Short definition
A driven well, also called a sand point, is a shallow well made by hammering a small-diameter steel pipe with a perforated drive-point at its tip down through soft, sandy soil into a shallow water table. Typical depth is 25 to 50 feet. It’s a legacy construction style — most rural Washington properties have long since replaced theirs with a drilled well.
What it is
There’s no rotary drilling. A driver hammers the pointed pipe straight down through unconsolidated sandy or gravelly soil. The drive-point at the tip is perforated to admit water and sized to screen out fine sand. Above ground, the pipe connects to a jet pump — usually a shallow-well jet, since the suction lift is limited to about 22 feet in practice (25 feet theoretical at sea level).
Driven wells only work in soft, sandy soil — any layer of rock, dense clay, or cemented gravel stops construction cold. They’re depth-limited because shallow jet pumps can’t lift water from much deeper. As a result, most driven wells in Washington are pre-1970 farm-era installations, often abandoned or converted to irrigation-only use after a modern drilled well replaced them for potable supply.
Why it matters to a homeowner
Mostly as something you might inherit, not something you’d install today.
When you’ll encounter this term
- Inheriting an old farm property with a sand point still serving irrigation.
- A plumber inspecting a rural Mason, Skagit, or Whatcom County property identifies an old driven well and recommends decommissioning under WA Department of Ecology rules before drilling a new well.
- A real-estate disclosure mentions a sand point — the buyer needs to understand it’s a legacy installation, not a modern primary supply.