need answer fast… actually, no, just inspired by the BBC article about corpses being thrown into wells in Nigeria during riots. Well, so there is a whole Wikipedia article about it Well poisoning - Wikipedia which has got lots of allegations but no meaningful info.
Anyway, so suppose you get corpses/carrion thrown into your well. Now what? Can you just throw them out to prevent further contamination, fill in the well, dig another well 5 meters from there (digging wells isn’t supposed to be a very long process either) and use that? Just how permanent is the damage involved and for how big an area of water-bearing soil?
Not all wells are equal so mileage may may.
The corpses need to be removed or they will continue to contaminate the water. After they are removed its a matter of bleaching till the water tests bacteria free. If the corpses stay eventually enough bleaching will resolve the issue but then your talking time frames in years rather then weeks.
How far the contamination spreads depends on the aquifer and the types of bacteria. A new well 5 meters away would likely suffer the same contamination. Most wells concerned here are dug wells that rely on surface water and are already very susceptible to contamination from surface pollution.
In a first would country contaminating a well with a corpse is significantly less problematic and can easily be overcome with money. Factors that would make it easier to resolve in the US are:
- Other sources of water are readily available.
- Equipment to treat thus use even contaminated water is available.
- Chemicals such as bleach to treat the well can be bought at any corner store in near limitless quantities.
- Testing for contamination is immediately available.
If your some poor farmer in Nigeria it is a much more bleak picture. You’d have no water till it’s resolved. You can remove corpses without any equipment to make that process easy or even sanitary putting your health at immediate risk. Then you can start the bleaching process(if you can get enough to begin with), but without access to testing you have no idea if or when the process is successful. Your left playing Russian roulette with your only sorce of water.
Contaminating wells is among the shittiest things one can do to other human beings.
The movement of a contaminant through an aquifer varies depending upon the permeability. It would vary from instantaneous to a few thousandths of an inch per year.
Size of aquifers varies tremendously. African aquifers are some of the largest in the world.
Here is a graphic about aquifers: link.
UNESCO has a global aquifer map: link.