Sand spear

Thanks Willem,

But I was thinking of the one you use on the beach to get bathing water.

Redeye

Hahahahahaha......You got me there.

Methinks I was thinking of sand anchor lol

I would say that the same principle would apply. If you used polypipe and strenthened it with a steel rod it should work. Not sure if the spear has a mechanical suction pump? One must always think outside the square and try to make these things yourself as sometimes the market price is ridiculous

Redeye, you got me curious now. 'Bathing water' at the beach? am I right in assuming it is still salty? What quantity can you expect from the spear before it gets all pumped dry?
Klaus

Hi Klaus,

Sand spears are very common on coastal areas of Queensland for pulling underground fresh water out of the sand.
I grew up on the Gold Coast and nearly every second or third house had a spear pump. The water table at Miami in the middle of the Gold Coast was 12ft below ground level so our sand spear was put down at about 20 ft. Once the spear is in the ground at these depths you can never retrieve it as it is not like a bore with a casing around it. Some people try it with a casing and have problems with it sucking air from the surface instead of drawing the water from the ground around the spear.

Now I live in Burnett Heads near Bundaberg and the water table at my house is only about 8 ft below ground level. When I was first putting down the spear I had bored the hole for the spear and you could see the water table rise and fall with the tide.

I have a grundfos pump with no pressure switch and this will run 3 sprinklers flat out. Endless water for free is great when everybody else is under water restricitions. The spear pump was used at our Gold Coast house for about 4 hours each day for 15 years and never ran dry.

I have no problems with sulphur smell in the water or staining but I remember on the Gold Coast even though the water was very pure, some times the spear water would smell. We took samples and had the water tested by the council and it was better quality than the town water they said.

You guys have me thinking now as I have never thought of using this concept but on a smaller scale for camping at Fraser Island etc.

Cheers,
Brett