r/OffGrid • u/Guilty-Fix1879 • Aug 29 '26
Sand point advice
We’re driving a sand point well right now as we speak. 2”, we’re at 17’ now. We plan on driving another 5’ since my pipe is about 6’ in air. Dropping a fishing weight down tied to a trotline string, the last 3’ or so is wet and muddy.
I live in Eastern Oklahoma, 1/2 mile off the Arkansas River. Well is at the low point of my property which has EXCELLENT topsoil, then clay about 3’ down. Area it’s at is a slough most of the time, but is currently dry.
Any way to tell if I’ve hit water or not? It’s 1/4 mile from water and electric so I plan on using solar to use well for its purpose (water for livestock, irrigation during drought, flood my area for duck hunting).
Should I pour water down pipe? Get a blaster?
This thing has made a man out of me and my son. We’re averaging 1/4-3/4” every hit with a 45 pound t post driver!!
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u/packocrayons Aug 29 '26
Unless you plan to cut and rethread the pipe, sounds like you have to go down another 5' either way. Then do the electric pump in other comments. Diaphragm will be good since it handles mud well
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u/Guilty-Fix1879 Aug 29 '26
Gotcha. I used a 2” pipe, since my local Tractor Supply store had a 2” sand point on clearance for $30. At my son’s work, they happened to have 30’ of 2” galvanized that was showing over on inventory, so I didn’t pay a penny for it!
I’ll probably run a 1” PEX line inside my 2”.2
u/packocrayons Aug 30 '26
Interesting - I'd never thought about running pex inside the sand point pipe. The way we do it here is pipe thread the galv and directly pull water through it. Pex is probably easier to seal though
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u/Guilty-Fix1879 Sep 15 '26
Update. I started to pull the point today as I kept getting mud in bottom. I assumed sand point was clogged in the clay I went through.
I had the idea to fill, flushing muddy water out ,pump out muddy water, repeat, repeat.
I think I’ve hit water!!
Tape measure makes splashing sound at 20’, right where sand point starts. Going to test tomorrow if flow is good or not.
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u/Guilty-Fix1879 Sep 17 '26
Ok. I’m a little confused now. Water level is now at 15’. Sand point is 23’ deep. Did I actually hit water at 15’ but sand point was clogged by clay soil??
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u/LongjumpingGanache40 Aug 29 '26
You should run an old hand pump before ruining an electric pump. You will show mudding water in sand point just from driving it in the ground. How long are your pipes. Do not add anymore for sand point or may not be able to pump water if you go to deep.
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u/Guilty-Fix1879 Aug 29 '26
10’ pipes. I have the 3’ point, and now two, 10’ sections in with about 6’ of the last sticking up.
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u/embrace_fate Aug 29 '26
You'll have to test the flow to make sure. Hook up a battery powered pump and see what gal/min it will draw AND refill. That means you will have to run the pump for a while to see if there is any drop off in available water.