Priming a shallow pump on a driven well with a check valve

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Rslaback

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Today I just got done driving a sand point into the ground at a property I have near my lake subdivision home. Water is about 15' below ground and the soil is pretty much 100% sand. My state of Wisconsin puts out a pamphlet on driving well points and I have basically mirrored one of their examples.

After getting everything hooked up I am having problems priming the pump. Since I am required to install a check valve I had some concerns about being able to get the suction line filled with water. I originally had hoped to prime the suction line by dumping water down the pipe and then quickly installing the state required cap. However the flow of the slotted point into the sand is so good that it takes the water as quickly as I can pour it.

I can obviously use the prime port on the pump to fill the pump casing and to the check valve but how do I prime the system from the check valve down to the water table?
 

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Valveman

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I would put the check valve under the tee. The closer it is to the sand point the better. Also, if the sand point is not driven deep enough to seal the area above the slots it will never prime.
 

Reach4

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Doesn't the pump need to be "self priming"? Are they pretty much all called that these days?
 

Valveman

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I don't like self primers. They only self prime when there is no pressure in the system anyway. You may have to prime it a time or two before it sucks water up from the sand point, but you would a self primer as well.
 

Reach4

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I don't like self primers. They only self prime when there is no pressure in the system anyway. You may have to prime it a time or two before it sucks water up from the sand point, but you would a self primer as well.
It's going to have to suck some air anyway. Self priming sounds like a good feature, but I know that features can have misleading names.

A vacuum pump sounds like a useful tool to get a shallow well going.
 

Rslaback

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I would put the check valve under the tee. The closer it is to the sand point the better. Also, if the sand point is not driven deep enough to seal the area above the slots it will never prime.

I would assume the slot area should be sealed. There is 7.5' of pipe above the point section that is full of water.

It's going to have to suck some air anyway. Self priming sounds like a good feature, but I know that features can have misleading names.

A vacuum pump sounds like a useful tool to get a shallow well going.

I'm currently trying to get my A/C vacuum pump hooked up to the prime port of the pump in hopes of using it to pull the initial water up the well.
 

Rslaback

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I'm currently trying to get my A/C vacuum pump hooked up to the prime port of the pump in hopes of using it to pull the initial water up the well.

Worked. Like. A. Charm.
 

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