Manual drilling of wells for water: how to drill water intake manually

Not all owners of suburban areas are willing to lay out large sums to attract drillers to construct a water well. However, the convenience of using your own water intake is difficult to overestimate. You can save by constructing a water source with your own hands. How to make it?

You will learn all about how manual drilling of wells for water is carried out from our article. We will tell you how and in what way the work is done, what novice drillers will need to implement the idea. Based on our recommendations, you can easily drill and equip the mine.

For independent masters, we brought and disassembled all manual drilling techniques, explained in which cases they should be used. Attached are diagrams of drilling rigs and shells available for self-manufacturing, posted photo selections and video instructions.

Types of wells and their features

Own water source is an excellent opportunity to provide yourself and your loved ones with clean life-giving water and satisfy household needs. By drilling and well completion water supply can be solved for several decades to come.

The choice of the method of drilling and the amount of work to equip the well depends on the type of hydraulic structure.

Abyssinian type well

If the water on the site is supposedly located at depths of 10-15 meters, then it is more profitable and easier to build an Abyssinian well. This type of hydraulic structure uses an aquifer located above a waterproof clay layer. The aquifer is fed by the infiltration of precipitation and the waters of nearby reservoirs.

Even a beginner craftsman who can only master basic drilling skills can drill a simple needle-hole.

A relatively shallow narrow borehole is a column of thick-walled pipes of VGP with a diameter of 50 - 80 mm. A special filter is arranged in the lower, very first link of the column by drilling holes from the pipe walls.

Pipes perform the function of the barrel, the Abyssinian well-needle does not require additional casing. It is not drilled, but immersed in the ground by driving.

Compact size abyssinian type water intake allow you to place it on almost any free place in the house territory. The most common way to break through this type of hydraulic structure is by impact drilling.

Features of sand wells

With a depth of the aquifer up to 30 - 40 meters, common in loose, incoherent sediments, a sandy structure is constructed aquifer. It is called that because it extracts water from water-saturated sands.

The fifty-meter depth of the source is not able to guarantee the crystal clear water, and therefore the contents of the well should be checked by laboratory means for the presence of chemical compounds

The aquifer of the well on the sand is located only three to four tens of meters from the surface. And in order to reach it one does not have to go through hard - rocky and semi-rocky rocks. Therefore, manual drilling of a sand well will not be difficult if one of the methods described below is applied.

Deep artesian well

But planning to drill an artesian well, you can’t do it yourself. Artesian water is distributed along cracks in impermeable rock and semi-rock formations at a depth of about 40-200 meters.

Only professionals with the necessary knowledge and special equipment for drilling can handle the task of drilling a limestone well

To determine the depth of the water they should focus on the data of hydraulic structures of this kind, drilled not far from the upcoming work site.

Since the artesian well is able to provide water to several sites at once, it is convenient to order drilling services in a fold. This will significantly save on drilling and arranging a source of water supply.

Self Drilling Methods

In order to choose the best for you personally drilling method, you must first study their specifics and understand what kind of tool is needed, whether it will be possible to drill with your own hands.

Manual auger method

Auger drilling is one of the most common and available methods. It is effective in the construction of wells whose depth does not exceed 40 m.

The screw is a helical shaft equipped with a drill bit and angled steel blades

The essence of the method is that the screw, like a corkscrew, is screwed into the ground. As they penetrate into the soil, a helical rod destroys the layers, and its metal blades carry the spent earth to the surface.

Screws used for manual drilling of wells are of two types:

• Rods, cutting blades to which are welded at right angles.
• Structures for which the blades are welded at an angle of 30-60 °.

The design of the second embodiment is more convenient in operation. Due to the location of the blades at an angle, the crushed soil does not fall into the well, but is completely removed to the surface.

To facilitate manual labor and speed up the process, you can use small-sized screw installations.

This technique is especially effective if work is to be done with complex soils, which include rock inclusions

Small screw augers operate on the same principle as a manual drill, but are driven by an electric motor.

It is possible to drill a shallow well to take water to irrigate the garden without drilling toolusing a garden drill. True, for casing the walls, pipes will be required from which the development shaft is assembled, and metal pipe-rods required for building.

Core drilling technology

Core drilling is performed using a special tool in the form of a pipe equipped with a crown. The specifics of drilling and the diameter of the pipe, which does not exceed 160 mm, allows you to work fast enough. For the day of work, depending on the density of the rock, you can walk up to several tens of meters.

With the help of the attachment unit located in the upper part of the core pipe, one and a half meter rods are built up as the tool deepens. The build-up is carried out in stages, forming a technological column from a projectile with rods.

The crown is made of durable metal. The edges of the crown are sharpened so that its incisors easily cope with dense rocks. The shape and size of the crowns used is determined by the physical and mechanical characteristics of the rock.

As it rotates, a pipe equipped with a crown goes deeper into the rock and forms a hole for a well of appropriate diameter

When dealing with superhard rock, a chisel is first used before immersing the pipe. Then, with the help of a crown, a borehole is drilled, and the sludge clogged in the core pipe shell is raised to the surface.

In the process manual drilling a casing string is installed in the core method to strengthen the walls of the structure in the trunk during drilling. To facilitate the process of penetration into the projectile periodically, clean water or clay solution is supplied.

Shock-rope method

The method involves breaking soil by lowering a heavy drilling tool from a height of two meters.

For this purpose, a drilling structure is used, the main elements of which are:

• a tripod that is placed above the drilling site;
• block with a winch and cable;
• driving glass attached to the end of the cable.

The use of a winch allows you to reduce physical activity, and the use of a rotating motor shaft with a gearbox - to automate the process.

A driven glass made of a metal pipe should have a well-sharpened cutting edge that is capable of breaking even hard rocks.To break excessively dense soils, an additional steel rod is used as a weighting agent for the glass, fixing it just above the drilling structure. Loose breeds extracted by bailer.

Sinking down to the drilling site with force, the tool breaks the rock, and the cutting chute located in the lower part captures the sludge and brings it to the surface

The glass is freed from the soil captured by it through its bottom, tapping the walls of the shell with a sledgehammer. The cleaning of the flap is carried out through the technological hole located in its upper part.

The work is performed in the following sequence:

1. In a chosen place, dig a hole 1x1 meter in size with a depth of 0.5 meters.
2. A garden drill is installed at the right angle in the center of the pit. By turning the tool around its axis, deepen it into the ground. As necessary, the screw rod is increased by a pipe, fixing it by means of a bolted connection.
3. After the appearance of wet sand, the drill is removed. Instead, a specially assembled casing construction is installed in the hole, which is hammered with a sledgehammer.
4. The rock collapsed during the installation of the casing is removed by the bailer. Each time a projectile, when introduced into the formation, captures and holds part of it.
5. As the casing is deepened, it is increased by another segment of a similar diameter. The segments are screwed or welded together to obtain a single tight trunk.
6. To deepen the casing, gently twist and listen to the sounds made. A rattle will occur during the friction of coarse sand, rustling - fine gravel, silence - when passing clay soil.
7. For drilling loose rocks, such as loose sand, pebble, gravel, a bailer is used. Clay rocks and dense sands pass through a glass.
8. After performing a series of successive strokes, a glass or a bailer is lifted to the surface, removing soil from it. After this, the cycle of work is repeated.

As in previous methods, to facilitate the process of manual drilling of a well, clay mixture or water is poured into the hole, and then it is recovered using a special bucket. If noise occurs during drilling, the well should be flooded. If the water leaves slowly, the pipe should also be deepened by half a meter, but if quickly - only 20-30 cm.

For shallow production, you can easily do it yourself. To do this, you need a pipe with a diameter of 100-120 mm, a metal earring and an eye for fastening the cable, which must be attached to the top of the pipe.

Rotational Impact Method

The main difference of this method is that the rig simultaneously performs both shock and rotational movements. This approach allows you to speed up the drilling process. This method is especially effective if it is necessary to equip a hydraulic structure, if the geological section in the area is heterogeneous.

The rotational impact method also involves the use of a tripod, with which it is much easier to immerse and then remove the drill to the surface

Shock-rotational and shock-rope methods of drilling are effective when arranging wells in loose soils whose particles are not interconnected. Both methods are suitable for drilling and extracting clay soils: sandy loam, loam.

When sinking in loose rocks due to insufficient connection of soil particles with each other at the stage of well construction, the probability of shedding its walls is high. Therefore, wells on sand are necessarily equipped with casing and filters that prevent the ingress of large inclusions into the extracted water.

Step-by-step auger drilling technology

Among all these methods, auger is considered to be the simplest one. But it should be borne in mind that it is effective only when drilling loose and clay soils.

Preparation of necessary tools

Before drilling a well manually, it is necessary to prepare the tools:

• drill or small screw installation.
• drill rig with a winch.
• set of 3-4 rods.
• casing.

If necessary, equip the well at a depth of more than 8 meters to facilitate the immersion of the drill and its subsequent removal from the wellbore equipment is fixed to home-made oil rig.

The drilling rig can be built from wooden beams or metal pipes, assembled from them a structure in the shape of a tripod

The size of the tripod must be proportional to the height of the drill string section. To create a structure, the bars are laid in the form of a triangle and fixed by means of a bolt or welding connection.

They make holes for inserting a metal pipe, which will serve as a support. The dimensions of the base are determined only by the stability of the structure.

In the upper part of the structure, a hole is additionally equipped through which the rod will pass.

To protect the wellbore from destruction and shedding of the walls, a casing is installed from pipes that have high bearing capacity to shear and compressive reservoir loads. For work, pipes made of metal, asbestos cement or polymers are used.

To create a casing string, it is convenient to use pipes equipped with a threaded connection on the external and internal surface

When assembling a structure, segments of such elements can be easily screwed into each other without involving additional assembly units.

Making a screw from improvised materials

Material for making a drilling tool, in this case a helical rod, a d100mm pipe may protrude. For this purpose, it is better to use stainless steel pipes with a wall thickness of at least 5 mm.

The upper part of the structure must have:

• on the upper end there is a screw thread on the outside for connection with a bar;
• at the lower end there is a screw auger with at least two turns.

To facilitate the process of turning the drill, a handle 1.5 meters long is welded to the upper cut of the pipe.The transition element between the handle and collapsible rods will be a tee equipped with an internal screw thread.

The cutting blades of the drill are made from strips of sheet metal with a thickness of 2-2.5 mm, which are welded to the pipe at an equidistant distance

Rods of 1.5 meters in length are made from a pipe of the same diameter:

• a first rod with an external screw thread at the lower end for connecting the drill;
• all subsequent threaded rods at both ends of the same size.

Couplings must have the same thread specifications. As necessary, build-up designs they are simply screwed to the auger, previously unscrewing the handle.

Some craftsmen use an ice drill as a screw. The knife of the tool in this case performs the function of the cutting blades of the screw. Extension rods are made separately.

In order to use the tool as a drill and to be able to reach large depths with its help, rods are made from d25 mm pipes for extension

Trying to improve the tool, some craftsmen additionally welded reinforced cutters to the factory edges of the improvised screw.

Drilling operations

On the well location they dig a hole with a size of 150x150 cm. It is necessary in order to ensure the stability of a vertically installed pipe. So that the walls of the recess do not crumble, they are strengthened with cuts of the board or pieces of chipboard.

A drill is immersed in the recess and, holding the tool by the handle, they begin to gradually screw into the soil in the clockwise direction

A drill is immersed in the recess and, holding the tool by the handle, they gradually begin to screw into the soil in the clockwise direction. This work is more convenient to do together: the first will scroll the handle of the tool, and the second - to press on it from above.

After passing the first meter, the trunk of the structure begins to form a diameter of at least 12-15 cm. For this, the casing is lowered into the recess. The diameter of the pipe should be slightly larger than the size of the blades of the drill. Further clogging of pipes is carried out in parallel with the deepening of the well.

After deepening the drill by 1.5-2 meters, it will be quite difficult to rotate the tool yourself. To facilitate the work will help the use of pipe wrenches and other gripping devices.

After passing every three to four meters, the screw shaft should be removed to the surface, and its mouth cleaned from the ground

When the moment comes that the drilling tool will be deepened to the full height during immersion, it should be “increased”. To do this, a rod is fixed to it by means of a threaded connection or a “finger-rod” extension.

At this stage, it is important to ensure the strength of the elements. To simplify the task of determining the depth traveled, it is advisable to mark the extended rods.

During the passage of the layers, they continue to form the casing, not forgetting to check the verticality of the trunk. Even minimal curvature can prevent the casing from freely lowering. Therefore, if during the work the drill begins to beat against the walls of the casing string, wooden wedges are hammered to adjust the verticality of the trunk between the soil and the casing pipe.

Work continues until the soil delivered to the surface is wet. This will indicate that the aquifer is already close. To overcome the aquifer, it remains only to go a little deeper.

Casing can be, but it is undesirable to mount, even after completion of drilling. After installing the casing in the fully drilled hole, the collapsed soil will need to be removed again from the well, but the bailer will have to act.

So that the stacked casing does not sink into the trunk until the next segment is attached, it is held with a clamp

To temporarily fix the casing installed in the drilled shaft, use a device in the form of a clamp equipped with handles. He will not allow the casing to sink into the hole before the next section of the casing is connected.

But it is worth noting that this method is far from the most rational, since it requires a long cleaning of the bottom of the sludge. When forming the column, do not lower the pipes to the bottom of the well. They should not reach the lowest point of the bottom by about half a meter.

To form the casing string, plastic pipes are introduced in series, connecting the elements as they deepen

To facilitate the drilling process with the help of a screw, experts recommend washing with water from time to time. The jet pumped into the casing cavity will wash the dump to the surface.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Well drilling by shock-rope method:

The subtleties of making a screw with your own hands:

For those who want to know how to properly drill a water well manually, we have given proven methods. It is necessary to choose the optimal method of drilling, seriously approach the selection of the necessary equipment, and when conducting drilling, strictly follow the advice of experienced craftsmen.

The result of the efforts will be a hand-made source of water supply, providing clean water for all households.

Want to tell how you drilled a well in your own area? Have questions or interesting facts about the topic of the article? Please write comments in the block below.