Holes in the ground:

Basically a well is a hole in the ground. So short answer is a yes . You can get water from a simple hole in the ground . The question would be . Can you drink it. Most wells here are dug to a depth under the water table or best a aquifer . Here in this area water is normally in coarse sand or gravel . There is not much rock here. The water sand once pulled up  looks just like beach sand and the water coming from your pump gets colder . This lets you know your in water sand . Once you dig to that sand . You must hold that sand back the stuff that most drillers use is called bentonite . It basically makes the water thicker and more viscous. The drill stem is pulled from the ground . Normally your pipes are 4 inch and the bottom few joints will have thousands of tiny slits . This is what holds back the sand to keep you from having muddy water and it allows the water to flow in. But it isn't that simple . You must pump the well to make all the loose fine material through the screen and the thicker to make a barer around the well screen . The more you pump the more the channels in the water sand form toward your screen until your at the max that the aquifer will yield. 

This is a quick and simple way the water comes to your place if your in a rural area. In other areas they filter it.