Content
- 1 Do I need to make a clay castle around the well
- 2 Advantages and disadvantages of a clay castle around the well
- 3 How to choose clay for a castle on a well from groundwater
- 4 How to make a clay castle for a well with your own hands
- 5 How to make a blind area for a castle from clay for a well
- 6 Repair and restoration of a clay castle for a well
- 7 Conclusion
It is not difficult to equip a clay castle for a well with your own hands. This is necessary so that contaminated top water does not get into clean water. Sealing at the seams between rings will last longer with the added protection of compacted clay.
Do I need to make a clay castle around the well
Doubts about the need for a clay castle arise when the consumer sees the consequences of improper manufacture of this structure. If a carelessly laid element collapses, it will damage the shaft of the well, and eroded earth will get inside. This can be avoided. Do not forget about frost heaving, especially if the water table is high. Drainage is sometimes needed. The well and the blind area should be insulated so that the heaving of the soil does not tear off the upper rings.
An earthen castle is necessary so that the vodka would go a long detour through the sand. Otherwise, the polluted water will immediately come to the top of the well and, if the slightest crack occurs, it will enter the drinking water. Before setting up a clay castle, you need to wait for the earth to settle. The hired craftsmen offer to do it right away, and this threatens the formation of cavities between the clay layer and the settled soil. It is advisable to wait for time, you can finish this work with your own hands.
Advantages and disadvantages of a clay castle around the well
There are disputes about the feasibility of building a clay castle, especially with your own hands. There are still some disadvantages:
- you will need to find clay with a sand content of no more than 30%, and in the excavation site under the well there may not be such;
- it is difficult to achieve complete waterproofing with only one clay "seal"; coating the joints on the rings will still be required;
- the clay will have to be soaked and kneaded by hand; mechanical stirring is not suitable;
- sedimentation of the soil and the clay layer itself takes time, with a hasty installation, the lock will not work.
Contractors may offer to do everything in one season, but their motivation is to get paid as soon as possible. When arranging a well with their own hands, many have the opportunity to wait. The advantages of a clay castle are significant for someone:
- clay is an inexpensive material, sometimes completely free;
- with proper installation, repairs will not be required for years;
- elimination of defects or the consequences of wear is inexpensive;
- the well will be reliably protected from the ingress of melt and rainwater.
How to choose clay for a castle on a well from groundwater
To make the castle, you will need fatty clay, the permissible admixture of sand in it is up to 15%. To check, roll a small ball of moistened raw materials with your hands, drop it from a height of 1 m onto a hard surface. If the ball falls apart or is badly damaged, the amount of sand is unacceptably high. If there are only small cracks on the sides, it is suitable.
You can also press down on the ball with your hand and see if there are large cracks around the edges. In addition, for testing, a rolled up lump of clay or a cake from it must be dried with good ventilation or even in the sun. The more sand in the composition, the less the sample will crack.
Greasy clay will crack when dry, but it holds its shape better when wet.
The clay is soaked to increase plasticity. If possible, they are harvested in the fall and left in an open place for the winter.
If there is no time, soaking is carried out for 1-3 days. The soaked clay must be kneaded - without this procedure, it will not become waterproofing. The process is quite laborious, it is difficult to do it with your hands, and a concrete mixer or a mixer on a perforator simply mixes, and does not crumple. The traditional way: knead (knead) with your feet. To increase plasticity and improve water-repellent properties, you can add 10-15% of hydrated lime, contact with the skin must be excluded. The finished clay has the consistency of plasticine, it is laid wet.
How to make a clay castle for a well with your own hands
It is advisable to start laying a clay castle after soil shrinkage, which lasts at least 1 year after the construction of the well itself. Concrete rings buried in the ground should not be wrapped with insulating material, especially foamed material. The Stenophon mentioned below will crumple and begin to decompose in the ground.
The outer part of the trunk is recommended to be treated with welded waterproofing or bitumen, but the material should not be roofing, but designed to work in the ground. This will give more chances to maintain the integrity of the ring joints during seasonal ground movements, if they do occur.
Frost protection should be placed on top. The well itself will maintain a positive temperature in winter, but the clay around it must not be allowed to freeze, the heavily heaving material will damage the upper rings when expanding. When installing an insulated "house" on a concrete well and a warm blind area, the clay castle will not freeze, will not expand and the trunk will remain intact.
In this photo, EPS is used to insulate the shaft of the well, the probability of freezing of the clay castle increases, which will lead to the separation of the upper ring:
The width of the clay castle is 1 m from the well, the depth is at least 2 m, but always deeper than the level of freezing of the soil. Clay should be poured above ground level to ensure a slope away from the well. For a greater density of the castle, laying should be done in layers of 10-15 cm, carefully ramming each of them with a tool. It can be a heavy log with handles. You should not try to hammer clay into the castle by stamping your feet - this is ineffective.
How to make a blind area for a castle from clay for a well
The blind area protects the clay castle from erosion and freezing. The cause of frost heaving is subzero temperatures and water. It is enough to remove one of these factors so that the well does not deform after winter. The concrete shaft itself is buried much below the freezing level, this is enough to heat the surrounding soil.
Drainage is necessary at a high level of groundwater in spring and autumn, the main difficulty is it is not clear where to discharge the allotted. A natural circulation system will require a slope. If the well is located in a low place, the task becomes more difficult. As a last resort, you can put a drainage pump, but it will work constantly, as, for example, when pumping water from basements, which he drowns in the spring in swampy areas. The drainage system will also require a manhole with a lock on the cover.
The width of the blind area is at least 1.5 m, and in addition to insulation, waterproofing must also be present in it. Clay can be used here, with a layer of 0.3-0.5 m, also compacted, but in this case it is better to postpone the work for a year. The lower part of the structure can settle, and melt and rain water will go into the formed gap.
From above, the blind area is covered with wood or tiles, that is, with such material that will not be damaged by the movement of the ground. In case of repair, it is better to leave the finishing layer collapsible.
Repair and restoration of a clay castle for a well
The reasons for the repair may be different: the earthen castle could have been washed out by rain or overhead water, through the gaps the water approached the mine and the clay seeped inside, an unpleasant rotten smell suggests that a cavity has formed somewhere.
A clay castle can settle over time and peel off from the blind area. To eliminate the resulting voids, the flooring, waterproofing and insulation are removed, and the lock itself and the inner walls of the well are examined. If no leaks of clay water into the well are found, and no cracks are visible from the outside, the top layer can simply be filled up.
Traces of dirty water leaks inside the well, cracks outside, a suspiciously high level of filling (out of season), a rotten smell (after rain, for example) are signs that the lock needs to be redone.
The dug out old clay must be soaked and kneaded again, and the walls of the wellbore must be inspected for cracks. Leaks from the inside will also be a clue where the seams have parted, in these places a seal may be required. The concrete locks in the well rings can be destroyed. The outer insulation, if any, should be removed and replaced with a new one. It makes no sense to look for breaks, water can make a "pocket" and the material will be peeled off in places.
Conclusion
When making a clay castle for a well with your own hands, you should take into account the subtleties of this technique. The task is to get water from a depth without impurities, and carelessness in execution will lead to the opposite result. The method itself is quite good and economical, but it will require a responsible approach.
