Saturday I wrote a blog on FHA’s Hand Dug Well Guideline Waiver. I refer to these Wells as Hand Dug Wells, because many of the older ones were hand dug. But they are also referred to as just Dug Wells. My friend William J Archambault, Jr., in his comment on my blog, was not sure what I meant by a Hand Dug Well. That got me thinking, if someone like Bill, who I consider to be very knowledgeable on a number of topics, was unsure of what I was talking about, I should clarify it for everyone.
A Hand Dug Well or Dug Well is simply a hole that is manually dug to access a water supply. Hand Dug Wells are basically a hole in the ground dug by shovel or in more modern times backhoe. The hole is dug below the groundwater table until a sufficient flow of water is able to enter the hole. The hole or at this point well is lined with various materials such as stones, brick, tile, concrete or any other material that will keep the walls from collapsing, and holds back the soil. The Well is then finished with a wood, stone or concrete cap. I have provided sketch below, showing a more detailed explanation of how a Hand Dug Well might be constructed.
As you can see the construction was cumbersome, so Hand Dug Wells were fairly shallow compared to the present day Drilled Wells. Hand Dug Wells were basically only 10 to 30 feet deep, a few may have gone as deep as 60 to 70 feet out of necessity in order to reach the water supply. This is very shallow compared to the Drilled Wells of today, which may go several hundred feet deep.
Because Dug Wells are not very deep, and draw water from water supplies that are shallow. They are much more susceptible to water contamination and drought than Drill Wells, which draw water from deeper, more stable water supplies.
Provided by the New Hampshire Department of Enviornment Services.
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