ABSTRACT
Persian wheels lift water from open wells by means of small buckets tied with flexible rope or chains on a rotating drum or wheel. Power to this rotating wheel is provided through the shaft coming from another rotating drum driven by a pair of bullocks. The rotation of rope or chain brings the buckets up, full of water, from the well and empties them automatically as the buckets descend over the rotating drum. This mechanism provides continuous lifting of water from the well. Water lifted from open wells was mostly used for irrigation purposes, but at the same time it was providing drainage to the surrounding area because of its wide diameter and sizable capacity to store the groundwater seeping from the water bearing formations. A Persian wheel can yield water between 0.1 and 0.2 ft3/s, and can command an area of about 5-15 acres.[5] The use of the Persian wheel is feasible where groundwater is shallow and of good quality for usable purposes. These wells, in addition to their use for supplying water, have also been used as a source to drain the excess water from the soil surface as well as from the root zone called ‘‘drainage wells.’’
DRAINAGE WELLS
