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In the courtyard of a private house there may be several wells: for drinking water, storm sewers, drainage systems, drains. What are they made from? Most often from concrete rings, another option is brickwork or a steel welded caisson. But they all have disadvantages: leaky, can be destroyed by water. These shortcomings are deprived of plastic rings for the well. We will talk about them further.
Scope of use
Plastic wells have many advantages. Most importantly, they are airtight, do not enter into a chemical reaction with the environment, and slowly change their properties. Pluses adds a small weight (it can also be a disadvantage). That’s just to mount plastic rings for the well is not always easy and they cost a lot.
Polymer wells can be used for various needs – from the storage of drinking water to the organization of drainage and sewerage. Plastic is used special, according to its characteristics it is selected according to the area of application. So, here’s where plastic manhole rings can be used:
- Storm sewer.
- Drainage system:
- viewing;
- differential;
- prefabricated.
- Sewerage (storage and filtration wells).
- Plumbing systems.
- For the construction of cable ducts. Cable plastic wells allow access to power and communication cables laid in the ground.
What can be counted among the advantages of using plastic for wells? The first is that moisture in any form does not get inside the one-piece case. This is true for drinking water. For wastewater collection, this is also important, as is the fact that the contents also do not fall into the surrounding soil in any form. If we talk about storm water and drainage, it is important that the walls of the container are smooth and easy to clean. And yet – plastic does not react with either the contents or the environment.
Another area where plastic rings for the well will be useful is restoration. The task is difficult and dangerous. Working in a dilapidated well, when the logs are almost rotted or the concrete rings have moved, is the height of recklessness. Restoring it is much safer and easier with a food grade plastic ring insert. The disadvantage of this solution is the high price and a decrease in usable volume. After all, the insert should be of a smaller diameter, plus they are made with stiffeners.
Plastic rings for a well: materials
Raw materials for the manufacture of polymer wells can be different – from food grade polyethylene to recycled materials. Plastic rings for a well can be made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), high pressure polyethylene (PVD), there are polymer sand and polypropylene (PP). For our climate, such a parameter as frost resistance and the number of freeze / thaw cycles that the material can withstand is very important. Well, the thickness of the walls, the dimensions and the number of stiffeners – all this is also important and must be taken into account.
The material from which the well rings are made is selected, depending on the purpose of the well. For the installation or repair of a drinking water tank, food-grade polyethylene plastic is considered the best. Moreover, polyethylene must be primary, without impurities or additives of recycled polyethylene (from recycled materials).
For complex soils – heaving, clay, unstable – it is better to take polymer-sand plastic well rings. They are thicker (50 mm is not uncommon), heavier. These characteristics make them suitable for use in difficult environments.
Sizes, types and varieties
If we talk about height, plastic rings for a well can be as follows:
- one-piece pipe of the required depth (insertion into finished reinforced concrete wells);
- a section several meters long (depending on the manufacturer), which can be extended with inserts to the desired size;
- sections of different heights (from 20 cm to 1 m) with a tongue/groove lock and rubber gasket;
- ring with a height of 20 cm to 150 cm with a threaded connection.
It is also worth mentioning that there are options with a bottom and without a bottom, adapter rings – for changing the diameter, hatches with plastic covers. In plastic rings, bends of various sizes can be provided for connecting pipes, installing pumps and other equipment. There are options for the lower tiers – with the possibility of “anchoring”. That is, the whole system is very similar to a children’s designer with a certain set of elements. From these elements you assemble the design you need.
The diameter of plastic well rings is from 60 to 100 cm. But you need to look at whether this is an internal diameter or an external one. For better resistance to soil pressure, the walls are made with stiffeners. They can be 5 cm or even more. So with an outer diameter of 90 cm, the inner one will be 78-75 cm (depending on the wall thickness).
Well for drinking water from plastic rings: how to make
Plastic rings for the well are usually installed in a pre-dug pit. A hole is dug to the required depth, the diameter of which is 150-200 mm larger than the diameter of the installed rings. Geotextiles are covered at the bottom – so that silting does not occur. Geotextiles should go onto the walls of the pit by at least 50 cm. A layer of crushed stone (about 20 cm) is laid on it, geotextiles are bent over it. Crushed stone serves to filter the incoming water. The following is the order of work:
- Collect the pipe of the desired length. When connecting (thorn groove or thread), the joint is coated with polyurethane sealant. You can also use solid pipes of the desired size. They can be up to 12 meters, only if the depth is large, there will be problems with delivery.
- They lower her into the hole.
- Crushed stone is poured between the walls of the pit and the plastic. It will serve to neutralize spring heaving.
Can be done even alone - Install the bottom filter.
- Connect the outlet pipes (if any).
- Install the cover.
As you can see, the biggest difficulty is digging a hole of the required depth. If the ground is firm and stable, the technique can work, but not to any depth. Very often you have to go deep manually. Problems also arise if the walls crumble. Then you have to put rings as you deepen. In this case, it is necessary to dig manually – either outside, or in the ring, upsetting the column.
Deepening an existing well
The debit of water is constantly changing, and not always for the better. If there is not enough water in the well, they try to deepen it. With the help of plastic rings, this is easier to do.
From concrete, log house
Plastic rings can even deepen a well made of concrete rings. We take out the soil only in the center so that the concrete walls do not move down. They remain at the same depth. We deepen only the middle. The size of the “middle” should be larger than the outer dimensions of the repair rings. The disadvantage of this method is that the rings need a smaller diameter. That is, again, the water supply will be less, but there is no need to dig a new well.
We raise the soil to the surface until a sufficient debit of water appears. Next, we clean the bottom, lay a layer of geotextile, wind its edges onto the walls. We pour crushed stone, level it, on this pillow we install the rings assembled on the surface of the desired height. Next, at the bottom we arrange a bottom filter, as in a conventional well.
Since plastic is lighter than water, the installed plastic repair rings must be weighted. For this purpose, any cargo is suitable, contact with which is not terrible for water. Ideally – stainless chocks, large gravel boulders. This load can be removed in 6-9 months – during this time the soil will “compress” the rings and they will no longer rise under any circumstances.
This method of deepening the well is safer, but it is not ideal. As a result, it turns out that the water will be in the plastic insert. It’s a little narrower, but it’s better than nothing. Everything goes much easier than when trying to add concrete rings. They must be placed on top, and, during the draft of the already existing ones, it is not clear how the whole column will behave.
How to make a plastic well deeper
If your well is plastic, it is usually of small diameter and it is difficult and inconvenient to work inside. If you need to make it deeper, the plastic sleeve is taken out of the pit. Next, you will have to clean out the crushed stone that has fallen to the bottom, with which the gap between the walls of the pit and the sleeve was filled up. Then the bottom filter is removed, and the soil begins to be excavated to the desired depth. In the future, the actions “inside” do not differ: we remove the soil until the amount of incoming water becomes sufficient.
On the surface, the required number of plastic rings are added to the finished body and the whole thing is installed in the shaft on a crushed stone pillow. Further actions are already known: we make a bottom filter, we fill gravel between the walls. In general, not too difficult, not counting the land work.
The disadvantage of this method is that if the soil is loose, this trick will fail. By removing the plastic sleeve from the well, you will deprive the walls of the support. This can lead to complete or partial shedding. In this case, perhaps, a well device is more justified.
Installation of plastic rings for technical wells
The process of installing a plastic sewer well or a well for any other purpose is not much different from that described. The difference can only be when installed on soils prone to heaving. In this case, there is a possibility that the container will be pushed up. To avoid this, plastic rings for the well are fixed. The most commonly used term is “anchoring”, and the pushing process is called “surfacing”.
The traditional solution is to dig a pit a little deeper than required, make a gravel or sand and gravel cushion at the bottom. On this pillow you can lay the “anchor” – a concrete slab. It can be a ready-made stove or a homemade one. The dimensions are larger than the bottom of the well. The plate must have hooks or “ears” to which plastic rings are attached with cables (stainless or polymer). Then the gap between the walls of the dug hole and the well is filled up. For heaving soils, it is better to use medium or coarse gravel, and not “native” soil.