DIY Well Drilling Using a Hand Drill. 

Technical drawings of the swivel are published on our website (link in description). If you want to build this setup yourself you can use these drawings. If things are unclear, you can contact us via our website. If everything is clear and you managed to make your own setup, well done! Please consider sharing this with us as well, we really like to get some feedback and insight in whether the setup is used and how and where etc..

Pretty slick . I love watching people do considerably tough to complete tasks with intelligently designed equipment that most people would say couldn't be done . My favorite quote " Those who say it can't be done should not stand in the way of those who are doing it." Good job my friend

Brother, you are a rockstar! Ive been trying to think of a way to drill a well cheaply for over 2 years now and you just educated me for free. I am thankful for you. I will keep my eyes open for anything you put out. My name is Wade and I live in Florida.

I have experience as a well site geologist and operations geologist in the oil and gas industry. You basically present all the basics in drilling, mud logging, and muf fluids engineering. Great video and thank you for doing it! I would want to see if there are any other videos regarding wind or solar powered pumping for homesteads. All the best!

This is the cutest single drill rig I've seen by far. Really cool how you have covered all the bases of drilling on a smaller scale.

i worked on an oil rig as a support worker for years never really paying attention to what was happening just doing my part and letting the drill workers do their part. This explains everything to me in a way that everything just came together for me. you just blew my mind.

That was fascinating. I’m on a drilling rig at the moment about to set casing at 12,300’, and your set up is much like our set up. Just a little smaller. Now I want to try and drill my own water well at home using your technique. I may try to utilize s screen to keep the cuttings out of the mud pit though.

I am not an engineer of any kind ... just a simple man always wanting to go off the grid. Drilling a well has always been a dream. You have made this video in a way that anyone can understand and see how it works. Well done man.

I have been watching DIY well drilling videos over the last two days (doing some research to do our own one), and this is hands down the best one I've watched thus far. Well done dude, well done.

Well done, you have captured the fine points of drilling very well. I have drilled many dozens of sample bores to over 700ft, these techniques and devices are exactly what we use, all but on a heavier scale. We use bentonite in the mud to clear the cuttings and use two pits to help remove the cuttings from the mud. Stop with the bentonite for the last 2 or 3 meters, change the drilling mud out for water, so as to not plug the wall of the bore. Risky, the bore may collapse, but worth it for yield. Only used the gell a couple of times, works well and maybe doesn't clog the bore as much as bentonite. Nice vid.

Wow. Bore hole drilling is not affordable where I come from and its a specialist work of course. Your ingenious idea and design using everyday tools and materials just opened up the possibility for our rural people to drill bore holes and have access to clean water. Your video explains the process very well for the layman too. Well done and thank you for sharing 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Top job! My neighbor asked me, yesterday, about drilling a well in his garden. I thought that there might be a way to use hydraulic pressure, as I have previously used to create channels for conduit under a concrete slab. So, RU-vid was my first stop. A simple (and lucky) search yielded this video. I am very impressed with the elegance of this method and offer my highest praise to "WOT!" This technique will be perfect for the geology we need to drill. The project lands high on my to-do list. Thanks for the great video!

Wow! This is the best DIY well drilling rig I've seen on youtube so far.

Lazy and and smart are two different things. you did it the smart way. if you were lazy, you'd have cut 1/4 the cuts and probably never did this project. Thanks for the great demonstration, although I don't plan on using this knowledge right away, you're one of the better videos I've seen on the subject, without all the fluff that usually goes with them. cheers!

That bike brake trigger system for some reason warms my heart. Great video!

I don't think I've ever lived in a place where the ground isn't packed with rocks.

Thank you for a brilliant video and for sharing, you have taken a very heavy industrial process and reduced it down to its basic components but at the same time making it simple and efficient, you have put a lot of thought into this, congratulations.

Reminds me of my former life in the Alberta oilfield. All the elements are there: rigging the derrick (a topdrive rig, very modern), digging the rathole, running in, adding a single, using the slips, tripping the bit, managing the mud, running surface casing, cementing off. Great stuff. The downside would be hitting a shallow aquifer that is pressured up and having a blowout!

You are a credit to the human race. Thank you sir.

Muito bom ! Simples pratico e efetivo ! Bom trabalho pessoal ! Do Brasil ! Abraços!

This was such an awesome overview of the whole process in just 15 minutes! I really liked the jigs you made to hold the drill rods and pipes as you worked on the next piece. Genius! 👌

I have drilled several (many) water wells in Holland. Mostly in sand, clay, peat layered soils. Water from peat layered soils has a brown colour, is a bit smelly and it may contain salt and other pollution depending on geography. If I found peat while drilling, I always drilled 3-4 mtr deeper into the sand to get clean water. Isolate the peat from the sand with a rather long clay plug to avoid peaty water sucking into the filter pipe.

Thanks for this. This has made it easier to understand how all drilling works at the mines. Lots of videos overcomplicating something so straightforward

thank you for your wonderful and highly useful instructions on this emas based drilling. I will try the method and pray that God reward you for your sense of service and your spiritual and enlightened spirit.

Very well thought out and professionally executed! Nicely done!

Good job! I have been involved in drilling several shallow wells down 15 to 20 feet where we augured by hand down until the ground water made the hole cave in, and then drove a sand point with stainless steel mesh through a couple of hard-to-drive layers and ended up stopping when it resisted further driving. Wound up with 6 gallons per minute output from a hand pump. Jetting looks a lot easier!

You remind me of my Dutch friend called Ivo. This is only possible on Holland due to the soft ground they have. This wouldn't work in England or other places. Thanks for sharing. Its a very clever idea

This is the coolest drill rig I’ve seen for a diy/homesteader or even shallow test well drilling. I’m a hydrogeologist in Canada!

Awesome job! I love all your custom made, cobbled together tools that are perfect for the job. The tripod frame to save you from fatigue, the drill rig with the bike brake throttle, the jig that holds and locks in shafts as you add a new segment… all very well thought out! I sure hope you use that for multiple wells. Liked, Subscribed w/bells and all 🙂

When my deep (92m) well was drilled (by a well drilling company), the 20cm diameter drill bit made only a one-half turn in the grass sod, and clunked to a stop by solid bedrock within 3cm of surface. It was then rock all the way down, with intermittent layers of gravel. End result was 302 feet (92m) and 10 gpm (45 L/minute). Pump has been down there for 30 years so far, never a problem. In spite of pump controller in basement twice being exploded by lightning. Pump still going...

" Returns the Drill .... "I only used it once " "don't know why it burnt out ....

Great job of explaining and showing how to do it. This guy is really Smart! I am very impressed. Those parts he's using, he made them! Very cool!

Something I've seen somewhere else is that they had 2 ponds for settlement the first like you have the second connect to the first like you did with the hole, have the sump pump in the second hole so the stuff coming up the hole has a chance to settle in the first pond, hopefully giving you cleaner water in the second

So far this is the best DIY drilling ring I've ever seen.

Great use of knowledge and intelligence. I would love to use the same method thanks for adding value to the world. We need people like you to live forever.

My vote for BEST DIY WATER WELL DRILLING ON RU-vid!

The only DIY video you need to watch for drilling your own well. So very practical and too the point. I would give it 2 thumbs up but RU-vid only has 1 hand.

Seems like a great tool to help countries with no or poor water access. Some fairly minimal tools could be brought in to create a village well, alternately, provide a kit and some spare parts and initial instructions and let them drill well after well on their own.

I have watched a lot of hand Wells drilled on RU-vid all with titles that elude towards success only to be met with complete failure after investing an hour more watching these dry well-digging novices. It was good to see someone actually have success at this. Kudos sir you are Da Man:-)

This video was very well done, thank you and greetings from North Michigan USA.

No work is too hard, when you enjoy what you are doing. Great stuff, thanks.

This is one of the most awesome DIY clips I've seen on bore/spear pumps! Thanks heaps for posting this to RU-vid 😎

I have no need to drill for a water well but I watched your video completely because it was very informative and it looks like you know what you’re talking about. You’re a smart man and make things work with what you have. Good job !!

I have wanted to drill my own well for many years. I might be too old to do it now but I enjoyed your video. If I had known more about it sooner I might have tried it myself.

Fantastic presentation! Simple, to the point, and informative. Five stars from me!

You put a lot of effort into this presentation. Those are the basic skills that people need to learn very soon. Thank you for sharing.

Hes the driller the floor hand, working pits and the roustabout getting the next joint ready...Respect bud!

This was absolutey fascinating to me. When I retire, I am going to build one. Thanks for posting !

Thanks for this brilliant idea. I however don't understand the connection between the frame and the rotational drill pipes and would like to get some tutorials on it.

I worked on a real water well drill for a few years. Gotta say, this is pretty awesome...

what a creative man....full of logic and a sense of common sense....in-short...>> GENIUS!...thumbs up.

Dude you are a very clever man, thanks for sharing this. I reckon that your ingenuity will save a lot of people a lot of money and may even save a life or two. Absolute legend you are.

Great video and explanation Also I like the clamps and clamps base . Thank Note for viewer : The dill used is 320 W . 450 RPM Keyless Right & Left rotation 1.2 kg

Please explain with more videos on the handle that you used for drilling and inlet water line in the handle. Thanks.. worth watching 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞👍👍👍👍👍

I love you you are the smart one. Using the drill. I've watched so many of these either you need to be a well buffed man, or you need to have 3 to 5 other person to do what you have done all by yourself, I bend a knee to you, the one who used your brain...thank you..God a love a clever man

Excellent method, easy to use and well explained. Thanks so much for sharing!

Amazing job one thing that would help save a little work depending on how deep you need to get is dig a runoff from the mudpit to get your drill mix cleaner and more stable .

I love it! Brilliant. Leave it to a Dutchman to change what had been a rarefied field of work and turn it into a simple, easy to understand and use process. Congratulations!

Great job so better than many meat-head videos self styled "experts" You have thought through this and really taught some excellent principles put into practice.

Dude you r hands down a genius thats a way for us not so fortunate people who cant afford thousands of dollars to have clean non contaminated drinking water!!!

Very interesting ! Well done, thank you for this demonstration

Awesome video! Thank you!

Sorry for commenting a lot. I have only ever read about this, and it was really cool to see. thankyou

I'm a simple man, I see a good DIY, I hit subscribe

Besides the amazing work you did that was an excellent production as well. You describe the process perfectly and included all the information necessary. This was just an outstanding. Thank you so very much

Fascinating and kudos to you from Australia! Unfortunately we have to go a lot deeper to get to the water table and the ground is like rock. Very clever use of tools though and a great video. Thanks.

That was an awesome video!perfectly paced and explained! I feel I could follow these instructions and make a well!great job!

That was very clever you have achieved everything a drill rig would have done at little cost and entertained me for twenty minutes

To further insure the filter doesn't clog you could dig a second pit with a passage between the first and second. The mud would fill the first pit while the water passed on to the second pit.

Fantastic setup, thank you very much.

I saw a lot of films concerning the well drilling but your method i perfect in every inch! It was a pleasure to see so light and handy details. Thank you!

Phenomenal video! Thank you!!

I suggest a Solid Steel sleeve 3 or 4" ID to protect the plastic pipe above ground from damage. Insert the steel collar 2' into the ground.

I have to admit your ingenuity is top notch, I absolutely love i! Can you direct me to a site where i can buy the water swivel?

You surprised me with a one man bore well demo! Great work 👍🏽

Sir thank you for showing the secret of the trade....You are a positive person....

Brilliant! Having spent several years in the oil patch I am amazed at how similar your system is to drilling for natural gas. BTW if you can find powdered bentonite it can be used for your drilling mud and is safe for your water supply. Bentonite is used in beauty face masks and some people actually mix small amounts of it in water and drink it.

Excellent! A very simple setup and it worked beautifully, great video

Thanks so much for making this video, you are a genius! Great details, descriptions and very helpful.

Very creative and nicely own build equipment. To me the most difficult one to build is the handle drill attachment especially where the chuck is located. That is where it turns and fluid enters into the pipe going downward. Deserve a thumb up! With this method and tool one can go as deep as it needs and the video very much covers the same method with the commercial one that costs big time with their fancy equipments and if hiring them for the job. I know exactly this method is valid and work because i dug my own well already 3 as a matter of fact. It was a manual twist back and forth with just house water pressure and no drilling mud. They were shallow wells no more than 35 ft and max. depth for manual drill anyway. Thank you for the video i like your methodology and your own built equipments. I will build one learning from you and from my past experiences. Shallow well 40ft or less is for non potable water use. 100ft and more deep well is for potable use. If you fail to believe this your health will be affected in long term guarantee.

This is super cool, though one thing I don't get, why didn't you just use a standard pipe cap on the end? Doesn't seem like the geometry of that thing you made is that much better, and with the flare needed for it to slip over the pipe, it isn't much, if any narrower.

Instead of heating and twisting the end of the pipe, seems it would be easier to just glue a cap on it.

I wish we were shown how to do this back in my youth days. My dad tried to drill a well the wrong way and I had to do all the hard labor. It never got deep enough for water. We used a hand auger and a pulley system to lift it out of the hole. We got it down to 80 feet before it got too hard to turn the auger by hand. Man those were the days.

Thank you so much this is amazing, I was wondering for so long what I could do and this inspired me. Great content!

Absolutely love it. I am trying to figure out how to do this where I currently am in Brazil. It might not end up as easy as your process but I would love some thoughts and ideas…again great video

Nice Good tutorial I have dug several wells Your demonstrations is perfect. Note Some additional info on the drill to pile water fitting would have surely help

You are amazing, I have overcomplicated this in my head but now I'm ready to give it a try. Absolutely 💯 love you video ❤ Big thank you from Bulgaria

I love those hose fittings, ive never seen those quick style disconnects before, they look like a bigger version of the pneumatic disconnects we have here

Yup great idea. I think your up and coming inventor

Dude, that was awesome! Best video I've seen in a long time.

Personas como usted necesitamos que nos enseñen a salir adelante con lo que tenemos y no promover discordia y promover guerras gracias por su tutorial

I had no intentions of watching a video on how to drill a well, yet here I am. Thanks for that that was really interesting.

Your engineering skills are impressive man!! That thing is awesome.

You have a crude system of what i designed a few years ago . Good job Like the powered winch . You need to use a little bigger pipe so you can have less restriction. I use 1 inch & go down around 60 ft in sandy clay.

Excellent...I recall some 55 years ago they used to sell a setup similar to this, with a gas powered motor, in the back of Popular Mechanics magazines.

Pretty good. It is a complex preparation and operation, well explained. It obviously required a lot of ingenuity to solve the technical problems which are clearly shown. Very well done.

That is brilliant! It would be great if you could sell a kit. I myself don't have the skills to build tools like that and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase them already made

I was a driller for 20 odd years doing exploration drilling, water bore drilling. You certainly have every thing sorted out correct. I love the simplicity of you drilling system works super. But in my country the ground is hard most times need 350psi air with a six and a half inch hammer. But we'll done.

I love this! Every part of this ingenious system has a clear and effective function. It makes my engineer bones tingle.

Excellent idea. Keep it up.