ACWxRADR
Member
I have been installing shallow wells with sandpoints and above ground pumps for 30 years now.
Some installations were to provide simple water pumping via a pitcher pump, others with powered
centrifugal pumps.
Since I have been at this so long, I am quite familiar with the standard practice of driven well points.
Each installation is unique, of course, but the main theme was to reach the water bearing substrate
somewhere between 16 and 24 feet in depth.
Our local elevation is about 1200 feet above sea level. I have managed to pump water from as deep as
28 feet below grade, but that installation was not standard. The well point was set at that depth, but the
water table was several feet higher. It was just necessary to drive the point to that depth to access the
permeable sand and gravel layer. The natural water table filled the well pipe to an equilibrium level that
was higher than the total depth of the sand point. There is plenty of water here, we are right on the river.
In the past installations, I have used a homemade post driver style impact driver to install the well point.
I would dig a pilot hole with a spade and then auger down to the loose sand with a powered auger or with
a hand operated clam shell post hole digger. Everyone realizes that this requires a lot of work and it is
hard on even a young person's back. Well, I ain't so young anymore and I wasn't starting out as a body
builder in the first place. Therefore, I am seeking methods to work smarter, not harder.
About 18 years ago, I attempted a well installation utilizing water jetting, but the design was all my own, I did not research the practice. It worked and the well I installed is still operational today, but I made some errors which resulted in creating a void or cavity below grade that eventually collapsed in and sunk the ground above. My design and practice worked, but it was not the proper method all around.
I desire to install at least one new well to service my new cabin. I do not want to go through the back breaking work of hand driving a well point once again and I do not trust using a mechanical (pneumatic) driver. I am afraid that a mechanical driver maybe too overpowering and damage the threads of the pipes and couplings. Therefore, what I am interested in is water jetting the pipe and sand point.
Water is powerful. I have heard it stated that water always wins and that is why we have the Grand Canyon, therefore I want to make water work for me as opposed to me working for the water. Hence, I need to devise a method to "jet" drill my new well using pressurized water.
What I am seeking here and asking of you is advice and experience regarding water jetting to install a new well point.
If you have any ideas, please respond.
Thanks!
RADAR
Some installations were to provide simple water pumping via a pitcher pump, others with powered
centrifugal pumps.
Since I have been at this so long, I am quite familiar with the standard practice of driven well points.
Each installation is unique, of course, but the main theme was to reach the water bearing substrate
somewhere between 16 and 24 feet in depth.
Our local elevation is about 1200 feet above sea level. I have managed to pump water from as deep as
28 feet below grade, but that installation was not standard. The well point was set at that depth, but the
water table was several feet higher. It was just necessary to drive the point to that depth to access the
permeable sand and gravel layer. The natural water table filled the well pipe to an equilibrium level that
was higher than the total depth of the sand point. There is plenty of water here, we are right on the river.
In the past installations, I have used a homemade post driver style impact driver to install the well point.
I would dig a pilot hole with a spade and then auger down to the loose sand with a powered auger or with
a hand operated clam shell post hole digger. Everyone realizes that this requires a lot of work and it is
hard on even a young person's back. Well, I ain't so young anymore and I wasn't starting out as a body
builder in the first place. Therefore, I am seeking methods to work smarter, not harder.
About 18 years ago, I attempted a well installation utilizing water jetting, but the design was all my own, I did not research the practice. It worked and the well I installed is still operational today, but I made some errors which resulted in creating a void or cavity below grade that eventually collapsed in and sunk the ground above. My design and practice worked, but it was not the proper method all around.
I desire to install at least one new well to service my new cabin. I do not want to go through the back breaking work of hand driving a well point once again and I do not trust using a mechanical (pneumatic) driver. I am afraid that a mechanical driver maybe too overpowering and damage the threads of the pipes and couplings. Therefore, what I am interested in is water jetting the pipe and sand point.
Water is powerful. I have heard it stated that water always wins and that is why we have the Grand Canyon, therefore I want to make water work for me as opposed to me working for the water. Hence, I need to devise a method to "jet" drill my new well using pressurized water.
What I am seeking here and asking of you is advice and experience regarding water jetting to install a new well point.
If you have any ideas, please respond.
Thanks!
RADAR