaded coupling; flax or fluoroplastic thread is wound onto the thread for strength. It is preferable to take thick-walled couplings, with a wall thickness of 5 mm - such products are stronger.

Step 5. To drive pipes into the ground, a carbide driving tip is made. The tip has internal thread and screwed onto the next section of pipe.

Step 6. The pipes are clogged using a sledgehammer or headstock. The headstock is a steel cylinder in which a hole is drilled slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe used. The striking surface inside the cylinder conforms to the cone shape of the striking tip in order to center the impact. A removable ring along the diameter of the pipe is attached to the bottom of the headstock to avoid distortions when driving. The headstock is equipped with handles for lifting on both sides.

Step 7 Sometimes babka is made with through hole, in this case, instead of an impact tip, a headstock is used, which is attached to the pipe on comfortable height. In this case, the impact does not occur at the end of the pipe, which reduces the chances of bending it when passing through dense layers of soil.

To make lifting the headstock easier, a clamp with blocks is made. In this case, the headstock is lifted by two people from both sides through blocks, and it lowers under its own weight.

Step 8 For initial pumping of the well and clearing it of sand, it is recommended to use a hand pump. If in the future you plan to install a pumping station, you don’t have to buy a hand pump, but rent it.

Step 9 When placing pumping equipment in a caisson, after installing the well, it is necessary to dig a pit for its (caisson) installation. The depth of the uninsulated caisson must be greater than the freezing level of the soil.

Note! You can make a caisson with your own hands from concrete rings.

Prices for filters for the Abyssinian well

Abyssinian well filter

Choosing a site for an Abyssinian well

The operation of the Abyssinian well is only possible if the distance to the aquifer is no more than 8 m. Otherwise, surface pumps will be ineffective, and for submersible pump a larger diameter pipe and different drilling technology will be required.

To prepare a set of pipes, you also need to know the approximate depth of the well. Excessive deepening of the suction pipe with a filter can lead to its penetration into dense layers of soil lying below the level of the vein.

How to choose a suitable location for a well and determine its expected depth?

The surest sign of the possibility of developing an Abyssinian well is the presence of the same wells in the nearest neighbors. You can ask them not only about the depth, but also about the flow rate of the well in order to determine the required performance of the pumping equipment. Measuring the flow rate of a well is quite simple: you need to time 1 minute and determine how much water the well is capable of producing during this time.

Table 1. Required pump performance depending on the well flow rate.

If there are wells nearby, you can also find out the depth of the aquifer. Using a rope with a weight, measure the depth of the well to the bottom and to the water surface, and find out the approximate thickness of the aquifer.
A sign of close occurrence of interstratal aquifers may be the emergence of springs and streams to the surface. If in your area there are springs with good, tasty water, then with a high degree of probability the same water will be in the drilled Abyssinian well, and the depth of the latter will be shallow.
An indirect sign of the close passage of an aquifer is some plants with a deep root system: coltsfoot, burdock, horse sorrel, celandine and many others. Trees with tap roots also grow better in areas with nearby aquifers.
Fog after sunrise, as well as swarming of midges over certain areas, are also clear signs indicating the proximity of an aquifer.
Well digging experts use metal frames to find the location. It is believed that this requires experience, but you can try to do everything yourself. Take two pieces of copper wire 35 cm long, bend the frames from them at an angle of 90 degrees with an aspect ratio of 10/25 cm. Take the frames in your hands by the short sides and place them parallel to each other, without squeezing too much. Walk slowly through the area. In the place where the aquifer passes, the free ends of the frames should meet.
Folk method on the site

Note! Several signs indicating the proximity of water indicate a high probability of finding an aquifer with a high flow rate.

Abyssinian - step by step instructions

Equipment for driving an Abyssinian well can be rented from drilling companies, purchased, or made independently according to the ready-made drawings given above.

Step 1. Remove the turf on the well site to a depth of 20-30 cm. When driving a well in the underground, the turf does not need to be removed. The first 0.5-1.0 m is drilled with a regular garden drill to penetrate the fertile soil layers. Installing it in too dry or frozen soil will not affect it, but will make the drilling process easier.

Step 2. Install a pipe with a punching tip into the drilled well, level it strictly vertically and fix it in this position. This can be done using a tripod or a board with a hole, as shown in the picture.

Step 3. Place the lower ring on the pipe to secure the headstock. Screw a carbide tip onto the upper end of the pipe so as not to damage the thread when driving.

Step 4. Place the headstock on the tip and screw the fixing ring to it from below. Raise the headstock by the handles until it stops, then release it. The headstock hits the tip, under the influence of a weight of about 25 kg, the pipe goes into the ground to a certain depth. The speed of driving is highly dependent on the density of the soil. A meter-long pipe goes into the sand with 5-8 blows; in clay it moves much more slowly.

Step 5. After the pipe has gone to a sufficient depth, the headstock, tip and fixing ring are removed, and the coupling is screwed on with flax or Tangit UNI-LOCK thread. The connection must be as tight as possible, otherwise during operation air or water from the perched water will be sucked through it.

Step 6. Install the next pipe and repeat steps 3, 4 and 5. Once the expected depth of the well is reached, water begins to be poured into the pipe every half meter. The sandy aquifer is non-pressurized; it is capable of not only releasing, but also absorbing water. If the tip with the filter is located in an aquiferous zone, the water poured into the pipe will drain quickly, almost instantly. If there is no information about the depth of the aquifer, the test is performed starting from 3-4 m.

Step 7 After reaching the aquifer, the pipe is clogged another 0.5-0.7 m and a permanent or temporary pump is attached to it. They begin pumping the well. At first the water will be cloudy, with some sand mixed in.

Step 8 After pumping out several hundred liters, the water will become clean; a lens will form around the intake end with the filter - an area clean water without foreign inclusions.

Step 9 Around the well they perform concrete blind area: remove the soil to a depth of 20-30 cm, backfill with sand 5-10 cm thick, then lay reinforcing mesh and filled with concrete. From the center of the blind area to the edges, make a slope of 2-3 degrees to drain water. You can also perform drainage to drain water; in this case, the slope is made towards the drainage hole.

Step 10 Install a permanent pump or connect a pumping station according to the diagram.

Note! Must be present in the diagram check valve, otherwise, before turning on the pump, you will have to fill the pumping station with water each time.

Caisson installation

A well is equipped with a caisson when its depth does not allow the pumping equipment to be moved into an insulated room using a horizontally laid and insulated pipe. TO , You can read in our article.

Step 1. When installing a caisson, a pit is dug around the plugged well. To avoid damaging the pipe, it is better to do this manually. Before starting work, wrap the top of the pipe with a bag or thick cloth to prevent soil particles from entering. The depth of the pit is 20-30 cm below the soil freezing level, the diameter is 20-30 cm greater than the outer diameter of the rings. At the same time, they dig a trench for laying pipes. The bottom of the pit and trench is leveled and backfilled with sand (layer thickness - 10 cm).

Step 2. Install reinforced concrete rings in the prepared pit. A hole is made in the wall for the water pipe at the level of the trench. Reinforcement mesh is placed on the bottom, the bottom is filled with concrete with a layer of 10-15 cm. Leave to harden and gain minimum strength for 5-7 days.

Step 3. A cover with a hatch is mounted on the well. The hatch must be positioned so that the well pipe is exactly opposite it - in this case, if necessary, you will not have to disassemble the caisson to remove and replace the pipes. All seams are coated cement mortar.

Step 4. A pump and a hydraulic accumulator are mounted in the caisson. Turn on water pipe through the hole in the ring, having previously wrapped it in foamed polyethylene to avoid damage. The hole is covered with cement mortar. Connect the pipe to the pump and check the functionality of the system.

Step 5. The pit is backfilled. A mixture of sand and cement is poured around the walls - gradually gaining moisture from the soil, the latter will set and securely fix the caisson. The cover is insulated with polystyrene from the outside and covered with a 0.3-0.5 m layer of sand. Reinforcement mesh is laid and filled with concrete. After it hardens, install the hatch cover.

Abyssinian well maintenance

An Abyssinian well will last longer if used regularly. At the same time, the lens around the filter retains its dimensions, the water in it remains clean, and the flow rate of the well does not change. If you plan to use the Abyssinian well seasonally, you need to preserve it: drain the water from the supply pipe so that it does not freeze, cover the pump with waterproof material to protect it from snow and melt water. In the spring, before the start of the season, it is necessary to pump the well, as before the first commissioning.

Video - DIY Abyssinian well

The Abyssinian well does not require a passport, but it can provide for your family clean water drinking quality. With regular use and maintenance of the well, the problem of water supply to the house will be solved for several decades to come. "TO , you can read in our article."