Water is life and hardly anyone would want to argue with that. It is needed not only in apartments, but also in your own summer cottage starting from drinking, cooking and ending with various household needs. Therefore, every summer resident sooner or later thinks about installing a water supply from a well or borehole at his dacha. After all, it is not profitable to buy water every time, even if only for drinking. However, before you begin to implement the plan, you first need to decide how to find water on the site.
A little information regarding groundwater will not hurt:
Their accumulation occurs due to the filtration of atmospheric precipitation through the top layer of soil. Penetrating lower and lower, the water reaches the impermeable layer, where underground reservoirs of various sizes are subsequently formed. Moreover, they may not be positioned strictly horizontally, but rather bend. In this case, a kind of lens is formed, the volume of which can range from several cubic meters to kilometers.
Thus, depending on the depth of occurrence, the following water layers can be distinguished:
- perched water;
- groundwater;
- interstratal waters;
- artesian waters.
At the depth of the first 4 meters there is the upper water layer. Appears after rains and due to melt water. During dry times, the layer dries out. In addition, such water is not purified, is polluted and, as a result, is not suitable for drinking.
The depth of the next water layer can be up to 10 meters. Unlike perennial water, the water does not disappear from here. Under groundwater there is a waterproof layer of soil that prevents water from seeping even deeper. There is no pressure here, and therefore if you drill a well, the water level will not change. This water is better filtered by the top layer of soil and is noticeably cleaner than in perched water. This layer can be considered drinking, and it is it that is used for water supply.
The interstratal water layer is located below groundwater - up to 40 meters and is separated from it by a waterproof or semi-permeable layer of soil. Water comes here from higher levels.
Water from the artesian layer is the best option for the water supply system. The water here is better purified and is often under pressure, so no special costs are required to lift it. If you drill a well to such a depth, you can provide water not only for yourself, but also for several houses. As a striking example, springs and springs, when water from the drinking layer finds its way to the surface.
Methods for determining water
People have been able to search for water underground since ancient times. It has kind of become an art. There are several methods that can lead to the desired water source, but not everyone gives a complete guarantee. Still worth a try.
This method of dowsing will help solve the problem of how to find water for a well. People have been using it for a long time and quite successfully. The tool used is a dowel, which is easy to make with your own hands. Usually it is made from a twig of hazel, willow or cherry with a fork, the main thing is that it is flexible enough. Having spread the branches, you need to give it the shape of the letter “U”, which you need to keep parallel to the ground, just do not pinch it too hard. In this position, the dowser slowly walks around the area and carefully monitors the branch. When approaching an area with shallow underground water, the branch should bend down.
It is better to use this method for people who have increased sensitivity to magnetic vibrations and well-developed intuition. Otherwise, nothing may work out.
Nowadays, the old way of finding water for a well has been slightly improved. Instead of a branch, you can make a frame with your own hands. To do this, take a metal wire from any metal (steel, copper, aluminum), even electrodes for welding are suitable, and bend it into an L-shape. The optimal length of the wire is 40 cm, while the length of the short ends is 10 cm. You can take two elderberry tubes with the core removed and insert the ends of the wire into them, or you can do without them - as you like.
Taking the frames in your hands with the long ends forward and lightly squeezing them so that they rotate freely, walk around the area in a similar manner without rushing. As you approach the water, the wires will intersect.
This method is best to look for water during the periods:
- from 5 to 6 am;
- from 16 to 17;
- from 20 to 21;
- from 24 to 1.
And on an empty stomach and in a sober state! Undesirable times are from 18 to 19 and from 22 to 23 hours.
Silica gel
Another ancient method can be used to find water for drilling a well. Take an unglazed clay pot, dry it well and place it bottom up over the intended source of water. After some time, if there is water in this place, the pot will fog up from the inside.
Nowadays, in addition to the pot, silica gel is used, which is a good desiccant material. To do this, you need to take a liter or two of material, dry it well in the oven and pour it into the same pot. It is better to pre-weigh the dishes with gel, preferably on accurate scales. After this, the pot must be wrapped in thick fabric or non-woven material and buried in the place where the water is calculated to a depth of half a meter.
After a day, the pot can be dug up and weighed. The heavier it is, the closer the water is. For greater effect, you can bury several of these pots. For a control measurement, you can bury the pot again in the found place.
To find water in the area, you can use salt or regular red brick instead of silica gel. They, too, must first be dried, weighed, and then the difference in indicators must be determined.
Exploration by drilling
The efficiency of drilling a small exploration well gives 100% results. You can do this yourself, but with helpers it will go easier and a little faster. You can hire specialists for this work, which will be expensive, or you can do everything yourself. An ordinary garden auger will do. If you don’t have a drill and don’t have enough money, you can make it yourself. The drilling depth will be 6-10 meters, so it should be possible to increase the length of the handle during work. To save the tool, you need to remove the soil every 10-15 cm. The presence of water can be determined by the damp soil.
Searching for water using exploratory drilling with your own hands will allow you to determine not only the depth of groundwater, but also give a description of the soil that is located under and above aquifer.
Natural indicators
If you are observant enough, you can determine whether there is water in any area based on characteristic natural signs. For example, there are such indicator plants:
- Potentilla gossamer;
- autumn colchicum;
- coltsfoot;
- sedge;
- horse sorrel;
- digitalis.
These plants grow near the groundwater path to the surface of the earth. Willow, alder, oak, fern, and nettle grow well in such places, but apple and cherry trees, on the contrary, slow down their growth. It is worth paying attention to the behavior of various trees. Alder, birch and willow deviate towards the water layer.
If bedstraw grows on the site, you can immediately dig a well or borehole.
When searching for water, you should pay attention to the behavior of animals and insects, which will also help determine whether there is underground water somewhere in the area. Cats often choose to rest in areas with underground water. Red ants always gather in such areas, and midges and mosquitoes gather in heaps after sunset.
If there is too much moisture in the soil, it will inevitably evaporate. This will be evidenced by fog, which can be observed early in the morning or in the evening after a hot day. Especially if it swirls or stands like a pillar. There is definitely water here, there is a lot of it, and its depth is shallow. It is worth considering that water will definitely be present in lowlands and pits surrounded by hills.
Water is an exceptional gift, without which life on earth is simply impossible. Water is an invariable element of the daily cycle: watering plants, household needs, cooking... When purchasing a plot where there is not even the slightest hint of the source of this inorganic compound, the problem of how to find water for a well or well becomes one of the key ones. We invite you to look at the most popular and effective methods.
In the soil, as a rule, there are 2-3 aquifers, separated from each other by impermeable layers, the horizons of which can vary significantly.
Aquifers are a kind of underground lakes, mainly consisting of sand soaked in water.
At the smallest depth of about 25 meters there is water of the first layer, called “subcutaneous” or perched water. It is formed due to the filtration of melt water and atmospheric precipitation through the ground. Such water is suitable only for irrigation of green spaces and for household needs.
The water of the second layer of continental sands is already suitable for human consumption. The third layer consists of waters that have excellent taste and are rich in beneficial chemical compounds and mineral salts.
Effective ways to find water
There are more than a dozen ways to determine the proximity of water to the surface. Searching for water under a well can be done using one of the effective methods below.
Using silica gel
To do this, granules of the substance are first thoroughly dried in the sun or in the oven and placed in an unglazed clay pot. To determine the amount of moisture absorbed by the granules, the pot must be weighed before instillation. A pot of silica gel, wrapped in non-woven material or thick fabric, is buried in the ground to a depth of about a meter in the place on the site where it is planned. After a day, the pot with its contents can be dug up and weighed again: the heavier it is, the more moisture it has absorbed, which in turn indicates the presence of an aquifer nearby.
The use of silica gel, which belongs to the category of substances that have the property of absorbing moisture and retaining it, will allow you to determine in just a couple of days the most suitable place for drilling a well or constructing a well.
In order to narrow down the location of the search for water for a well, you can use several of these clay containers at the same time. You can more accurately determine the optimal location for drilling by repeatedly burying a pot of silica gel.
Ordinary red clay brick and salt also have moisture-absorbing properties. Determination of the aquifer occurs according to a similar principle with preliminary and repeated weighing and calculation of the difference in indicators.
Barometric method
A barometer reading of 0.1 mmHg corresponds to a difference in pressure height of 1 meter. To work with the device, you must first measure its pressure readings on the shore of a nearby body of water, and then, together with the device, move to the place where the source of water production is supposed to be arranged. At the well drilling site, air pressure measurements are taken again, and the water depth is calculated.
The presence and depth of groundwater can also be successfully determined using a conventional aneroid barometer
For example: the barometer reading on the river bank is 545.5 mm, and on the site - 545.1 mm. The groundwater level is calculated according to the principle: 545.5-545.1 = 0.4 mm, i.e. the well depth will be at least 4 meters.
Material about the rules for installing equipment for a well will also be useful:
Exploration drilling
Test exploratory drilling is one of the most reliable ways to find water for a well.
Exploration drilling allows not only to indicate the presence and level of water occurrence, but also to determine the characteristics of the soil layers lying before and after the aquifer
Drilling is done using a conventional garden hand drill. Since the average depth of an exploration well is 6-10 meters, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of increasing the length of its handle. To carry out the work, it is enough to use a drill whose auger diameter is 30 cm. As the drill deepens, in order not to break the tool, soil excavation must be carried out every 10-15 cm of the soil layer. Wet silver sand can be observed already at a depth of about 2-3 meters.
Material on how to choose a pump for a well will also be useful:
The site for constructing a well should be located no closer than 25-30 meters relative to drainage trenches, compost and garbage heaps, as well as other sources of pollution. The most successful placement of a well is on an elevated area.
Aquifers that follow the terrain at higher elevations provide a source of cleaner, filtered water.
Rain perch and melt water always flows from a hill to a lowland, where it gradually drains into an impermeable layer, which in turn displaces clean filtered water to the level of the aquifer.
Today, many people prefer to install a water well in their household rather than rely on the whims of a centralized water supply. In many ways, this solution can be considered the best option. And at the same time, the question will inevitably arise: how to find water on the site for a well?
A little about where aquifers are located
Before you start, it wouldn’t hurt to arm yourself with a little theoretical knowledge. Where does groundwater actually come from? There may be several sources. These include water flows that drain during floods and mountain glaciers that melt during warming. But the most common option is precipitation.
This figure shows aquifers - sources for creating wells and wells.
First, atmospheric moisture that has fallen in one form or another seeps through the soil. In principle, it can continue to penetrate the Earth indefinitely. But the fact is that the soil is not everywhere as loose and porous as on the surface. Sooner or later, the water hits a solid layer - through which it is no longer able to penetrate. Typically, this layer consists of stone and clay. Thus, entire underground lakes and rivers can appear at one depth or another.
At the same time, aquifers underground are not located strictly horizontally. They can have both slopes and depressions. The volume of such natural water reservoirs can reach many cubic kilometers.
can be located at very different depths. For example, at a depth of up to 5 meters there is an aquifer that is fed by melt water and sediment. During drought, as a rule, this layer dries out. So it cannot be considered as a stable source of water. In addition, the water here is not intended for drinking - as it is not well filtered. It can only be used for technical purposes.
But already at a depth of about 10 meters there are well-filtered layers of water. This water can be used for drinking. It may be necessary to additionally install a main filter on the water supply.
Finally, at a depth of 30 meters or more, the most valuable sources of water are located. Here the water is saturated with healing salts and minerals, it practically does not need filtration, so it is recommended to take it from the well. However, getting to such a deep-lying vein is quite difficult. This often requires the use of special industrial equipment.
Ways to find water on the site
Finding water using a vine is an ancient, traditional way. To many it may seem something akin to quackery, but contemporaries know it as dowsing.
The question of how to find water in a particular area, without exaggeration, has always been acute for humanity. Sometimes it was possible to do this, sometimes not. People have long noticed that many animals, meanwhile, can successfully find aquifers even during the driest season. Therefore, it was decided that it was still possible to find water - only the search method was important.
Indeed, experienced drillers say that water is everywhere - you just need to find it. Today in the human arsenal there are many methods, through the use of which it is possible to carry out efficient search water on the site.
With all their richness and diversity, they can be divided into three types:
- Industrial specialized methods of searching for water;
- Search methods using improvised means;
- And untested methods that have no scientific basis.
It hardly makes sense to dwell on the first and last methods. Simply because in the first case, you will need to purchase expensive professional equipment, as well as spend time mastering it, which for the average consumer can hardly be considered a good solution. Well, those methods that are not scientifically substantiated, but only relate more to the area of shamanism and beliefs, also do not make much sense to consider.
An ancient way to find water using clay dishes
We can say that this method comes from the depths of centuries, because our ancestors used it. Today, however, it can be used both in its pure form and in a more improved form. Its essence lies in the fact that a clay pot or similar utensil was taken, first properly dried in the sun. Then the dishes were placed in the place where the water was supposed to be. A day later the pot was covered in perspiration. In this case, one could count on the fact that there was water below. Moreover, the more intensely the pot “fogged up,” the closer the water-bearing well was located.
Well-dried pottery was turned upside down and placed on the ground in different places. Where the pots fogged up from the inside, a well was dug.
In modern conditions, this method has been somewhat improved. You will need to take about two liters of silicate gel and dry it thoroughly first. You can even do this in the oven. The gel dried in this way is then weighed to the nearest gram.
Now you need to wrap it in some light cloth and bury it about half a meter in the ground. You need to wait exactly one day and weigh the gel again, without taking into account the weight of the fabric in which it was wrapped. Since this gel is an excellent water absorbent, it will absorb moisture. If the mass of the gel has changed, you can count on the occurrence of an aquifer. Moreover, the more water the gel has collected, the closer the layer is located.
Instead of a pot and gel, you can take a very ordinary brick. It will also need to be properly dried and weighed first.
Table salt is used in a similar way to the gel.
If you listen to the plant's clues
It has long been noticed that some plants grow only above aquifers. The result of observations can be presented in the form of the following diagram:
Reed is a perennial plant that grows near a water source.
- Cattail – water layer at a depth of up to 1 meter;
- Reeds – up to 3 meters;
- Wormwood - from 3 to 5 meters;
- Licorice – from 1 to 10 meters;
- Alfalfa - from 1 to 15 meters.
You can also notice that birch trees that grow above aquifers are characterized by a more knotty trunk and short stature. If woodlice grows on the site, then it also makes sense to look for water here. River gravitation can also indicate a nearby water layer. But if a pine tree grows somewhere, then most likely the water is located very deep. After all, the pine tree has a very long straight root that is capable of reaching the deepest water deposits.
Using a liquid barometer or using an aneroid barometer
The presence of groundwater can also be indicated by differences in elevation in a particular area. With a difference in height of up to one meter, the differences in barometer readings are 0.1 mmHg.
Aneroid barometer is one of the main instruments used by meteorologists to make weather forecasts for the coming days.
You will first need to measure the pressure on the shore of the supposed underground reservoir, and then at the place where the water is supposed to occur. If there is a difference in pressure, there is water here.
Moreover, you can even calculate the depth of the water. To do this, you will simply need to take into account the above formula: 0.1 mm Hg. Art. for every meter of depth. If, for example, at first the barometer showed 544.8 mm Hg. Art., and then - 544.1 mm. rt. Art., then you should count on drilling at a depth of 7 meters, since the difference in readings is 0.7 mm.
Determination through all kinds of natural phenomena
Nature itself can tell you where to look for water. For example, if fog rises over the area early in the morning after a hot day, there is water. Moreover, if the fog does not just hang, but swirls or stands in a column, it means there is a lot of water, it is located very close.
The formation of fog over an area is a sign of nearby water sources.
Typically, water layers are located in natural depressions. But on the hills and on the slopes of hills and ravines, of course, there will also be water, but getting to it will be a difficult task.
Exploration through test drilling
The most reliable methods of searching for water today include reconnaissance. This is done using a special drill. Since the depth of the well is on average from 6 to 10 meters, you will need to take care in advance about the availability of a suitable handle length.
Test drilling will help determine the location for the construction of a water supply source.
The diameter of the screw can be 30 centimeters. To prevent the tool from breaking, it is necessary to excavate the developed soil approximately every 15 centimeters of depth. If heavily moistened sand appears at a depth of about three meters, this indicates the right place.
Note! Right place for the well it should be no closer than 30 meters from landfills, garbage heaps, sewer pits, etc. The deeper the aquifer is located, the better. After all, the water is effectively filtered by sand and soil. In addition, it is saturated with useful minerals and salts.
Finding water using dowsing
You can quite accurately find water using the so-called dowsing method. But only a specialist can work with it. An unprepared person will most likely fail.
First, you will need to equip special frames made of aluminum wire up to 40 cm long. At approximately a distance of 10 cm from the edge, they are bent at an angle of 90 degrees.
Then you need to do the following:
- The frames are taken in both hands, the arms are pressed with the elbows to the body, the forearms should be parallel to the ground;
- The site is then intersected in the direction from north to south and from east to west;
- As soon as the specialist is above the aquifer, the frames will move and intersect.
Dowsing is a technique that allows a person, through an indicator - a frame or a pendulum, to determine the presence of any objects or objects in space, and also to receive answers from the level of the information field.
As already noted, this method may not work if an untrained person uses it, so it makes sense to turn to a professional dowser in order to be sure of the result. Using their frames, specialists can determine not only the location of the water and its depth, but also the upper and lower boundaries of the underground water supply system.
Experts' opinion
Alexey Sergeevich Semenov, professional dowser: Instead of aluminum frames, our ancestors used flexible branches bent in a certain way. It has been noted that the best vines come from trees such as willow, viburnum or hazel.
Ekaterina Ivanovna Voronina, water utility worker: Before you start using water from a well for food and other purposes, it is recommended to have it analyzed at a local laboratory. It is quite possible that such water is unsuitable for food and can only be used for technical purposes. So there is no need to rush to dig a well where water is found.
conclusions
As already noted, water is located absolutely everywhere. However, it is not always easy to get to it. If it is impossible to achieve a result in a selected area using conventional tools, this does not mean that there is no aquifer. It will just require deeper drilling. And this sometimes involves the use of serious equipment.
The most accurate and guaranteed result will not be produced by any one of the above methods, but by a combination of several search methods at once.
After rummaging around on the Internet, I managed to find a fairly complete guide to the popular search for water ().Well-known folk methods of searching for water are conventionally divided into four groups:
- determination by indication (this method is also known as the “dowsing method”);
- using indicator plants;
- on the behavior of animals, birds, insects;
- other signs of a natural nature.1. Search for water using the frame indication.
When using an indication, use pieces of aluminum wire or a fork from a wooden branch of hazel, willow or viburnum.1 way. In the first case, take two aluminum wires 30-40 centimeters long, each with ends bent at right angles (10-15 cm). It is better to insert these ends into tubes of tree-like elderberry, removing the core. The wires should turn freely in the tubes.
The starting position is as follows: the indicator wires are rotated horizontally by 180°. When a person, walking along the site, comes across an aquifer, the wires close forward, to the right or to the left (along the flow of water). Having passed this place, the indicators again diverge to the sides by 180°.
Now, having marked the place where the wires meet, you should walk with the indicators apart in a perpendicular direction. If the wires came together from the very beginning and stayed that way for some time, then this was the direction of the aquifer. If the rods deviate to the right or left, again look for the place of their contact. It will be the center of the future water source.
Method 2. You can search for water using one frame. A wire 30 centimeters long is bent at about a distance of 10 cm. The short end is taken into a fist so that the long end is horizontal. Forward direction. There is no need to clamp the wire too tightly. All. We walk around the site. In some places the end of the wire will deviate to the side as if from a single-pole magnet. We keep the direction towards the greatest resistance. The place we need is where the wire will rotate.
3 way. A similar way to search for a water-bearing ball is using a wooden fork (two branches that grew close to each other, connected by a piece of trunk). They are first unbent and dried, the angle between the ends must be at least 150°. Take the fork in two hands, extend them horizontally in front of you and walk through the surveyed area. In the place where the aquifer is located, the section of the trunk will noticeably tilt towards the ground. Often, during an inspection of the territory, the indicators do not respond: they do not close anywhere and do not tilt. This means there is no water-bearing sphere here. Water should be looked for elsewhere.
2. Finding water using indicator plants.
At all times, peoples of different countries have attached great importance to plants when searching for groundwater. The close occurrence of water is evidenced by moisture-loving vegetation, colored with bright and lush greenery. The more abundant, dense and green the vegetation, the more water there is.If wild currants have grown greatly, seemingly in a dry place, you can be sure that there is groundwater close to the surface.
The willow has long been used in Rus' as an indicator of water sources. They said about her: “Where there is water there is a willow; where there is a willow, there is water.”
A good indicator of shallow waters in the temperate zone is meadowsweet, or meadowsweet. Meadowsweet can be found in damp meadows, ravines, swamps, river banks and ponds.
Forest reeds indicate the close occurrence of groundwater.
If the plant community is dominated by forest reed and meadowsweet (meadowsweet), and gray and black alder are also present in them, this indicates that the water lies at a depth of up to 3 m.
The Chuvash used sorrel as an indicator of nearby groundwater: “Dig a well in sorrel places - water will appear.”
The ancient explorer Vitruvius Pollio, who lived in the 1st century BC, attached exceptional importance to vegetation when searching for underground water: “The signs of water in the earth rocks described above are as follows: thin reeds, reeds, willows, alder, vitex, twigs grow there, ivy and others, which have the property that they cannot germinate without moisture."
Where groundwater is located close to the surface of the earth, plants grow best: cinquefoil, hemlock, foxglove, autumn colchicum, coltsfoot, horse sorrel, reed, sedge, nettle, horsetail.
If alder, maple, weeping willow, birch are all leaning in one direction, this is a sign that there is a water vein nearby.
Willow and alder grow well above the aquifers, leaning towards the flow.
In places with high standing waters, single oaks may be found. They grow as if at the intersection of water veins.
If a plane tree grows far from an open source, it means that an underground river flows under it. The location of the trees indicates the direction of the flow.
Licorice glabra grows strongly in places where groundwater is located at a depth of up to 2 meters.
In places where groundwater is close, apple, cherry and plum trees grow poorly, get sick and dry out.
Table of groundwater occurrence, depending on growing plants:Plants Groundwater depth, (m)
_________________________________________
Rogoza 0 - 1
Sandy reeds 1 - 3
Black poplar 0.5 - 3
Reed 0 - 1.5 (up to 3 - 5)
Loch 1 - 3 (up to 5)
Sarsazan 0.5 - 3 (up to 5)
Wormwood paniculata 3 - 5 (up to 7)
Chiy brilliant 1.5 - 5 (up to 8)
Licorice naked 1.5 - 5 (up to 10)
Sandy wormwood 3 - 5 (up to 10)
Yellow alfalfa 1.4 - 2 (up to 10 - 15)3. Finding aquifers by observing the behavior of animals, birds, insects
When a horse wants water, it sniffs the ground and hits with its hooves where it senses the presence of moisture.
The dog, feeling thirsty, begins to dig the ground where it senses water.
The dog avoids lying over the water veins, but the cat does the opposite.
A hen will not sit and lay eggs in a place where the waters are high; Geese lay eggs at the intersection of water veins.
Red ants build their heaps taking into account the location of the water: where it is close, they are not there.
The curling columns of mosquitoes and midges after sunset indicate that there must be water close here, underground.
In damp places, mice make nests on tree branches or in weeds, but not in the ground.4. Search for water using natural signs.
The fog spreading after sunset is a sign of close groundwater in this place.
In the morning dew falls - there is more where the water comes closer to the ground. Dew is formed because the closer the water comes to the ground, the better it cools, and when cooling, condensation forms from the air on the surface of the earth.
An overturned jar or pot above the aquifer will certainly become covered with dew, and a bunch of salt will get wet in dry weather.Availability of a well personal plot is a vital necessity. Even if you have a car, it is extremely inconvenient to deliver water to your dacha in cans and bottles. Digging a well is quite a feasible task, but here you need to arm yourself with knowledge, since you will have to master methods for determining where exactly to look for water and how to correctly position the well shaft in terms of sanitary norms and rules.
It is recommended to start searching for water in a well site by examining the area for the presence of springs and springs. Do your neighbors on the property have a well? The presence of both of these signs indicates that aquifers can be found on your site. You can also study where aquatic indicator plants grow. For example, the abundance of woodlice indicates the close occurrence of groundwater. Designate the proposed search area in accordance with sanitary standards distance from the septic tank.
ATTENTION! In areas with a slope, you need to look for water for the well in its lowest part.
What horizons are suitable for a well?
When searching for water for a well, they stop at either high water or groundwater aquifers.
- Soil water or perched water Suitable for technical and agricultural needs, but completely unsuitable for drinking. They can be found at a shallow depth of a meter and a half, especially if the area is low-lying or is located in close proximity to a river or stream.
- Groundwater start after one and a half meters. While soil waters are not filtered, spilling between loose-grained layers of the earth, groundwater is held between layers of water-resistant loam and clay, rocks, limestone, and layers of sand. These multi-level layers are good natural filters, purify water and make it suitable for drinking, and do not allow harmful pollutants to enter the aquifer.
If you decide to make a well not only for domestic needs, but also to provide your family with drinking water, you should take groundwater no higher than 10 meters; the ideal option is a well fifteen meters deep.
Layers of soil, sand, stones, and clay form an internal structure with gaps and cavities of different sizes, in some places the voids are very narrow, and in other places bends are created like lenses or gaps that are filled with groundwater. These places have an abundance of water, and in narrow interlayer cavities the volume of water is minimal.
Groundwater and soil waters have no pressure; only in rare places, groundwater aquifers, sandwiched by impermeable layers, can be characterized by small pressure values.
FACT! Groundwater has an undeniable advantage. They are not only clean, but also access to them is stable, unlike perennial water, the volume and presence of which directly depend on the amount of precipitation and time of year. Also, the perched water is easily contaminated by the leaching of fertilizers from agricultural land during periods of snow melting or heavy rains.
What are the sanitary requirements for the location?
The water intake point should be located at least fifty meters away from toilets and cesspools upstream of the groundwater flow. Otherwise, there is a high possibility of mixing harmful substances into the water and contaminating it with pathogenic bacteria.
This is the optimal distance. If the personal plot of an ordinary summer resident is four hundred square meters, densely planted and built up, then such a norm is difficult to achieve. In this regard, there is an opinion that it is quite enough to make a well at a distance of about 8-10 meters from the toilet and cesspool.
INTERESTING! If the soil on the site is clayey, then such distance should not bother you at all. Especially provided that you take all possible measures to insulate the walls of the well, also constructing an upper protective well ring that protects the water from possible contamination during rains and spring melting, when water flows can flow into the well from the surface of the earth.
According to regulations, when looking for a place for a well, you should avoid:
- Frequently flooded areas.
- Wetlands.
- Close proximity (less than 30 meters) to public roads and highways.
How to find water yourself?
There are different methods and techniques for determining groundwater on a personal plot. These are folk signs, observation of natural features and a dowsing method based on the intuitive sensations of the person himself. All these options were widely used earlier in the absence of others, but in our time, in terms of its effectiveness, the scientific approach to the issue has firmly taken precedence. This includes seismic exploration, the use of barometers and other instruments.
Traditional methods
These are the most simple methods water search based on centuries of experience.
Observations of natural phenomena
In the warm season, in the early morning hours or in the evening, observe where the fog is thickest. The thicker the foggy cloud, the closer The groundwater. This observation is justified by the fact that fogs are formed from earthly moisture, and in places where subsurface water accumulates, the fog is usually thicker; it literally swirls from the soil in such areas and spreads along the ground.
Observation of animals and insects
Dog owners may notice that their pets, in the heat, dig holes and lie down there to cool down. Animals sense where the coolest, and therefore wetter, places are. This temperature feature is also caused by the proximity of aquifers.
Midges and various midges also sense such places; they gather in flocks and swarm in the late afternoon where there is increased soil moisture.
Plant observation
Plants, as well as natural phenomena, and animals and insects can help in finding water for digging a well. The presence and proximity of aquifers can be judged by the following grasses, shrubs and trees.
- Hemlock, an abundance of nettles, thickets of sorrel and coltsfoot can be found precisely on consistently moist soil fed by groundwater.
- Birches, willow bushes, and alder love moisture and grow well only in places rich in water.
- But apple or cherry trees do not like wet soils, and their presence indicates that water cannot be found nearby. Of course, we are talking about healthy and abundantly growing trees. If the trees are sick and frail, the possibility of finding water-bearing veins is higher.
- find the aquifer veins above.
The depth of the water layer is determined by plants:
- Sandstone reeds, for example, can tell you that the water is a meter or three from the surface.
- The reed suggests an aquifer at a depth of one and a half to five meters.
- Wormwood from three meters to seven meters deep.
- Licorice from one and a half meters to ten.
- Alfalfa is from one and a half to two, but sometimes up to 15 meters.
Dowsing method
They are trying to link this method to the scientific field, which is fundamentally wrong. From this point of view, the previous information is much more useful than this method. However, he has his fans and for good reason. The emphasis is on the presence of energy information fields of various types in the surrounding reality and a person’s ability to sense these fields.
In the old days, the method had no competition and no alternative, now the possibilities of science are very high, and this entertaining method is still firmly one of the first in the popularity ratings. It would not be true if we said that the dowsing method is ineffective at all, but its infallibility does not correspond to reality either.
Since it is not always possible to use expensive services for searching for water resources in the soil, you can try it. It is better if you make an initial determination of the search location using tests with plants and animal behavior. Analyze the area from the point of view of geologically expected aquifer zones (the presence of lowlands, ravines, proximity to water intake points and springs).
Dowsing technique using aluminum frames
Manufacturing:
- The total length of the aluminum rod is about 90 cm, its diameter must be at least 3 mm.
- Having measured 15 cm from the edge, you need to bend the rod at a right angle.
- Insert the short ends into the tubes; any option will do for this.
- The diameter of the tube should be such that the rods rotate freely and move, but not at an angle.
- Take tubes 0.5 mm wider than the diameter of the aluminum wire.
- You need to make two such bent rods and insert them into the tubes.
Using frames to find water
Aluminum frames are held in both hands.
At the same time, it is very important to tune in to the search process. Let go of everything and wonder about the location of the water, completely shifting your attention to the frame.
Your hands should not be too tense; too much relaxation will also ruin the process. It is necessary to reach some golden mean.
The frames should become an extension of the person, a part of his attention, his being. It's like a kind of meditation with concentration on a specific task.
When the desired feeling of immersion and concentration occurs, a person should begin to slowly move around the site, snake-like across its entire area, testing the territory.
At the stage of finding the aquifer zone, a marking stick is driven into the area of land indicated by the frame.
It is believed that in places where there is water, the frames come into active motion.
Using a framework to determine the depth of a water resource
- From the marking peg, the footage is laid out using a tape measure in a straight line on the surface of the ground.
- Next, they begin to determine the depth of the aquifer. To do this, they slowly walk along the laid out building meter with frames, testing at what depth the water lies.
- The mark at which the frames become active and begin to spin and sway from side to side is considered a measure of depth.
Alternative methods
In this case, a number of methods are used, aimed at measuring the level of humidity at different points of the site. Where there are aquifers, the humidity is significantly higher. To do this, use silica gel, brick, salt, earthenware or glass jars.
Method using desiccants
- Take a moisture-absorbing substance, for example table salt, silica gel.
- The substance is dried in an oven, poured into a dried, unvarnished clay container, wrapped in a piece of natural fabric.
- All this is weighed on precise scales.
- Usually about a dozen such testing “devices” are prepared. Each one should be signed so as not to make a mistake when re-weighing.
- Next, the containers are buried at a depth of half a meter to a meter in the ground.
- After 24 hours, the weight is re-determined.
IMPORTANT! The more the weight of the indicator increases, the higher the probability of the presence of water at a given point.
Manipulations with brick, lime and salt are done exactly according to the same principle.
Glass jar method
- Dry glass jars without lids are placed upside down throughout the water search area.
- After a few hours, the jars are inspected.
- Where the inner surface of the jar has become heavily moistened and a high percentage of condensation has accumulated, water is expected to be found.
Scientific ways
The most reliable methods for exploring water in a personal plot are scientific methods. They are all based on physical principles.
Spectral seismic exploration
An impact influence on the earth's surface is organized and a special seismic-sensitive device records response impulses and oscillatory signals.
This information is entered into a computer and, using a specially created program, calculations are made about the probable location of the water. Seismic instruments allow you to scan the bowels of the earth, identifying their structure, bends, layers, the presence of voids, as well as the level of occurrence of aquifers.
The method is very expensive and is only suitable for search activities in large-scale projects.
There is also a set of existing geophysical data about certain areas; these inquiries can be made with the help of specialists in the field of hydrogeology and geophysics, they can also help in finding water.
Manual drilling
They use a hand-held garden drill with a diameter of thirty centimeters. Test wells are made from five to ten meters deep. After inserting the drill into the soil, deepening the auger, remove the soil every 15-20 cm and inspect it in order to protect the drill from breakage and check the moisture level as an indicator of the proximity of the aquifer.
The method is effective and, unlike seismic exploration, accessible to private individuals. The percentage of accuracy and efficiency here largely depends on the professionalism of the driller.
How to determine the depth of groundwater in a site using a barometer?
The method can be applied in cases where there is a well or water source, river, or pond a short distance from your site.
- Record the barometer readings near such a place.
- Then determine the barometer reading at the point where you intend to dig the well shaft.
- Calculate the difference in the resulting data using subtraction.
- Now convert the coefficient to meter, where each division on the barometer scale will be counted as one meter.
It is to this depth that the well hole must be dug in order to reach the aquifer vein.
Water permeates the entire earth's crust through capillaries and arteries, filling huge spaces and small gaps, cracks, and interlayer cavities. It is everywhere, but at different depths and in different volumes. To find this gift of life, people use different techniques and scientific developments.
The undoubted priority is to achieve science, but if you are a keen person and love experiments, or there are reasons from the point of view of saving money, you can try alternative methods.
For a relatively small amount, you can order work on reconnaissance search for water using a drilling machine, the cost will be no more than a thousand per meter of passage. Or spend a day searching on your own using a garden drill.
