I have to weigh in here. We had a cistern when I was a kid (not a well - there is a difference). I really didn't like having to pump a bucket of water and carry it in, then spill it on the floor and catch hell from the old man. Trust me, it's much better to have a simple tap to get water from. And, when the old man would clean out the cistern once a year, and you saw what was in the bottom of it, well. . . .
Essentially a cistern is a gravity filter, one should never disturb the sediment.