Well

This page contains information about a typical Venetian well.

For a list of wells, see Wells.

A well is a water system built by Venetians to collect and filter rain to be stored as freshwater.

Diagram of a typical cistern below a wellhead.

Structure

A typical well has an underground cistern, a well shaft, drains and a layer of fine river sand between the cistern and the pavement.

Well Shaft

While functioning as Venetians main water supply, the actual well shaft that extended from the wellhead to the cistern was made from bricks and lined with a layer of impermeable clay.

Cistern

The cisterns were made with large stones and then lined with impermeable clay that prevented the fresh water from leaking out and more importantly prevented salt water from leaking in and contaminating the water supply.

Drains

The drains were built in order to collect rain water. Typically there are two or four drain equally spread out around the wellhead. The image below shows a picture of a drain.

Filtration System

Under each well's drainage holes, there are small basins to collect rain water. These basins are made from a semi-porrous brick called pozzali which filtered water as it seeped through the brick and a mostly waterproof mortar that helps facilitate filtration through the bricks. Once the collected water travelled through the bricks, it would flow through the deposit of sand and gravel that took up most of the volume of the well. The center shaft of the well was made of a material similar to the pozzoli of the rainwater basins, which filtered the water as it enters. 

Current Water Supply

Venice is now supplied with water from the mainland, traveling underground through pipes from the commune Trebaseleghe which is filled by 120 artisan wells.

See Also

• Wells
• Wellhead
• Wellheads

External Links

• English Wikipedia page on Well