Although the idea of accessing drinkable ground water via a well has been around for quite a while — experts in Germany discovered a wood-lined well that was estimated to be over 7,000 years old — the idea that a well is part of an organic ecosystem and should be periodically measured for health is a relatively new one.
Signs of distress in a well include disturbing smells, such as rotting eggs or mold. It is possible for a well to become contaminated with bacteria that can stain clothes, cause abdominal distress, and threaten the groundwater reserves that are its source.
There is a frightening list of potential bacteria and viruses that can inhabit a well. Corrosive water is a possibility, as are iron, lead, sulfur, methane, and radon and other radioactive contaminants.
Water storage tanks connected to the well can also become infected, necessitating aggressive action. If the infection cannot be contained, water well sealing measures are necessary to protect the health of the people involved as well as the local environment.
The best well digging services nowadays dig a well and fill it with concrete instead of stones or wood. The well is held open by the concrete — sometimes a pipe is used instead — and the well is then connected to the underground aquifer reserves via another pipe. Sometimes a water tank is connected, and if the system becomes unhealthy, water well sealing professionals will also have to seal the water tank.
Sump pump installation can also impact the health of a well’s overall ecosystem. These pumps are built to drain off basements and are usually vented into a dry well, but if the wells are too close together, cross-contamination can occur and again, water well sealing measures are legally required to be taken at that point.
We can’t live without water: we use over 700 gallon a week, each of us as an individual, just to wash clothes, drink, make food, water the garden, and clean the car. And even though wells can be drilled to depths approaching a quarter of a mile, contamination is an ongoing and unfortunate possibility.