Bottom filter for the well with your own hands

The word "well" is associated with cold, clean and delicious water. But sometimes the water in the well does not meet expectations - it goes cloudy, opaque, and standing, gives a sediment with an unpleasant color and smell. To filter such water does not necessarily have to install an expensive cleaning system, it is often possible to use the proven method of the past - a bottom filter of natural materials laid on the bottom of the well in a certain sequence.

Do I need a bottom filter?

To determine if a bottom filter is needed for your well, you need to inspect its bottom and determine the rock that forms it, as well as the direction of the aquifer. This can be done both with the well of the well, and during the planned cleaning, if you are unhappy with the quality of the water. There are several possible cases:

1. The bottom is made of dense clay with springs sprinkling from it. The water is clean, the rock forming the bottom does not dissolve. Such a well does not need a bottom filter, moreover, the bottom filter can in this case harm, blocking springs at the bottom. A coarse filtration of particles accidentally caught in the water is best done by installing a filter in the water intake system.
2. The bottom is made of soft clay, washed away by active water streams. In such a well in the bottom part the water will be turbid. If the height of the water in the well is significant, water can be withdrawn from the upper water layer without filtration. But it is better to lay a layer of large rubble 15-20 cm thick on the bottom, it will prevent active bottom erosion.
3. Sandy bottom, while water does not hit the key, but calmly and evenly seeps into the well. Such a well needs a bottom filter - in its absence, the sand at the bottom of the well will instantly blur under any impact, for example, when the bucket strikes against water or the bottom of the well. Put pumping equipment in such a well, all the more it is impossible - the sand, stirred up from the bottom, immediately clogs the system and can cause the pump to fail.

Plavun at the bottom of the well. A plavoon is sand, saturated to a maximum with groundwater, while it acquires a fluidity characteristic of liquids. Visually, it can be recognized by turbid streams of water or periodic outbursts at the bottom of the well. To get pure clear water, in such a well it is necessary not only to arrange a bottom filter, but also to protect it from washing by a wooden shield.

By the way, how to clean water in the well, we already wrote above.

Materials for the bottom filter device, description and preparation

• Coarse quartz sand. Find it can be found along the banks of rivers. Quartz sand has a grain size of up to 1 mm, translucent with small inclusions of dark color. Sand before laying in the well should be washed: put a layer of sand in a container, fill with water, stir, leave for 20-30 seconds, then drain the water. Heavy large particles of sand during this time osyadut, and the remains of mud and clay will remain suspended in the water. This procedure can be repeated several times until the water with sand becomes practically pure.

• River pebbles. Like sand, occurs along the banks of rivers in the form of pebbles of different sizes and colors of round shape. Pebbles are a natural chemically neutral material, with a normal radiation background. Pebbles before laying in the well also need to be washed under running water.

• Gravel is a loose porous sedimentary rock. Gravel grains are of different sizes, from a few millimeters to several centimeters. Gravel often has impurities of harder rocks, clay or sand. It is also used in drainage systems. You can not take gravel, used in other systems - because of porosity, this material is able to accumulate various hazardous contaminants.

• Rubble. Stones of irregular shapes of different sizes are extracted mechanically. They can be from various minerals. Not every gravel is suitable for the installation of the bottom filter. The building crushed stone from limestones dusts and pollutes water, and at long contact with it is eroded. Granite gravel is also not suitable - it has an increased radiation background. For the bottom filter it is recommended to take rubble from neutral minerals that have the ability to purify water, for example, jadeite. You can buy it in shops selling bathroom accessories - this stone is most popular for stove-heaters.

• Shungite, or petrified oil. It is used in water purification systems to remove heavy metal compounds, organic contaminants and petroleum products from it. If the well is located near enterprises or highways, or the depth of the well does not exceed 5 meters, adding shungite will allow it to be decontaminated.

Types of bottom filters

There are two types of bottom filters for laying:

• straight;
• reverse.

Direct bottom filter with stacking of a larger fraction to the bottom of the well. It is used in two cases: if the bottom of the well consists of loose clay, or when laying the bottom shield against the buzzards. The reverse filter implies laying the fine fraction at the very bottom. Used in wells with a sandy bottom and a calm flow.

Arrangement of a bottom shield with a filter

A shield is used in the event of the danger of the formation of a floe. It is made from hardwoods, which can last for a long time in water: aspen or oak. Shield is made of boards, cut to the size of the wellbore, holes are drilled in it with a diameter of 1 cm, wrapped with geotextile and lowered to the bottom. So that the shield does not lift with water streams, a layer of large stone is laid on it, and then covered with fine pebbles or gravel with a layer of not less than 15-20 cm. In the case of large swimmers, the shield gradually sucks in the sand, so every five to seven years it will have to be installed again.

Direct bottom filter for well with loose clay bottom

The filter task in this case is not so much to filter the water as to prevent its dilution. At the bottom of the well, cleaned of dirt and mud, lay a layer of large rubble or stones, a second layer of crushed stone with a fraction size of 5-6 times smaller than the first layer, and the top is covered with small river pebbles. The thickness of each layer should be at least 15 cm, that is, the entire filter will take about half a meter of the depth of the well.

Reverse bottom filter for sandy bottom well

The return filter has a dual function - it does not allow the sand particles to rise upwards under the influence of water jets or mechanical influences and at the same time protects the bottom of the well from large debris that accidentally fell into the well.

Perform it in the reverse order. First, a layer of river sand, previously washed, is laid on the cleaned bottom. The next layer is schungite, river small pebbles or gravel with the size of the fraction up to 1 cm. The last layer is rubble or stones with a size of 5 cm. The thickness of each layer, as in the case of a straight filter, is not less than 15 cm.

A wall filter made ofcoarse-grained concrete

In case the flow of water on the bottom is small, sometimes it is necessary to arrange additional wall filters to fill the well also through the walls. To do this, in the lower ring make holes horizontal, ascending or V-shaped, in which a filter is mounted from coarse-concrete. Prepare concrete from cement and gravel without adding sand. Cement is diluted with water to the consistency of sour cream, then it is poured into gravel and mixed until the stones are covered with mortar. The resulting mixture is filled into prepared holes and the concrete is hardened. The size of the gravel is selected according to local conditions, it should be such that the sand is filtered.

a - horizontal hole, b - ascending, в - V-shaped.

Maintenance and care of the bottom filter

During operation, the bottom filter is clogged with silt, clay or sand particles, and needs annual cleaning. The stones are removed from the well and washed with clean water, the sand is completely replaced, after which the bottom filter is put in place in the same sequence.

This simple and inexpensive device, like the bottom filter, will help you to purify water in almost any well and make it suitable for household needs. For drinking, water can be consumed only after a positive result of the analysis, which SES specialists make. The bottom filter will protect the well from siltation and development of microorganisms, and will also extend the life of the pumping equipment.

Also read: how to drill a well with your own hands, when it is better to dig a well.