How to install a driven point well
Drive a steel sand-point well into shallow water-bearing soil using heavy drive pipe, pipe couplings, a solid drive cap, and a sledgehammer.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ 10 lb to 12 lb sledgehammer
- ✓ Two 18-inch pipe wrenches
- ✓ Post hole digger or hand auger
- ✓ Torpedo level
- ✓ Measuring tape with weighted string
- ✓ Pitcher hand pump
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ 1-1/4 inch drive well point (sand screen)
- ✓ Heavy-duty threaded steel drive couplings
- ✓ 1-1/4 inch threaded galvanized drive pipe sections
- ✓ Solid steel drive cap
- ✓ PTFE thread tape and heavy-duty pipe dope
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Call 811 or local utility locators before penetrating the ground to prevent hitting buried electrical or gas lines.
- • Wear safety glasses, steel-toed boots, and impact-absorbing gloves to guard against missed strikes and flying metal flakes.
- • Ensure a stable, level stance; never strike from an unstable ladder or precarious step.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (7 Steps)
Excavate the Pilot Hole
Use a post hole digger or hand auger to bore a vertical pilot hole 3 to 4 feet deep. Clear away rocks, dense roots, and loose soil from around the perimeter of the opening to create a clean, unobstructed entry path.
- • A clean, vertical cylindrical hole in the ground measuring roughly 3 to 4 feet deep.
- • Digging a crooked or angled pilot hole that forces the pipe off-plumb immediately.
Assemble Well Point to First Drive Pipe
Apply 4 to 5 wraps of PTFE tape clockwise around male pipe threads, then coat thoroughly with pipe dope. Thread the drive coupling onto the well point, then thread the first pipe section into the coupling, tightening both connections fully with two opposing pipe wrenches.
- • Well point, drive coupling, and galvanized pipe joined with no visible thread gaps and clean compound squeeze-out.
- • Using standard cast-iron plumbing couplings instead of forged steel drive couplings, which shatter under impact.
Install Drive Cap and Plumb Assembly
Thread a solid steel drive cap onto the top of the exposed pipe section until completely bottomed out. Lower the well point assembly into the pilot hole and use a torpedo level on two sides (90 degrees apart) to verify perfect vertical alignment.
- • Pipe assembly standing upright in the pilot hole with torpedo level bubble centered on both axes and drive cap fully seated.
- • Leaving threads exposed beneath the drive cap, which collapses the pipe threads upon the first blow.
Drive the First Section
Stand firmly on the ground and strike the center of the drive cap with square, overhead sledgehammer blows. Stop every 10 to 15 strikes to check vertical plumb with your level and retighten the drive cap and couplings using pipe wrenches.
- • Pipe smoothly sinking into the ground with the drive cap intact and the shaft remaining plumb.
- • Striking the edges of the drive cap off-center, bending the pipe or cracking the cap.
Add Extension Pipes
When the current pipe top reaches 12 to 18 inches above the ground, unthread the drive cap with a pipe wrench. Apply thread sealant, install a drive coupling and the next pipe section, reinstall the drive cap onto the new pipe top, and resume driving.
- • New pipe extension firmly coupled to the buried pipe with drive cap securely seated at the top.
- • Driving the working pipe flush with the ground, leaving no room to attach a wrench to remove the drive cap.
Check for Water Level
Remove the drive cap and lower a weighted string or measuring tape down the inside of the pipe until it hits the bottom screen. Pull the line up to check the wet line mark, confirming water depth and volume inside the casing.
- • Measuring string retrieved with several feet of continuous water marks along the lower end.
- • Stopping driving at the very first sign of moisture instead of driving 3 to 5 feet into the water-bearing sand layer.
Attach Pump and Clear the Well
Thread a pitcher pump or hand suction pump with a check valve onto the top of the well pipe. Prime the pump cylinder with clean water and pump vigorously until murky water and fine silt clear up, yielding steady water flow.
- • Water pumping continuously out of the spout, transitioning from cloudy/sandy to crystal clear.
- • Abandoning pumping too early while fine silt is still suspended, which clogs pump leathers.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Silver Cymbal — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No 10 lb to 12 lb sledgehammer? Manual weighted post driver / pipe driver
- No Post hole digger or hand auger? Narrow spade or trenching shovel
- No Pitcher hand pump? 1/2 HP electric shallow-well jet pump with check valve