indeed potable water is essential to life. over the 37 years my wife and i've been married, 30 of those were in a few country houses. septic tanks and sandpoints. over the years i drove half dozen sandpoints into the water table. 1 1/2" x 3' with a 90 grade screen. it's a chore. and the water table is an unreliable source of water. it fluctuates with the seasons, is given to surface water runoff effects and contains iron. that black slime you get on the screen and pipes when you pull it up to clean and pound back down. the first house (a small farm) we bought had no heat no water and a 40 amp electrical service. picked up a small oil tank and a space heater so we had heat. dug a 6' x 6' x 6' pit. bought three 1 1/2' x 5' galvanized threaded pipe and a short 'driving pipe' and the first of eventually several sandpoints. borrowed a large heavy post pounder and got to work. two pipe wrenches to tighten the pipes because every pound loosens the thread connections thereby compromising the seal. shallow wells are considered 30' or shallower. had an old piston pump to draw the water up from the well. also had a hand cistern that i'd every now and then screw on, prime and check the flow. rule of thumb is 3/4 spout full of water with each pump is a good water source. this water table was high, about 13' deep with 10' under it. still the dead iron bacteria bodies would, with daily use, clog the sandpoint screen.
fast forward the 30 years. had enough of the work involved in maintaining a sandpoint and the rise and fall of the water table. called a local well digging company. $3 a drilled foot. water vein 89' down. a submersible pump and a 4' screen. lots of cold fresh water. however the deeper the well the more the water needs to be treated. little iron but lots of methane. a well up the hill was 300' down and their water was so loaded with methane they needed a bleed off tank.
anyway. long story even longer.
my experiences with supplying water to our houses was the reason i could help several folk over the years. didn't know i could 'witch'. but did know how to get them the water they needed.
our 'retirement' home now has a high eff gas furnace an on demand water heater and is on town water. it's a 50 year old bungalow so first thing i did was remove and replace all the plumbing. pex piping from the water meter throughout with shark bite fittings in between. installed a water softener too with a bypass line to the outside taps. and replaced the toilet with a two flush system. low flush, high flush, depending on the toilet sitters use. love the work of it all. water has been important to us and we use it knowingly. a shame when folks use their water without consideration.
one more note. sister lived on a working farm. 50' windmill slowly drew water from a well 100' down which kept water in a 1000 gallon holding tank. then there was the fellow who had to install a regulator on his positive pressure aquifer artesian well. water indeedly a source of life.