Gypsy well experience

[Twodogs]

Time to share the some skills learnt by some of the BCL lads making a gypsy well at one of there Swift valley meets,
I posted this a bit back over there but think the information learnt was worth posting as its a very useful way of getting water in a weekend location ,

Find an area that looks like theres water near the surface ...start digging

When your happy with the depth leave it to fill , this one was left overnight , Empty the first fill and leave to refill this one filled in about three hours ,
Give the Millbank bag time soak the bag the object is the make the cotton swell up to stop all the crud from the well passing through,

Fill the millbank to the top when it drains through to the black line on the outside of the bag start collecting the water this cleans any crud from the outside of the bag ,

This is where we learnt a very usefull lession new millbank bags may as well be made of gortex becouse thay dont let water though

We then used another old Millbank , no problem ,
So remember "old bags are best" ,

After the new one had been though the wash aload of times its now fine ,

Next step fill your billy can with the water from the millbank ,

Bring to a rolling boil and it will be good to go ,,most of the time..
At the end of the weekend the ashs from the fire were added to aid filtration in the future .
This well was a group build and I know we all learnt from it ,
The same well was used on the next weekend , it did seem cleaner than the first weekend ,

The lads from the quiet end

 

[harryhaller]

Thanks twodogs - I'm glad you posted that as it will be useful for me.

In the woods near me there are brooks and streams, but in area of such dense population - the lowlands and SE England are the most densely populated areas in the world - and the intensity of agriculture, I was very concerned about run off such as herbicides and insecticides. I think (and hope) that a gypsy well will provide water with at least less contamination than water from the streams.

Good tip about new millbank bags - mine is brand new - so I'll start breaking it in, in the bathroom, rather than waiting for when I have to use it anger.

 

[andyn]

WOW, they must be some seriously wet woods to have a water level that close to the surface!

Another useful tip will be to line the well with some of that nearby bracken, or use rush if to hand. This helps cut down on the amount of debris flushed into the water as you disturb it and helps the water stay a bit clearer thus preventing so much build up of muck in the filter.. Likewise a lining of stone at the bottom is useful.

 

[BCpete]

So is that water just moisture from the ground which seeps through into the well?

pete

 

[andyn]

In a nut shell, yeah.

Think back to when you were a kid on the beach and if you dig a hole deeper than the water level where the sea is and it would fill up with water to that level.

Also known as an Indian Well.

 

[Tengu]

This reminds me of the well I saw on N Rona.
No surface water on the island, but the ground is sopping.
The wells (I only found one and it wasnt the main well, which Im told is a catchment basin on the edge of the cliff) were just hollows, rimmed with stone.