Borehole or well - which is better? Detailed comparative review

The desire to acquire their own source of water for many owners of suburban areas is quite logical and natural.The only stumbling block in resolving this issue is determining what is better - a well or a well?

Builders who provide well-digging services are ready to present a sea of ​​arguments, confirming that the well is an ingenious invention that will serve well for five decades. Masters who specialize in drilling wells convince us that a well is the best option for a hydraulic structure.

Each of these two methods of water extraction has its own pros and cons, and we will consider the main ones in this article. To do this, let’s compare the complexity and cost of constructing each of these water intake options, compare the service life and frequency of preventative cleaning.

We will also talk about the quality and volume of produced water. All these factors will help you decide on the best water extraction method that best suits your living conditions and that can meet all your needs.

Design features of wells and wells

A well is a hydraulic structure in the form of a vertically dug cavity up to 30 meters deep and a shaft diameter of over 70 centimeters, the walls of which are reinforced reinforced concrete rings.

In the ground layers there are several aquifers located at different depths. The upper one, referred to as the perched water, is located 2-3 meters from the surface. Its water is quite turbid and dirty, as it is fed by drainage and storm water that penetrates the soil and man-made sediments.

Water extracted from this layer is used to water plants. Groundwater lies slightly deeper in sandy aquifers. Water is obtained from them when constructing a drinking well.

The main difference between a mine well and a well is depth: if a well buried 30 meters into the ground is considered deep, then for a well this is rather the minimum mark

A well is considered to be a specially equipped vertical channel equipped with pipes with a diameter of up to 110 mm, which is intended for the extraction of drinking water from an interstratal aquifer.

There can be several aquifers in the ground, and they alternate with impermeable layers. To extract water from the first and second sandy horizons, a Abyssinian wells - small-diameter wells, which are not drilled during the installation process, but pierce the soil layers with an inch rod, like a needle.

At a depth of 200 meters and below there are limestone layers called artesian. They contain larger reserves of water than the same sand layers.

The key difference between an artesian well is that it produces water that lies between two dense layers.

Since the price of such a hydraulic structure directly depends on the depth of the structure, and its productivity is tens of times greater than the needs of one family, artesian wells are most often installed collectively: one per street or for an entire village.

Rich in minerals beneficial to human health, artesian water is naturally pure, since it is perfectly protected by the thickness of the waterproof column from sewage and precipitation

Comparative cost of water intake

For many owners, the question of choosing which is better, a well or a well, is far from idle. After all, it is he who determines the cost of construction and maintenance of water production facilities.

When calculating the estimated cost of water intake, a number of parameters should be taken into account:

• excavation work based on each linear meter in depth;
• volume of materials to strengthen the walls of the penetration;
• frequency of maintenance of the structure.

As calculations show, in terms of cost, including all installation work and maintenance of the erected structure, a well is cheaper.

Due to the low cost of excavation work, which can be performed without the use of heavy special equipment, many summer residents, gardeners and villagers can afford to install a well.

A summary table for comparing the estimated estimated cost allows you to choose the best option for yourself: install a well or drill a well

The estimated cost of completing a well varies from 30 to 40 thousand rubles.

It includes:

1. Installation of a bottom filter (4-5 thousand rubles).
2. Filtration gravel filling (1-1.5 thousand rubles).
3. External house for the head (from 7 thousand rubles).
4. Submersible pump with installation (15 + 7 = 22 thousand rubles).

Construction of a well without taking into account the laying of communications from the point of water intake to the points of consumption will cost about 100 thousand rubles. The cost depends on the time of year, drilling depth and equipment used. We examined in more detail the main factors influencing the final cost of constructing a well. In this article.

The well package includes many components, including a pump, caisson, control devices and a hydraulic accumulator, the cost of which amounts to tens of thousands of rubles

The price of a pump for a shaft well is also much cheaper compared to pumping equipmentnecessary when constructing a well.

Frequency of preventative cleaning

Preventive well maintenance activities are carried out annually. The price of such annual sanitary treatment, carried out through the efforts of craftsmen specializing in this field, is about 6 thousand rubles.

The condition of the water in the well must be constantly monitored by checking its organoleptic and chemical indicators in environmental services laboratories

When carrying out a major cleaning of the walls from siltation, which is carried out once every five years, you will have to spend another 7 thousand rubles. If it is necessary to replace the bottom filter, the cost of the work doubles.

And here well cleaning in this regard it turns out cheaper. With proper arrangement of a well, maintenance of a hydraulic structure is reduced only to monitoring the operation of the system, since it does not require annual cleaning.

Preventative cleaning of the system is performed every five years. The cost of the service, depending on the depth of the structure, varies from 6 to 50 thousand rubles.

Water purification from a well is carried out by installing filters. It is easy to care for the filter elements of the structure: they only need to be cleaned and changed as needed.

Features of installation of structures

There are also a number of significant differences in construction technologies and requirements for the placement of shaft and tube wells that influence the choice of the type of water source for the development of country estates.

Requirements for placement

When constructing a well, it is important to maintain a distance from buried septic tanks, sewer lines and surface pollutants. Taking into account current sanitary standards, it must be at least 50 meters from cesspools, toilets and livestock yards located on the site.

Maintaining a distance between structures will avoid accidental release of household waste and sewage into water extracted from a well.

By choosing a place to drill a sand well, this distance can be reduced to 30 meters without worrying that surface water contaminated by domestic waste will reach the water intake point.

The closed design of the structure, the walls of which are made of durable moisture-resistant concrete rings, helps prevent the penetration of contaminated water and debris into its cavities. We talked more about designing a water supply well on the site in this material.

The requirements for the construction of an artesian well are more stringent. Industrial enterprises and other sources of chemical contamination must be removed at a distance of more than 300 meters from the well location.

The distance to garbage dumps, burial grounds and centralized sewerage should be at least 200 meters.Houses and outbuildings must be removed at least 30 meters.

Obtaining permission and construction timeframes

When constructing a well from the first aquifer to the depth of the aeration zone, which is 20 meters, no permits are required. You can determine the horizon of the aquifer experimentally, or by submitting an application for the issuance of geological information for your area to the territorial fund.

When planning to drill a well for the extraction of deep water, the horizon of which exceeds 20 meters, before starting work it is necessary to obtain a package of permits.

To obtain the right to drill an artesian well and use water extracted from the subsoil, a project is developed that describes:

• what rocks does the well intersect;
• at what depth are the filters located;
• Is cementation of pipes provided and to what depth?

A license is issued only for wells intended for the selection of artesian water. Along with the license, the owner of the well receives an agreement, thereby obliging himself to submit reports to statistics and pay taxes to the tax authorities.

When drawing up a project, water supply diagrams are developed, and also calculations are made of flow rate, impact on groundwater and calculation of sanitary protection zones

The well passport attached to the documents will display all the necessary characteristics:

• well location coordinates;
• immersion depth;
• dynamic and piezometric levels;
• sizes of casing pipes used;
• performance of the structure.

The process of drilling a well will take less time than carrying out procedures for approving the project in various authorities.On average, it takes from one to two days to set up a sand well and a hydraulic structure of the “needle” type. We recommend reading more about methods of drilling a well and their features.

Drilling an Abyssinian well can also be done on your own, using a manual method using an auger drill with a diameter of 150 mm.

To drill an artesian well, it is better to involve professionals, concluding an agreement with them to carry out the work. After all, any deviation of the trunk from the vertical during the installation process may result in the need to redo the work again.

When installing a well, there is no need to obtain building permits. According to Article 19 of the Subsoil Law, it is allowed to build underground structures with a depth of no more than 5 meters on a private plot.

The well shaft is a more complex structure with a depth of 5 to 30 meters, the construction of which will require at least a week

Complexity well construction consists mainly in the labor-intensive process of constructing the shaft - it has a large number of structural parts. So, when constructing the walls of a concrete shaft of a structure 30 meters deep, 33 reinforced concrete rings will be required, with a product height of 90 centimeters, and the same number of joints to connect them.

For comparison: when constructing wells use pipes, the length of the segments is 2.06 meters. Consequently, they have fewer connecting seams.

The only thing is that after the construction of the well, it is advisable to register the material object officially by adding it to the site plan. The BTI does not impose any sanctions on unauthorized construction of a well.The technical plan of the site is the only official document on which the well will be indicated.

Operational period of structures

The service life of a well is from 30 to 50 years.

The average stable operation of well-type hydraulic structures is:

• “Abyssinian needle” - from 5 to 7 years;
• sand well - up to 15 years;
• artesian over 50 years.

The service life of both types of hydraulic structures depends on the quality of the system, regularity of maintenance, soil structure of the area and the chemical composition of the produced water.

A diagram will help to visually present a comparative analysis of the operational period of each of the above water intake sources

Volume and quality of produced water

A significant parameter when choosing between a well and a well is also the maximum volume of water “extracted” from the source. Some people mistakenly believe that there is much less water in a well than in a well, arguing that the well has a much larger cross-sectional area than the same well. Actually this is not true.

Features of water intake from a well

Due to the fact that the well is filled only with waters of Quaternary sediments, the amount of inflows of the hydraulic structure is limited to 0.5 cubic meters per hour. This volume is enough to maintain a small plot with a house.

But when arranging a large area, including the cost of watering green spaces, filling a swimming pool and other household needs, this amount will clearly be small. And, as practice shows, the volume of water in a well is restored very slowly, in some cases up to several hours.

If you focus on water quality, then the well wins in this regard. When constructing a well, it is impossible to ensure complete waterproofing of the structure, since it is necessary to create conditions for natural inflow through the bottom.

Leaks in the walls of the structure may result in the aquifer mixing with groundwater during operation of the water intake.

Although the water produced from a well will not have the taste of “rust” and chlorine, most likely after heavy rain or flood, it will still contain impurities of groundwater. About purifying water from a well we wrote here.

Specifics of water intake from a well

Spring water has always been considered the cleanest and healthiest. Due to the fact that the well collects drinking water at great depths, it does not mix with upland melt and flood waters. And even after heavy rains, the water extracted from the well does not become cloudy. The water in the well is quickly replenished.

The average amount of inflows for well-type hydraulic structures is:

• "needle" — 0.5 cubic meters/hour;
• sand well – 1.5 cubic meters/hour;
• artesian – 5 cubic meters/hour.

High inflow is typical only for aquifers located as deep as possible from the surface. The aquifer reserve is practically inexhaustible. Complete drying of the well is impossible even with regular operation of the structure using a powerful pump.

Water purified from impurities is extracted from well-type installations located on limestone or sandy aquifer, which are placed between water-resistant layers

It is worth noting that some well owners complain that the water produced by this method has a slightly metallic taste. But this effect is observed when pipes made of low-quality metal are used during the installation of the structure.

The priority in choosing a well is easily explained by the high tightness of the structure, which is achieved due to the tight fit of the casing pipe to the body of the structure. This allows you to prevent mixing of groundwater and the aquifer.

In addition, well-type water intakes are equipped with reliable filtration systems, thanks to which a high degree of water purification is achieved. We talked more about purifying water from a well in our other article.

Through a narrow neck closed with a lid at the top, insects and small amphibians cannot penetrate into the well, which during the process of decay can release toxic substances, thereby promoting the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Tips for builders on choosing the optimal water source:

To summarize, it is worth noting that it is better to equip a mine well in summer cottages intended for seasonal living, provided that the water is located only a few meters from the ground level. With a small water consumption, which is mainly spent on household needs and watering plants, excess moisture will accumulate in the shaft.

In addition, when installing a well in your dacha, you will always have the opportunity to raise water from the depths manually, which is so important in conditions of frequent power outages.

When developing areas intended for year-round living, where the water depth is quite large, you should still prefer to drill a well. You will have to spend money on its arrangement first, but in the process of constant operation of the structure the cost is fully recouped.

Do you still have questions after reading our article or can’t decide on the optimal water intake method for you? Ask your questions, describe your situation in detail in the comments block below - our experts and other site visitors will try to help you.