Driving A New Well

[ayelvington]

I'm following this thread with envy. My well-point is sitting on a shale shelf at 15' after getting through about 14' of clay. We know the water is under the shelf, and I'm putting up a tripod to put more oomph on the pipe. I figure I'll buckle it or get water... I'm hauling about 1000 lbs of water using my RTV to water my orchard, and it takes two trips to do a day of watering. The well will let me start the generator and go back after it runs out of gas!

 

[bp fick]

ayelvington- sorry to hear that. These driving points, or the wash-in plastic type, are mostly designed to be "sand" points, as foggy1111 says. I've driven a few through a little hard pan and light clay, but mostly they are designed to be driven through 20 feet of sand and gravel down TO the hard pan which traps the surface water above it. Or, in our case, there is ground water for 40 feet, quite likely, trapped in glacial gravel. Our water table here is reasonable high and our soil is sandy/gravel. The area is a geyser of springs, creating enormous 10-16,000 acre inland lakes and head waters for our states greatest rivers.

 

[bp fick]

Does anyone have a suggestion or advice on how to "condition" or "improve" the new well? Like to hear your thoughts/

 

[foggy1111]

After pumping mine for a few hours on the electric pump......I poured a gallon of bleach down the pipe to sanitize the well. Then let the bleach stand for a couple of days and later pumped it till the bleach odor was gone.

Seems to me I read to do this somewhere. (Also gets the soap off the well point.)

 

[Qapla]

...I also wanted to mention that I find I have to keep the pipe wrench handy. The impact causes the couplings to loosen a bit. After 20 reps with the driver, I re-tighen the coupling as a pre-caution...

All the well guys I know use "pipe dope" or some type of paste sealant on the connections. They never use tape on the well casing. When properly "doped" and tightened, the sections do not come lose from the pounding like it does with tape.

Just a thought ...

 

[yomax4]

After sinking my point in sand, I had a leak in the pipe and my pump would not prime. I ran a black plastic weater pipe down the inside of the steel pipe and hooked up to that. I like it because there is no rust after months of non use.

 

[Brake Weight]

If you're screwing your connections together and driving your pipe in, it's gonna get loose. You can put a sealant on the threads but this won't prevent them from backing off and becoming loose. If time permits, I would mix up some JB Weld, or the likes, and use that as a lubricate/sealant. Or you can do the liquid teflon and weld a tack or two around the collars so they won't work free. Just a thought. Because hammering the pipe in the ground this way is a one trip. It doesn't matter what you do to it as you're not pulling it back out.

 

[bp fick]

All the well guys I know use "pipe dope" or some type of paste sealant on the connections. They never use tape on the well casing. When properly "doped" and tightened, the sections do not come lose from the pounding like it does with tape.

Just a thought ...

If you're screwing your connections together and driving your pipe in, it's gonna get loose. You can put a sealant on the threads but this won't prevent them from backing off and becoming loose. If time permits, I would mix up some JB Weld, or the likes, and use that as a lubricate/sealant. Or you can do the liquid teflon and weld a tack or two around the collars so they won't work free. Just a thought. Because hammering the pipe in the ground this way is a one trip. It doesn't matter what you do to it as you're not pulling it back out.

I use teflon dope, not tape, but either would be fine, I think. Yes, the pounding absolutely loosens the joints. Had to re-tighen after each rep of dozen whacks, or risk damaging threads.

Actually, using a engine puller or tripod with come along, I've pulled up almost 90 feet of pipe, in ages past. Don't recommend it, however.

 

[foggy1111]

The guy that sold me my couplings and pipe highly reccommended pipe dope with teflon - which I used. I had read (or been told) not to use tape for a well too. I also repeatably tightend my couplings when driving pipes. I have not had any leaking problems except at a "T" I had installed at the top of my well. (I changed it for and elbow and end of problem)

IIRC.....you should "chorinate a well" occasionally in order to kill bacteria from the well pipe. I think you can do a google on this and get good information. If your just using the well for irrigation purposes...it may not be important.(?)

 

[Carl_NH]

BP,

I would suggest an 1 1/4" tee on the top of the pipe with a hose bib/valve connection on one side then the 1 1/4" check valve on the other that goes into the pump. Put a cap over the hose connection to prevent any air from getting into the system.

This will allow you to charge the well with your existing water supply, also prime the pipe, and you can back flush the point and added benefit in the winter open the valve and drain the water from the pump and wont freeze.

The backflush will also see how much resistance and may even flush out any sediment in the point from driving.

I drove a point well 20 yrs ago - dont want to do it again tho..

Carl

 

[Gale Hawkins]

This is a great resource with instructional videos on drilling your own well.

Thanks. Awesome site that I spend a few hours on last night. I like the washing approach due to less labor and you can go by sight and not feel only but there was good info on how to know when to stop by feel when driving a well too.

When we lived near Memphis I was upset not at the water bill from watering the grass as much as the increase in sewerage bill that is based on water usage.

 

[Brake Weight]

I was checking out some pumps and was wanting to know what kind of flowrates y'all are getting/using. I'm thinking a 10 or 15 gpm pump should do for me.

 

[sandman2234]

Ten or fifteen gallons of water per minute is pretty good for a shallow well, as most range half of that at best. Some areas of the country produce more, but in my area that is normal.
David from jax

 

[J_J]

It seems like none of you have used this method of installing a well. Notch a 2 in galv pipe, and screw on the well jetting kit from Home Depot. Install a tee with one outlet off the side before the kit. You could use that flat flexible hose sleeve for the output of the digging process for that, and the material coming out of the tee/sleeve indicates whether you are in yellow sand or hard pan, or sugar sand which is water bearing land. Then insert a 20 ft 3/4 in pipe in the center of the 2 in pipe, which will flush out the material and cause it to flow up the pipe and out the sleeve to the ground. Start by using the post hole diggers and dig as far as you can. Raise the 2 in pipe vertical and lower into the hole. Turn the water on and then as the 2 in galv pipe sinks in the hole, turn the galv pipe back and forth as it is cutting through the sand and hard pan. The inside 3/4 pipe forces the material up and out the 2 in pipe. Here in FL we may go through several layers of hard pan before we get deep enough. When the water and sand stop coming up out of the 2 in pipe, remove the head piece and put a pitcher pump or electric pump or a gas pump and try pumping out the well. I would pump until the water is clear.

You could use the 2 in galv pipe as the well casing, and install a check valve vertically, then an elbow, then pump sitting on a concrete pad.

Other option is once the well is clear. make up a PVC well point with about 20 ft total and insert in the 2 in galv pipe. You can now remove the galv pipe and leave the PVC well point and casing in the ground. Install a check valve and install the pump. If you need to, you can dig three wells in a Y configuration, and join the three wells for more out put.

I have seen wells done like this and helped in some of these and it only took a short time to get it done. If you have clay or rock, that is another story. A good bit of our water is within 10 ft of the surface.

 

[J_J]

I was checking out some pumps and was wanting to know what kind of flowrates y'all are getting/using. I'm thinking a 10 or 15 gpm pump should do for me.

If you are thinking of using this system for irrigation, you have to think about pressure and GPM's. The sprinkler heads are designed to throw water a certain distance at a certain pressure. The more GPM's, the more heads you can have on a circuit.

 

[Redbug]

JJ...The way you just described is the way I have put in shallow wells. You bounce the inner pipe, (connected to the hose), up and down to wash out the sand, gravel out the top of the pipe. I have noticed that when you hit water the water from your hose does not wash back out of the top of the pipe. It goes into the ground. You can continue to keep driving the pipe deeper, though.

 

[Brake Weight]

Never thought of doing multiple wells to feed one pump. I may just go ahead and get the 3/4 hp pump rated at 15 gpm.

For ease of math: 10 gpm=600 gallons/hour=2-5 gallon buckets in a minute. My local water supply allows to fill a 5 gallon bucket in 45 secs at the end of a 40' long, 5/8" hose. With my current garden I'm only running 2 of the large all metal oscillating sprinklers from Lowes, but I can't remember the output offhand. Once my watermelon patch kicks off, maybe next week, I'll run a pair in that section also.

 

[J_J]

Redbug

South Carolina is my home state, born in Manning , and have family in Dillon. Was in the military, moving all around and retired here in Jacksonville, Fl.

 

[foggy1111]

BP,

I would suggest an 1 1/4" tee on the top of the pipe with a hose bib/valve connection on one side then the 1 1/4" check valve on the other that goes into the pump. Put a cap over the hose connection to prevent any air from getting into the system.

This will allow you to charge the well with your existing water supply, also prime the pipe, and you can back flush the point and added benefit in the winter open the valve and drain the water from the pump and wont freeze.

The backflush will also see how much resistance and may even flush out any sediment in the point from driving.

I drove a point well 20 yrs ago - dont want to do it again tho..

Carl

This was pretty much what I attempted to do. But that blasted Tee fitting caused all kinds of air leak problems......so I replaced it with a 90 degree elbow. End of problems.

When removing the "Tee Plan"....I employed a coupling joint between the elbow and pump which allows me to remove my pump and check-valve for inside winter storage or pump maintainance.

 

[travis potter]

You think I can drive a well 1200' tn rock????????????????? Well driller wonts $ 40 t0 50000 and a 3years before he can get to it. I will keep on the county water at $ 25.00 for 2000gal.