What is an abyssinian well and how is it performed

An interesting and profitable solution in terms of autonomous water supply is a drilling well, which is also called the Abyssinian well or the Abyssinian well. Its feature is the small diameter - only 1-2 inches. Therefore, doing the Abyssinian well is much easier than other types of wells.

Next, we will take a closer look at what this design is and how to drill the Abyssinian well independently.

General information

So, the Abyssinian well is a small-diameter well that is drilled to the first aquifer up to 10 meters deep. Given the small diameter, the extraction of water is carried out either by a surface pumping station or a hand pump.

The Abyssinian well received its name from the country of Abyssinia, in which it was first used by an English expedition in the nineteenth century. This design quickly became popular in Europe, and also appeared in Russia.

Merits

The main advantage of the Abyssinian wells is the simplicity and high speed of their device. You can run such a well in almost any terrain. Moreover, having a set of simple equipment prepared in advance, you can make a full-fledged source of autonomous water supply in just a couple of hours.

No complicated equipment is needed for the construction of the well; two people can easily cope with this work. Thanks to these parameters, the Abyssinian wells are still "in service" of many armies in different countries to provide personnel with water.

Another advantage of such a well is its low price, in fact, all costs are reduced to the acquisition of pipes, pumps and hoses.

disadvantages

The big disadvantage of this design, in its original form, was the low quality of produced water. Namely - poor filtration of the rock led to the presence of a large amount of mechanical impurities. In addition, it reduced the life of the well.

However, over time, the problem was solved - they began to wind up a fine mesh on the perforated tip, which improved the quality of water and increased the life of the system itself.

This raises the question, why perform expensive wells if you can use the Abyssinian well?

This is due to some other design flaws:

• The depth of the well can not exceed 8-10 meters, otherwise the pump simply does not lift water to the surface. Accordingly, it is possible to execute a well not at each site.
• Water in the upper aquifer may not be suitable for drinking. This is due to the fact that it is most vulnerable to chemical, industrial and bacterial contamination from the surface. Therefore, before completing a well, one should take a sample of water from neighboring wells and perform a chemical and bacteriological analysis.

Tip! To find out if you have a chance to install a hole in the area, measure the depth of the well at the neighbors.

How does the well

Initially, these wells were performed as follows:

• On a conventional water pipe with a diameter of 1-1.5 inches, a sharp tip was made.
• Then, a plurality of holes of small diameter were drilled above the tip in the pipe.
• Next, the pipe was scored before the first aquifer.
• After reaching the tip of the aquifer, the water was pumped out using manual pumps.

Over time, as mentioned above, changes were made to the design that made it more perfect. From that moment on, such wells ceased to be considered a “traveling” water supply option. They began to actively apply to systems of private and collective water supply.

How to run a well

Location selection

You can even run an Abyssinian well in the basement of a house. Since the structure is beyond repair and maintenance, there are no access requirements for it.

If the lawn near the house turned out to be the most optimal place for such a well, then it is desirable to perform a caisson above it, in which the pump for the Abyssinian well will be located. This will allow the construction to be used in the winter, as the caisson will warm the equipment and protect the well from debris. In general, choosing a place for a well can be guided by general recommendations.

Tip! To determine the location on the site with the closest location of groundwater, you can navigate by vegetation. The more luxuriant and moisture-loving it is, the closer the aquifer is.

Drilling

As mentioned above, the well was initially filled with an ordinary sledge hammer. Later, craftsmen came up with such a device as "grandma". In fact, this is the same sledgehammer, but mounted on the rails, which ensures the uniformity of the strikes inflicted, as well as the possibility of involving two people in the work simultaneously.

However, the driving process itself creates unnecessary loads on the structure consisting of scraps of pipes with a threaded connection. And this is fraught with loss of tightness, respectively, the threat of water pollution. In addition, the probability of damaging the mesh filter for an Abyssinian well is high enough, which will shorten the life of the well.

However, even this is not the main problem of such an immersion structure. The fact is that by clogging it is very difficult to get the filter zone into the aquifer. The only way to estimate the position of the filter relative to groundwater is to pour water into the pipe and orient it at the rate of its absorption.

When the filter is in the aquifer, the water goes almost instantly. However, this method does not guarantee an accurate result.

Therefore, the best option is auger drilling of Abyssinian wells. This method allows you to get into the aquifer as accurately as possible. In addition, the design is immersed without the risk of spoiling the filter or disrupt the tightness of the connections.

But the most important thing is that it is possible to improve the quality of the produced water by sprinkling the well with fine gravel.

As a result, the instructions for the implementation of the well, is as follows:

• The well is drilled to the first aquifer and a depth of 8-10 meters. For this you can use a modified garden auger with removable extensions.
• Then the pipe with the filter is lowered.
• Filling the pipe with rubble.
• The intake port of the pump is lowered. As already mentioned above, surface pumps are used for the Abyssinian well.
• The pump is connected to the water supply, after which the well can begin to operate.

Note! Before performing chemical and bacteriological analysis, water from a well cannot be used for food purposes.

Conclusion

The Abyssinian well is not always possible to use for the extraction of drinking water, however, in some cases it can provide a full supply of water to the house. Therefore, if you are lucky enough to have a site that meets all the requirements for the execution of such a well, then you can safely take this opportunity.

Additional information on this topic can be obtained from the video in this article.