A well must be maintained

Wells usually supply good-quality groundwater. To ensure that the water remains fresh and good for your health, however, you must look after and maintain your well.

Well water must meet the same quality requirements as tap water. The colour or taste of the water may be an indication of serious quality defects, but in order to get precise information on water quality, you should send a water sample for analysis. Water samples are tested by many laboratories for a fee that ranges from EUR 100 to EUR 300.

If there is something wrong with the water, you must find out the cause of the problem. For example, displaced well rings may allow surface water to seep into the well, and renovation work is needed. Large projects usually have to be entrusted to a professional contractor.

Many water quality problems can be avoided by maintaining the well regularly. The spring is the best time for doing this. The condition of the well’s structures must be checked: for instance, the cover should be so tightly sealed that not even an ant can fall into the well. Any melting piles of snow should be moved further away from the well. If puddles appear around the well, the subsurface drainage must be improved, and the land must be contoured so that it slopes away from the well.

If the well has not been used over winter, you can refresh it by pumping out one third of the water and discharging it a good distance away from the well. You then let the well fill up with fresh groundwater. This is also an opportunity to remove any silt that has accumulated at its bottom.

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