Making a well

Hi,

If you have the time, energy and proper conditions you can dig a small well to supply your water needs.

You need to find an area where water has saturated into the ground. A marsh, near a pond or as I did last time near a river.

Also make sure the ground is not polluted or discoloured.

The part of a river that you can see is not all of the water. The water seeps into the ground on either side and is at a similar level for a considerable distance.

Soil is made up of pores which water and air can pass through.

You travel back from the water source until you get solid ground then dig down to the water table.

All of a sudden water will seep from the walls of your hole and fill it to the general water level of the area. Water levels change drastically from day to day.

In this particular well I dug down a foot and got water, the next day I had to dig down a further 6 inches to reach water because it had not rained and the water table had lowered.

Once you hit water you will find that it is very cloudy from the ground being disturbed. No problem let it settle for a few hours and come back. The top few inches will be clear. This water has been filtered through many tons of earth and roots and organic material so is much cleaner than standing water for example. Of course you should boil it anyway to be safe as a dose of the squirts can ruin a good trip.

You can improve your well by trimming all the roots etc that poke out and smoothing the sides of the well to stop soil dropping in. You can also line it with sticks.

Lastly make sure the well is covered well with no gaps. I once found a dead mouse in mine, the poor bugger had drown but at least he was well hydrated with ground filtered water!!!!!