How does a well work? Is there a finite amount of water in a drinking well? Why is it okay to drink? Do they somehow replenish water or if they dry up that is it?
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On top of what everyone else wrote, groundwater is from the sky and runoff, percolated through a natural filtration system (soil, Quaternary deposits, permeable bedrock – i.e. sandstone, siltstone, chalk, limestone, etc.), and extracted from the ground through a relatively clean hole. Whereas surface water (lakes, rivers, ponds), are all mostly contaminated with mining spoil if you’re near ongoing or historical mining operations (dangerous levels of heavy metals near running water). This is in most UK rivers downstream, especially the North of England.
Why is groundwater not filled with heavy metals or other toxic/biologically dangerous substances? Sometimes it is. So please check your wells with testing kits! But often than not, if there has been ground investigation before the creation of the well, and if the geology is harmless (mostly limestone, chalks, unmetamorphosed sandstones) it should be fine and cleaner than dirty surface water.
Any Qs, feel free to ask. Ex-geotechnical engineer w/ a geology degree. 👋
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