A well is designed to access a groundwater supply.
Wells and cisterns provide water, but they do so in different ways. A cistern is a container used to store water; Cisterns can be found in various sizes throughout the world, both above and below ground. A well, on the other hand, connects to an underground water supply, such as an underground spring or stream. Wells are built by digging into the ground and inserting braces so that the sides of the well do not collapse.
A toilet uses a cistern to store the amount of water needed to flush.
Both cisterns and wells have been used for centuries. Historically, many people took advantage of natural spring sites to build settlements, and when the springs began to fail, they dug around them to extract the vein of groundwater that supplied the spring, creating the first wells. To access the water from the well, people lowered buckets that could be filled with water and scooped them up. Eventually, electric pumps were developed to draw water from wells. Later, people dug wells in areas they thought would produce a good groundwater supply, with or without surface springs.
Cisterns can be found in various sizes throughout the world, both above and below ground.
Classically, wells were dug by hand and lined with stone to prevent cave-ins. They were covered with small structures to prevent people and animals from falling; In addition to being a disgrace to the victim, a dead animal in a well would also spoil the water. Modern wells are dug with the help of drill bits and are usually lined with precast concrete rings to match the diameters of the drill bits used to make the wells. After a well is dug and lined, it is capped and covered with a pump to access the water inside.
A cistern, on the other hand, is designed to store water, not to channel an existing water source. Cisterns are classically filled with rainwater, although people can also fill them by pumping wells or trucking water. Cisterns have historically been used in dry regions to store water in case wells fail or rainfall becomes extremely erratic, and some people use them as a backup water supply that can be used in the event of a power outage. prolonged energy that restricts access to water. contents of a well.
Historically, cisterns were built above ground and used a gravity feed system to provide water. In some cultures, the cisterns sink into the ground, but although they are underground, they do not function as wells; someone still has to fill the cistern with water. Underground cisterns tend to lose less water to evaporation as they are covered and insulated with earth, but require the use of an electric pump or lowered bucket to access the water inside.
People in cities take advantage of a centralized plumbing system that is connected to a reservoir or river that is used as a water source. Typically, city plumbing is connected to a water treatment plant that purifies the water before it reaches homes, making it safe to drink. Many of these systems rely on gravity and pressure to move water supplies, giving citizens access to water with or without electricity.
