One of the many things that have confused me all my life is the concept of wells.
I get that somebody, long ago, discovered that there's sometimes/often water in the ground, once you dig deeply enough. And they therefore started digging wells and putting rocks around the cylinder-shaped hole in the ground, supposedly to stabilize it and perhaps prevent the water from becoming too dirty.
- Wouldn't the water automatically become dirty rather than clean, from the dirt in the bottom of the well? (And if the bottom is not dirt, how did any water get into the well in the first place?)
- Couldn't any person who didn't like the person living in the house just walk up to the well when they are asleep or away and drop something disgusting down there, ruining the well completely? I assume that this was one of the reasons that wells evolved into pumps, which have no obvious way to contaminate them (easily)?
- If wells automatically work from the ground just "doing its thing", how can there be such a thing as a "dried-up well", abandoned because it no longer gives water?
I have tried reading the Wikipedia article, but as usual, the illustrations and descriptions mostly serve to confuse me further.