Driving A New Well

[Brake Weight]

You could get a workover oil rig to do it for that price.!?!!

 

[MNBobcat]

I'm torn between going with 1 1/4 or 2" pipe and point. What do you think? Is there that much difference in how much water it can flow?

 

[ayelvington]

Given that the water table is unlimited, then two factors impact the amount of water you can draw:

area of the screen = 2 * pi * r the screen area will be almost double for 2" pipe

cross section of pipe interior = pi *r^2 2" pipe has a cross-sectional area almost 3 times that of 1 1/4" pipe.

You can draw a lot more water (if you need it) with the 2" pipe if your water table can provide it...

 

[bp fick]

I'm torn between going with 1 1/4 or 2" pipe and point. What do you think? Is there that much difference in how much water it can flow?

Driving a shallow, sand point is not difficult. We're down roughly 20 ft which is just about ideal for a shallow well jet pump. Total driving time, if you just added the time we were actually pounding, not resting, was less than hour.

Driving a 2" pipe would seem to me to be more difficult, but then, I've never driven 2" pipe and haven't looked to see if anyone has a 2" point. Around here, all the points at local hardware stores are 1 1/4".

What most folks do is buy a longer 5' point, stack two points, or drive multiple points tied together in a "well field" for additional capacity. The washed in or driven shallow well point is kind of a "do it yourself" deal.

 

[bp fick]

Purchased off Craigs last year for $90.

1/2 horse. Pump, tank and check valve all by Do It Best, a local hardware chain. I've disassembled all the elbows, fittings, nipples, hose clamps and what-not. Might do some cleaning. We'll think about some paint.

 

[Chilly807]

Purchased off Craigs last year for $90.

1/2 horse. Pump, tank and check valve all by Do It Best, a local hardware chain. I've disassembled all the elbows, fittings, nipples, hose clamps and what-not. Might do some cleaning. We'll think about some paint.

I'm guessing you need the check valve at the pump to maintain the prime? There's no foot valve on the well pipe, is there?

Sean

 

[bp fick]

That looks a little better.

 

[J_J]

I'm guessing you need the check valve at the pump to maintain the prime? There's no foot valve on the well pipe, is there?

Sean

You could use a foot valve, or a vertical check valve. Brass or PVC.

 

[bp fick]

I'm guessing you need the check valve at the pump to maintain the prime? There's no foot valve on the well pipe, is there?

Sean

You could use a foot valve, or a vertical check valve. Brass or PVC.

Chilly, J.J. is correct. You need a check valve, of some kind, to maintain the prime. Since a drive point doesn't have a foot valve, you have to put one in the intake line. The price on them varies greatly from PVC to brass. Turns out, I have to go get a new one as the old one is crud. If this was our domestic setup, I'd no doubt pop for the brass, but on an irrigation pump, I doubt I will. We shall see.

 

[foggy1111]

I've read that pounding a 2" well point is pretty tough. Some suggest that it's like 3x or more work than a 1 1/2" point. Dunno....never tired it.....but the smaller pipe is good to work with and gets more flow than my city water.

IF you go with big pipe....I'd go with the electric jack-hammer approach for sure. Takes lots of the work out of the game. :thumbsup: