A Wellpoint are 5.0-7.5 cm diameter metal or plastic pipes 60 cm – 120 cm long which is perforated and covered with a screen. The lower end of the pipe has a driving head with water holes for jetting. Wellpoints are connected to 5.0-7.5 cm diameter pipes known as riser pipes and are inserted into the ground by driving or jetting. The upper ends of the riser pipes lead to a header pipe which, in turn, connected to a pump. The ground water is drawn by the pump into the wellpoints through the header pipe and discharged (Fig). The wellpoints are usually installed with 0.75m – 3m spacing. This type of dewatering system is effective in soils constituted primarily of sand fraction or other soil containing seams of such materials.The figure below is showing the components of the wellpoints dewatering system.
Shallow Wells
Shallow wells comprise surface pumps which draw water through suction pipes installed in bored wells drilled by the most appropriate well drilling and or bored piling equipment. The limiting depth to which this method is employed is about 8 m. Because wells are pre-bored, this method is used when hard or variable soil conditions preclude the use of a wellpoint system.
Selection of the method
The selection of one of these methods will depend on several parameters, while the combination of more than one method may be required as per the site conditions. The parameters should be taken in consideration during selection of the dewatering method to choose the most effective in both financial and technical and the effective dewatering method which minimize the environmental damage, protects the health and safety of on-site personnel and meets all legislative discharge limits.