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H04-02 · Module 2 of 7 · Pages: 24 · Worksheets: 7
Wells and springs: digging, capping, maintenance
Where to dig, how to cap a spring, what to demand from a driller, how to work safely in a well and how to clean and disinfect it
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In short
- Put the well or spring box uphill and well away from the septic tank, toilet, muck heap and livestock housing: as a rough guide at least 30 m (100 ft).
- Before digging or drilling, ask the environment regulator and your council or county what paperwork you need.
- Never go down a well without testing the air, a rope, a harness and two people at the top. A petrol pump or generator in a well or next to the opening kills with carbon monoxide.
- Top of the well: concrete or a ring 50 cm (20 in) above ground, a concrete apron around it and a cover a child cannot lift.
- After cleaning, flooding or repairs: shock chlorination and a new water test.
What's inside
Chapters
- Spring, dug well or drilled well
- Where to dig: distances and protection
- Paperwork: permission for wells and abstraction
- Capping a spring
- Dug well
- Safe work in a well
- Drilled well: what to demand from the driller
- Pumps
- Maintenance, cleaning and chlorination
- Flooding and a polluted well
- Common mistakes
- Printable checklist
Worksheets
- Well or spring site check
- Well chlorine calculator
- Questions for the driller and neighbours
- Paperwork and contacts
- Well and spring log
- Well and spring calendar
- Safe descent plan
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