How to drill an Abyssinian well yourself: What to buy, how to drill, how to launch

You can provide the area with water through an Abyssinian well drilled with your own hands. If you run into a rich aquifer, there will be enough water for irrigation, filling the pool and any other purposes. To drill a well, you do not need to purchase super expensive equipment and spend weeks on work. If you're lucky, if you start in the morning, you can get water by the evening.

What you will need:

• 3/4 inch pipes of 2 m each with threaded ends;
  
• 3/4" couplings;
  
• 3/4 inch bends with double-sided thread - 3 pcs.;
  
• 3/4 inch plugs – 2 pcs.;
  
• tees 3/4 inches – 2 pcs.;
  
• sheet steel 3 mm;
  
• garden hose with quick connector;
  
• submersible pump;
  
• HDPE pipe 32 mm;
  
• filter mesh;
  
• self-priming pumping station.

Well drilling process

To drill an Abyssinian well, you need a hydraulic drill. To manufacture it, you will need to purchase galvanized metal pipes. Their number is calculated depending on the depth at which the water will lie.This can be found out by looking at the depth of wells in neighboring areas. In any case, you need no more than 4-5 pipes of 2 m each, since pumping stations have a suction height of up to 8 m, so they cannot cope with a greater depth of the well.

A sharpened triangular peak cut from sheet steel is welded onto the end of one pipe.



A T-shaped handle is also produced. It is a tee with screwed-in bends. 2 of them are closed with plugs. Another tee is installed on the lower slope. A quick-release connector for a garden hose is placed on its side outlet.


Next, the handle is screwed onto a rod with a welded lance.
Now you need to dig pits at the site where the well is drilled. They are a small trench running from the drilling point to the side. 2 holes are made on it in a row with a slight indentation. When pressure is applied, water from the hydraulic drill will rise along with the soil and sand and flow into the first pit. A heavy suspension will settle in it and cleaner water will be able to flow into the second pit, in which the pump will be located. The latter’s task is to drive water in a circle from the pit into the drill in order to deepen the rod downwards due to the pressure.

A garden hose is attached to the handle of the hydraulic drill.

Its second end is connected to a submersible pump. The pump itself is lowered into a bucket, which is installed in the far pit.

Next, a bucket with a dug trench is filled with water, and the pump is turned on.
At this time, the bar is held strictly vertical and rotates slightly left and right. Water will wash away the soil and lift it up. The pump will pump the rising water back into the drill, and so on in a circle. Periodically, additional water will need to be added to the pits.


Having immersed the first rod, you need to remove the handle from it and attach the second pipe to the coupling. To prevent them from coming apart, lock nuts are placed on both sides.



Drilling continues until the peak hits the aquifer. You can feel it. At one point the bar will begin to sink with virtually no resistance. In addition, water will begin to drain sharply from the pits. The underground channel will quickly draw it in.


It is quite possible to run into an impenetrable stone, or it turns out that in the chosen place there is no vein at the required depth. In this case, you will have to try again from the side or at the other end of the area. It is quite normal practice to drill 2-3 or more times until you reach the aquifer. You will need to go a little deeper 0.5-1 m into the clay underneath.
Next, take the HDPE pipe. It needs to be sealed at one end.


Holes are drilled in it to a height of several meters (depending on the height of the aquifer) in a checkerboard pattern with an 8-10 mm drill in increments of 70-80 mm.

A trimmer line is wound over the perforation, and the pipe is wrapped with a stainless steel filter mesh.



If it is process water, then you can get by with a regular mosquito net. It is convenient to fasten it with clamps. This will be a filter for water intake. It is advisable to make perforations 40 cm above the plug in order to obtain a sump for sand.
The pipe is lowered into the well.

Everything is done as quickly as possible, because a hydraulic drill left for a long time can become covered with sand, and it will be difficult to pull it out. A pumping station is installed at the end of the pipe, and the turbidity is pumped out until clean, clear water appears.



In the future, it will be necessary to make a caisson around the well and carry out insulation.Also, if you plan to lay water supply into the house, then a hydraulic accumulator is installed.

Watch the video