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[[Image:Wells,_shafts,_and_boreholes_icon.png|right|80px]][[Image:RechargePit.jpg|thumb|right|300px200px|Recharge pit constructed for recharge of surface runoff. Rajasthan, India. <br> Photo: [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001438/143819e.pdf ''Strategies for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) in semi-arid areas.''] UNESCO.]]
Large diameter wells and smaller diameter boreholes can be used to directly recharge or dilute shallow aquifers where low permeability strata (rock) overlies the aquifers and where other infiltration methods are not effective. The important thing is that water of high enough water quality is used for this purpose. Although this method of recharge is practised with deep and high-yielding boreholes, this technique mainly describes recharge at the family level in areas where hand dug wells run dry at the end of the dry season or where groundwater is saline.
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! width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" | Advantages
! style="background:#ffdeadf0f8ff;" | Disadvantages
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| valign="top" | - Can assist recharge of shallow wells. Allows groundwater aquifers to be treated as massive storage tanks where in times of surplus, the aquifer can be recharged while in times of drought the water can be extracted. One example of this is the “water bank” concept for Windhoek’s water supply in Namibia. <br>
====Maintenance====
Some chemical pretreatment of the water may be required to prevent flocculation of iron, CaCO3, etc. and chlorination of other disinfection may be needed to prevent microbial growth. Clogged wells may need to be recovered at regular intervals using surging and pumping to remove fines and bacterial growth physically and the use of a wetting agent to remove air in an air-clogged well. Carbonate aquifers exhibit the least amount of clogging due to the gradual dissolution of calcite by a slightly acidic injectant, if periodic backflushing is observed.
==Costs==
==Field Experiences==
==Manuals, videos, and links==
* [http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/namibian-capital-needs-water-banks-for-dry-times Namibian capital needs "water banks" for dry times]. Reuters. 26 Oct 2011.
* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CFQQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ewisa.co.za%2Fliterature%2Ffiles%2F087/literature/files/087.pdf&ei=WCJ9T_DCOKnTiAKC193qDQ&usg=AFQjCNEFu8pC-bYhIJPvRSBd6YDEtYDHOg&sig2=irq8wEj0CslXGXA5l2w__Q Planning Water Resource Management: The Case for Managing Aquifer Recharge], by E.C. Murray and G. Tredoux.
* [http://www.indiawaterportal.org/node/6270 Recharge Well: Cost and Caution]. India Water Portal.
* Commercial product: [http://www.kentainers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Permawell.pdf PERMAWELL]. Made by AquaSanTec.
==Acknowledgements==
* CARE Nederland, Desk Study: [[Resilient WASH systems in drought-prone areas]]. October 2010.
* Gale, Ian, [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Funesdocunesdoc.unesco.org%2Fimages%2F0014%2F001438%2F143819e/images/0014/001438/143819e.pdf&ei=uqt8T9_sL6ibiQKTqdzFDQ&usg=AFQjCNFjJrN8OJHYuNSZrDZIrDtZxc_LRg&sig2=J7p3YnDub8Ixn2n4DU-uBw Strategies for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) in semi-arid areas.] UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme (IHP), 2005.
* [http://www.uniteforsight.org/environmental-health/module4 Water: The Water Crisis.] Unite for Sight.
