Sand Point Well

[Moose]

I'm thinking of putting in a sand point well does anyone with any information on them? do I need a pressure tank or can I just run the irrigation off the pump?

[eurolarva]

When I lived in Blaine we had two that were connected together then went into our sprinkler system. My neighboor had one and had to use a tank. The well has to be less then 25 feet deep or it wont work. Not sure how the physics works but no matter how big the pump it has to be less then 25. Water flow was no where near what we got from house water but it was free and when you use a well you are exempt from watering bans.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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I'm thinking of putting in a sand point well does anyone with any information on them? do I need a pressure tank or can I just run the irrigation off the pump?

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I know this gets said too much, but check with your city first. I've got a buddy that lives in Hugo, and they can't have a sand point, or they're not supposed to.

He got busted by having a green yard during a watering ban.

I know of another buddy that actually cut out a piece of floor in his garage so he could drive it there, then buried all of the piping. You can't see anything from the outside.

He was asked one time by the city and said he's got a brother with a big stcck tank that brings in water from outstate every 3 days to keep the grass green.

[Moose]

I was wondering how to go about installing one? Can I pound it with a post pounder or will that wreck it? You say it can't be over 25' deep Why? How do I find out how deep the water is and where I need to put the point to find water?

Thanks for the help, Moose

[eurolarva]

Seems to me depth is based on the type of pump you are going to use. Even the most powerful pump for home sprinkler systems would only pull water a max of 25 ft. If the link is okay here is a bunch of info for the well. sandpoint wells

[Guest]

Most sand piont wells will not support a sprinkler system. Gallons per minute or water capacity are usually the issues. You have to figure out the gallons per minute and design the system acordingly. Sometimes it is just not economical because of the low gallons per minute. It will increase the number of zones you need, in turn increasing the price of your system.

[Moose]

Thanks for the link some good information there. I'm still wondering if you can put a sand point down anywhere and hit water or do I need to have someone come out and "which" one for me?

[eurolarva]

When mine seemed to dry up I called one of the well places in the phone book and the guy must have been bored. I bet I talked to him for at least 20 minutes. Maybe try that. Mine ended up being a loose pipe and I lost my pressure. After that I got water pressure back. The guy also told me to shoot a .22 shell down the pipe. I guess the pressure from the shell will blow sediment off the screen and allow more water to flow. If I would have done that my neighboor would have called the police and probably had me arrested. Call around. Someone will talk to you.

[Shack]

Witching stick method! If done correct, seems to work every time.

[Shack]

WATER WITCHING

There are those who believe, there are those who are skeptical, and then there are those who just plain laugh at the mention of dowsing.

For those who are skeptics, there's hope. And for those who laugh, could be they are afraid to try. Once a forked branch dips toward the ground no matter how hard they try to hold it, well, then they begin to wonder.

There is no reasonable or scientific explanation for the ages-old art of dowsing, or water witching - the search for underground water. Most people believe the power comes from the subconscious of the person doing the dowsing, that person being sensitive to changes in the earth. The branch or other device used as a divining rod is merely the instrument of focus.

The art of dowsing is similar to the flight of a bumblebee. Theoretically, the bumblebee is not aerodynamically designed to fly, but he believes in himself and so flies anyway. Most humans are taught from an early age that we have five senses - sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Those who are fortunate and are encouraged to heed that small voice from within, the sixth sense, are, in this case, the diviners (or dowsers) of the world. Call it intuition, instinct, gut feeling, an inheritance, or whatever you want. But, like the bumblebee - BELIEVE.

The practice of dowsing goes back for centuries. An 8,000-year-old cave painting in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa shows a dowser, divining rod in hand. Although the forked stick is the standard instrument used in water witching, a wide variety of tools is used. The diviners in my family have always used a forked branch from a peach or cherry tree because these seem to be more sensitive. Modern versions include plastic, fiberglass rods, and metal. Twin L-shaped divining rods are used by plumbers to locate underground metal pipes. The rods swing apart or together when passing over buried water lines.

Old-timers especially say that the secret to successful dowsing is in believing. I believe in the ability of a person to find underground streams, because my family has always used this method with great success. Until recently, I had never really given myself a chance with the forked branch. Recently, I walked up and down the driveway half a dozen times where I knew a water line was located. The stick gave a halfhearted attempt to point downward but was unimpressive.

Later on, while looking at a hoped-for future home site high on a hill, I tried the branch again. This time the result was immediate and almost frightening. No sooner had I started walking slowly across the hill than the branch made an abrupt swing downward. I tried time and time again - once with my eyes closed - and always at the same spot the branch pulled downward. Could there possibly be an underground river or lake near the surface? Water seeks the path of least resistance, and the area in the immediate vicinity of the hill is filled with springs.

A couple of years ago, Dad traveled to North Carolina to dowse for water on a friend's farm. The well diggers were very skeptical but dug there anyway. The next day when digging was completed, Stan called Dad to tell him he really missed his "guess" on the well. It happened that a good stream of water was one foot above the depth at which Dad advised it would be. Dad's friend and the well diggers were impressed.

When a dowser is searching for an underground stream, if the branch dips down then back up after a few steps, this in an indication the stream is being walked across. If the branch dips low and stays down, then the dowser is following the stream.

Dad has always been a dowser, as was his father. When Dad was young, wells were dug by hand using picks and shovels; the dirt was hauled to the surface by a bucket on a pulley. Once, a water source had been indicated on a neighboring farm, and digging had started. When lunch time rolled around a couple of days later, the well diggers left their digging tools, ladder and all equipment needed for digging, at the bottom of the well, which was already several feet deep. When they returned from lunch, the ladder was gone, tools had disappeared, and at the bottom of the freshly dug well could be heard the sound of rushing water. If the dinner bell had not rung at that particular time, the workers would have broken through and been carried away by an underground river.

In this day of computers, high-tech this and sophisticated that, men in space, and the ability to travel from continent to continent in seemingly the blink of an eye, one tends to scoff at the old ways of yesteryear. Dad recently built a new home and located water for the well by dowsing in the back yard. His well was still going strong even during the 1988 drought when other wells all over the country were suffering from lack of rain.

Maybe in the not too distant future, I'll know for sure is there is truly a magnificent subterranean water supply under my hill. I have a very strong feeling there will be. Maybe the old-timers and the bumblebee are right. The secret is in believing.

[Moose]

Thanks for that. I have used the 2 pieces of wire to find the water pipes. Kind of spooky the first time it works. My ? is this for deep water or ground water I'm thinking at less than 25' I'm looking for ground water.

[Shack]

I have a set of Coat hanger wire ones in my shed. It is spooky the first time it happen's. It is no joke, when you get it to occur in the same spot time and time again. My great uncle had a way were the tip's would bob down and each time the tip would bob down, this would tell you how deep water was (each bob was a foot). I do think it works for deep water too. I have found water and drove 30 plus foot of pipe and struck water. When you pound pipe, screw cap on end and use a post hole digger. If needed, use sledge hammer (harder on back). If possible, use bob cat bucket. Allways thought witching was a wifes tail when I was young, untill I seem great uncles doing it and grandfather's also doing it. Good luck!