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| A well in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region |
Wells are filled by drawing on groundwater, whose depth of occurrence and location determine the depth of the well.
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| A well in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region |
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| A well near the Church of the Nativity in the village of Velykosillia, Hertsa district, Chernivtsi region. |
Surface water and perched water, because of environmental pollution, are not used for drinking.
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| A well by the roadside in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region |
Artesian water arrives much faster and gushes up if a pump is used to draw it.
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| A well by the closed Chunyshyne station, Donetsk region |
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| A well at the railway station in the settlement of Luzhany, Kitsman district, Chernivtsi region. |
In rural areas the crane wells have survived — outwardly they resemble the bird.
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| A well in the village of Slovianka, Dnipropetrovsk region. The "Pearl of the Steppe" homestead |
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| Kyiv. The "Pyrohove" Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. The village of Puzhaikove, Balta district, Odesa region |
The lever lifting mechanism, in the form of a pole with a bucket on one arm and a counterweight on the other, is designed for minimal physical effort.
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| A crane well in the village of Prelesne, Donetsk region. The Museum of Folk Architecture and Children's Art |
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| Kyiv. The "Pyrohove" Museum of Folk Architecture and Life. The village of Terreblia, Tiachiv district, Zakarpattia region. A crane well |
The manual drive, the so-called windlass, requires a little more strength, but it is encountered far more often.
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| A well in the village of Slovianka, Donetsk region. The "Pearl of the Steppe" homestead |
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| A dried-up well by the Mezhova-Slovianka road, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
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| A well in the village of Antonivske, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
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| A well in the urban settlement of Mezhova, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
A well should be located no less than 50 metres from rubbish dumps and cesspits.
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| A well in the village of Ukrainka, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
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| A closed well in the village of Hryshyne, Donetsk region. |
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| A well by the roadside in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region. |
The walls of the well shaft are reinforced with logs, brick, stone or reinforced-concrete rings.
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| A well in the urban settlement of Zhelanne, Donetsk region. |
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| A well in the urban settlement of Zhelanne, Donetsk region. |
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| A well by the Holy Dormition church in the urban settlement of Hrodivka, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. |
To build a mechanism for raising water to the surface, one must take into account the distance from the edge of the cover to the centre of the well's mouth, the height of the windlass, the height of the handle and the length of the crank.
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| A well in the village of Zapsillia, Sumy region. |
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| A well near the church in the town of Staryi Sambir, Lviv region. |
The well serves as decorative adornment for a homestead plot, and owners embellish this source of water in various styles.
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| A well near the church in the town of Staryi Sambir, Lviv region. |
The water in the underground strata differs in chemical composition, but it is always cold — which is why folk tradition calls a well a "studenets", a cold spring.
The gleam of the water's mirror creates the illusion of a bottomless funnel, and it seems it could drag an adventurer down into the abyss.
In fairy tales and myths, wells are described as gateways to the underground kingdom; they are credited with a link to the underworld, with magical properties and enchantments.
The life-giving water heals, relieves fatigue, adds strength and grants wishes.
In Christianity the well signifies purification and salvation.
In Judaism a source of pure water symbolises the Torah.
Interpreters of dreams associate a well with clear water with well-being, profit and good fortune.
In Ukraine the well personifies goodness, strength, wealth and beauty. Images of wells appear on the coats of arms of many towns and villages.
Water is not only a valuable natural resource essential to human life; it also teaches us to value it, to remember those who dug the well.
In the village of Velykosillia , in the Hertsa district of the Chernivtsi region, a plaque has been placed on the well with an inscription that translates from Romanian roughly as: "A person must do good. Water is sacred." The well was restored in 1990 by a schoolteacher, Valeria Vasylivna Strypa, whom the residents remember with gratitude.
In neighbouring Lunka the well by the church of Venerable Paraskeva resembles a small chapel.
Among Ukrainians it is customary to show goodwill and mutual respect when meeting neighbours by a well.
A quarrel by a well is considered a great sin.
It is likewise a sin not to give water even to a fierce enemy. Water teaches one to be generous, not vindictive, sincere.
Great respect is due to the person who dug a well for all and did not claim to be its owner.
When in Avdiivka in the Donetsk region the water in the mains became unavailable as a result of damage to hydraulic structures in the combat zone, well water became the main source of water supply.
The Donbas is not rich in water resources; the wells in its settlements can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
In 2014, when for almost half a year not a drop came from the taps, they were the salvation of half a million residents of the Pokrovsk, Selydove and Dobropillia districts of the Donetsk region.
Huge queues stretched out by the wells, where people stood for hours to draw the life-saving water. The water in the boreholes, 40 to 60 metres deep, barely managed to replenish itself.
The owners of the wells kept order around them, maintained the mechanisms in working condition and installed pumps.
Sadly, in recent years, because of the thoughtless use of natural springs and the chaotic drilling of boreholes, rivers are becoming shallow, the groundwater level is falling, wells are drying up, and the quality of their water no longer meets sanitary standards.
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| A well in the village of Tysiv of the Bolekhiv city council, Dolyna district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. |
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| A well in the town of Bolekhiv, Dolyna district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. |
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| A well by the roadside in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region. |
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| A well in the village of Patsykiv, Dolyna district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. |
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| A well in the schoolyard in the town of Turka, Lviv region. |
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| A well by the roadside in the village of Marshyntsi, Novoselytsia district, Chernivtsi region. |
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| A well in the town of Skole, Lviv region. |
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| The coat of arms of the Dobropillia district, Donetsk region, depicting a crane well |
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| A well in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region. |
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| A well 8 m deep, lined with stone. The village of Velykosillia, Hertsa district, Chernivtsi region. |
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| A well by the church of Venerable Paraskeva, the village of Velykosillia, Hertsa district, Chernivtsi region. |
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| A well on the grounds of a temple complex in the village of Kytaihorod, Tsarychanka district, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
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| A well by the church of St Elijah. The town of Koziatyn, Vinnytsia region |
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| A well in the town of Baturyn, Bakhmach district, Chernihiv region. |
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| A well by the roadside in the urban settlement of Vasylkivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
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| A well in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region. |
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| A well in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region. |
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| A well in the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region. |
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| A well by railway halt No. 11, Donetsk region. Depth more than 40 m |
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| A well on the grounds of the church of St Nicholas. The town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region |
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| A well at the Pryklonsky railway station, the urban settlement of Prosiana, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
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| A well in the urban settlement of Prosiana, Dnipropetrovsk region. |
This story is also available in Ukrainian: Колодязі. Їх значення в життєдіяльності людини
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