How to Make a Drywell

Choose the site for your well. This should be well away from your house and foundations. If possible, using the level, find a place where the land falls gently away from the house.

Test soil absorbency by using the post hole digger to make a test hole around four feet deep in a wet area where water pools that you think will be a suitable site for your well. If water wells up while you dig, the soil is probably not suitable for a well. If it does not, pour several gallons of water into your completed hole and monitor the rate at which it is absorbed. A fall of one inch every three minutes in the water level indicates good drainage. Once this test is done you can begin to construct your drywell.

Dig out your hole until it is between 8 and 12 inches in diameter and 4 feet deep

Take an 8-foot length of your fabric sleeve and tie up one end. Fill this end with gravel to weight it down and lower it into your hole until it touches bottom.

Continue to fill the sleeve with gravel until the top is about 6 inches below surface level, then tie this end off.

Ensure the sleeve position is fixed within the hole and then spread more gravel over the top. If you want the well to be out of sight, you can place a thin layer of soil on top of this gravel without affecting the performance of the well. Water will drain through the soil and gravel and be carried down the gravel filled sleeve to be distributed in the subsoil levels.