In really old fashioned wells they just lowered a weighted bucket into the water and then hoisted it back out, I thought. No need for fancy gadgets with valves.

Mostly just an odor. It's worse in some areas of the city than others. I'm guessing it's a dissolved gas of some kind. I found that you can get rid of the smell by letting the water stand for 15 minutes or so. After that, the water's pretty good.

http://www.lifewater.ca/ndexdril.htm

This site will teach you miost of what you need to know. And then some.