Putting in a sandpoint

[Southpaw]

DH is attempting, for the second time, putting in a sandpoint. Any tips for him? We have been without water for 4 days now!

You say he is trying again. Why didn't it work the first time?

If you live where the ground is frozen you will have to build a fire to thaw the ground. Use only well casing and connectors specifically designed for a well. The cheap galvanised pipe made in China for plumbing is not strong enough. Teflon tape each connection and tighten securly. Get a drive cap made specificaly for driving a well. Hammer the sand point and casing using a fence post driver. They make a fence post driver that is about a 4 inch pipe with handles on the sides and a heavy weight welded into one end. It is easier to get the well started going straight down if you use the fence post driver. If you hit a rock you have to pull the sand point out, move over 6 inches and try again. You can use car bottle jacks to pull the sand point. Put the sand point deep enough that you can pump water even if you have a slow flow rate or the water table drops. Measure depth with a ball of twine with a nut or other weight tied to the end. Shallow well pumps can only pump from a maximum 25 foot depth.

Once you have your well in, pour a cup of bleach down the well and let it sit overnight. This will kill any bacteria that was on the sand point and pipe. Turn on the well pump and let it pump water onto the lawn for an hour. Don't let the chlorinated water into your house system, it can get into the mineral build up in your pipes and then your water will taste strongly of chlorine for days. Coffee made with highly chlorinated water tastes really bad. (ask me how I know). Letting the water run out on the lawn will also get rid of any sand that made it through the sand point. Your county health department is probably set up to test well water. The will have a special collection container. Follow their instructions to test the water.

[Southpaw]

thanks for the response.

It's in the basement.

Right now we have a trickle of clear water. Not much pressure.

The first one "broke" whatever that means. Here's hoping this one does the trick.

[wy_white_wolf]

Did the first one break off because he hit a rock? or was he trying to drive it to fast?

4 hits that drive it 1/8 inch each is better than 1 big one that drives it a 1/2 inch. Slow and steady.

[fishhead]

Tighten the joints every foot because the pounding loosens them and that will ruin the threads, use teflon paste.

I've been told that short taps are as effective as trying to kill it taps.

When you get close to the aquifer fill the pipe with water. When you hit the aquifer the water will go down the pipe. Try filling it with water and if it keeps disappearing you should be in the water vein.

[oth47]

My dad and his BIL drove a well when we lived in Indiana in the 50s..they took turns holding a heavy board on top of the pipe while the other used the sledgehammer.I guess they didn't have a driving cap.Drove the well thru the kitchen floor and put in a hand pump.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by fishhead

Tighten the joints every foot because the pounding loosens them and that will ruin the threads, use teflon paste....

If you use an inner casing to retrieve the water, it really doesn't matter that the outside well casing has loose joints. I have no idea if my hand-driven well has loose joints. The driven well casing was 2", but my drop pipe was 1-1/4". You can use metal or plastic pipe for the drop pipe....you can even use flexible PE or PVC tubing.

I drove my well casing using a real heavy post driver. I used a short sacrifical piece of pipe to pound on.