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RedR TSS gravatar image
RedR TSS

The fact that the soil is sandy seems to me to indicate a greater, rather than a lesser need for a good concrete apron. While it is true that water will not pond around the well, it is soaking downwards and taking any contamination back into the well water.
I do not have any experience in India but from what I have seen in many countries in Africa, it makes little difference what engineers and public health officers say about not drinking water from a particular source, it will be drunk anyway if the "safe" water is only available for a very limited time. I would also question the safety of a piped water supply that runs dry. This creates a negative pressure in the pipes and tends to draw water in from the surrounding soil which may be contaminated from adjacent septic tanks.
Going back to the question of apron and drainage design, I would support Toby's suggestion of keeping animals, clothes and body washing away from the area surrounding the well head. A fence could be provided with a concrete channel taking water to clothes washing basins and/or animal troughs. I have seen variations on this in several countries, also channels taking drainage water to small gardens. There is often a low level of faecal contamination in well water. In remote rural communities people have a level of immunity to the diseases in the area but there may be a problem if here is a large number of people travelling from outside the area.. Washing plates should not e a problem if they are left to drain dry before re-use. As a rule of thumb, wells should not be dug within 30m of latrines but there is not much you can do if you are improving existing wells

Martin