Establish a steady rhythm and the work will go easier. When the cap becomes cracked or dented, discard it and screw on a new one. A well-placed blow will make a dull sound rather than a ping. Hit the capped pipe as evenly as possible in the center of the cap and avoid side-to-side swaying of the pipe. Use a heavy wooden mallet or maul to drive the capped galvanized pipe into the ground. A slanted well wastes pipe and may be difficult to pump. If it is not straight, pull it out and start again. Make sure the drivepoint is perpendicular to the ground-check it frequently with a level. You'll need a 2-inch drivepoint with screen (a hollow, conically shaped metal point adjoined to a fine mesh screen), several spools of teflon tape, 2-inch galvanized couplings to attatch pipe lengths together, 5-foot-long threaded lengths of 2-inch galvanized Schedule 40 pipe, 2-inch galvanized caps for the pipe, concrete mix, a weight, a foot valve, and 85 feet of 1/2 inch inside diameter, thick-walled, flexible, UV resistant, flexible polyethylene tubing (I used Toro "funny pipe" irrigation tubing).ĭig a 5 foot deep pit, fill it with water, and allow the water to percolate into the ground so as to soften/lubricate the subsoil. Common sense told me that the water table could not be more than 80 feet below the surface. I live in a community where the street trees are immense despite the fact that they receive negligible rainfall and quite often aren't being irrigated. Since these types of trees have tap roots (maples, among others, do not), the fact that they are doing well without irrigation indicates that their tap roots are anchored in an aquifer. If that doesn't work for you, pick a spot outside the drip line of a large hickory, walnut, butternut, white oak, or hornbeam tree that is not being irrigated. Neighbors, particularly old-timers, can often give you some idea of what lies beneath the subsoil. A weight on the end of a string dropped down a neighbor's well can give you a rough estimate of how far down you will have to go (measure to the point where the string becomes wet). County officials have access to well logs and other geological data and can advise you as to subsurface composition (silt, sand, and decomposed granite are suitable for driven wells hard clay or rock may prove difficult or impossible to penetrate), the approximate depth at which you can expect to find water, and the quality of the aquifer beneath your site. Check with county health officials concerning regulations and permit requirements. A shallow hole (5 to 10 feet) is best because deep ones too often need reinforcement to prevent them from collapsing.Ĭhoose a location as far as possible from septic tanks, sewer lines, chemical storage tanks, animal pens, and other potential contaminants. The softer the ground, the easier the work. I recommend digging a hole at the site you've selected and allowing water to settle in it for a week. It's better to soften the ground as much as possible before you begin. Too hard of a blow can damage pipe threads. If driving a pipe 75 feet or so into the earth sounds like a job for Superman, I've given you the wrong impression. Subsequently, it has proven to be ideal for supplying water to homesteads, second homes, and remote villages in developing nations. Soldiers simply drove a pipe into the ground with a sledgehammer until they reached the aquifer. Army developed a fast, effective method to provide bivouacking troops with water that did not involve a lot of expensive, cumbersome equipment. However, at the turn of the century the U.S. Most of these are too technical, expensive, or dangerous for the average person. Methods ranging from digging to blasting are used to reach the underground layer of fresh water that lies beneath dry land. Drilling companies charge thousands of dollars to tap ground water sources that you can often reach yourself with a few common tools and about two weekends of work. If you can drive a nail into a board, you have the skills to augment your water supply. Having Problems? Need advice? Try the Water Well Helpline Message Board. An Inexpensive, Do-It-Yourself, Small Diameter Water Well
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