A man in Maine has developed a shallow well that is effective at catching the sub surface water that flows on top of the bed rock. It basically seems to both maximize filtration and storage and thus use water that does not contain the heavy metals present in drilled wells into granite. It can also be used to develop an area with wet soil or even slight amounts of surface water. His design would not be as cheap as the usual dug well as instead of the usual tile, it uses crushed or graded river rock to create a storage of 5 to 7 thousand gallons , rather than the few hundred of a typical tile type well. Given the high levels of arsenic, radon, and uranium found in many wells in granite bedrock areas, the ability to bypass treatment makes it worth considering as well as the added advantages it would have for both livestock and garden produce as well as for greenhouse water. I use a shallow dug well for my greenhouse in New Hampshire as my drilled well has too many heavy metals without major treatment. A Novel Shallow Well - Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners A very good introduction to the problems with rural water is: Ground Water and the Rural Homeowner The source Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners is well worth taking some time to read as it contains a lot of information in a compact format.
Yeah there's arsenic in Maine water. When I moved back to maine I didn't shit right for about 8 months. Then last year when I took my 2 year old there to visit family he was sick as a dog for the first 24hrs just exploding out both ends and he never really gets sick. A little Arsenic poisoning builds immunity to it.
I wouldn't have to dig one very deep. I've buried a couple cats that I had so shove under roots so they wouldn't float out before I could fill the hole. The big plus of this type of well for this area is that it wouldn't cause sink holes that we see with deeper coastal wells.
Wells that test for arsenic usually have filters put on them. I bought land in Maine in 2005. Locals told me that we should install a 'tiled' well. Researching that option I found they install a floor of ceramic tiles and place the standpoint well head directly onto those tiles. Not exactly a 'patented' method, but the technique used for many generations of Mainers.
In New Hampshire a tiled well is made by digging down to the water level and as far below it as you can. Then about 1 in stone is placed in hole for a base and around first tile for more storage and a round circular open ended cylinder, about 3 or 4 feet in diameter is placed on the rock and stacked until it reaches the surface. A cover is then placed on it and it may have a pump placed in the well or pull water to a pump in another location. Live in area with arsenic in water, been here for about 50 years, also have bladder cancer. Don't know if connected, just saying that perhaps a shallow well might have been better. The medical profession does link heavy metals and radon to cancer.
Seems to me that having a significant above ground reservoir might be useful giving the water a chance to settle the particulates. On most all my homes I have installed whole house filters primarily to keep out sand from destroying the valves in the house, it makes a big difference, secondly, they capture other contaminants and with a charcoal filter improve taste. This is whether I am on a well or city water. Smaller filters need to be changed more often, but it beats having to replace a large contaminated filter prematurely. Though it is expensive it seems to me that a reverse osmosis filter might get rid of the heavy metals and arsenic, I need to do some research into that.
