– How do people avoid contaminating their water, if they have a small lot with well and septic?
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People can avoid contaminating their water by being careful about what they put in the ground near their well and septic. For example, they can make sure not to put any chemicals or harmful substances near their well, because those things could get into the water and make it unsafe to drink. They can also be careful about what they put down their drains, because their septic tank is responsible for breaking down the waste from their home, and if it gets overloaded with too much waste, it can cause problems. Finally, they can have their well and septic system checked regularly by a professional to make sure everything is working properly
Aquifers are deep; septic systems are shallow. The effluent from the septic tank is discharged in biologically active layers of topsoil. Bacteria acts on it. The layers of soil between the surface and the aquifer act as a filter, removing biological materials.
Horizontally, wells are supposed to be located a certain distance from any part of the septic system, so that ground water can’t infiltrate around the well casing.
Wells *can* be biologically contaminated. While the aquifer is generally inhospitable to bacteria, it is not immune. Well water should be tested periodically, and it is good practice to occasionally sanitize a well with fairly large quantities of bleach. The [CDC outlines the general procedure](https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/drinking/private-drinking-wells.html).
Most of it is common sense, so to speak.
If you place the septic system (which could be a tank or some kind of infiltration system that let’s the polluted water trickle into the into the ground) it comes with the concept that the septic system should be placed downstream (gravitationally) from the well. Water flows downwards, and if the well is upwards, the pollution cannot end up reaching the well.
Another thing is that the septic system is placed just barely underground; A tank is just ridiculous to dig down deeper than you have to since you are going to need a manhole for repairs and inspections and an infiltration is SUPPOSED to trickle out pollution into the ground in a way that makes it meet a lot of material in the ground before it reaches the ground water, digging it down deep defies the point of it.
Most water wells are deep bored. When you risk pollution in the well because the surface ground water is of bad quality and what you really want to pump up is the deep ground water, it’s possible to add a large rubber gasket to the hose in the hole and fixate it at a depth where you want a barrier, so that the well pumps up the fresh water from a depth spring instead of a surface spring.
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