What is meant by shielding a water well? ?

Question

I asked a question about putting an old fashioned water well in my yard for decorative purposes (the old rope and bucket) and I was told that you cannot put those anymore as you now required by city ordinances to shield a well.

Answer 1

I would have to see the ordinance (bylaw or whatever) to know for sure, but many places where groundwater is an active resource require the wellhead and even the upper parts of the well to be protected against the influx of surface-derived contaminants that could enter the water table through an unprotected (uncapped or open) well.

Where I live, the Province has pretty detailed regulations governing the construction of wells, primarily for this reason, but also to ensure that the user is protected, will have a safe supply of water.

A well can be a two-way street.  Water isn't only drawn up, but contaminated surface water can migrate down into the aquifer, which is pretty well never a good thing.

Answer 2

This would be a mesh to stop children ending up in your well. Knowing modern red tape you'll end up with a fence around it.