Ust-Barguzin Fish Processing Plant Freshwater Well

This concrete-lined artesian well sits beside the ruins of a Soviet fish processing facility on the shores of Lake Baikal. The 6-inch steel pipe delivers clean, cold groundwater at roughly 20 liters per minute year-round. Local Buryat families still use this source, and the water tests clean for drinking without treatment. A metal cup hangs on a chain for tasting.

The plant ruins make for an eerie backdrop, with rusted machinery and collapsed concrete structures scattered around the well head. Road access requires 3km on rough dirt track from the main Ust-Barguzin road. Well freezes over in deep winter but ice can usually be broken with a rock.

Soviet-era artesian well near Baikal shores