Florida Certified General Contractor CGC1513865
FDEP Stormwater and Erosion Inspector on the team

Florida Certified General Contractor · License CGC1513865
FDEP Stormwater and Erosion Inspector on the team

(954) 284-0812
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Home · Technology · Well-point dewatering

Well-point dewatering

A line of small wells and a pump that lower the groundwater, so an excavation can be worked in the dry. We do it on request, job by job.

Get my free online estimate or call (954) 284-0812

Florida Certified General Contractor CGC1513865 · South and Central Florida, 21 counties

1Method

What well-point dewatering is

The method as a federal design standard describes it.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation defines dewatering as the removal of groundwater or seepage from below the surface of the ground, and the control of that water. In the Bureau’s words, its purpose is “to permit construction in the dry and to increase the stability of excavated slopes”.

A well-point system is one way to do it. The Bureau’s design standard on dewatering describes it as a series of well points, short lengths of well screen set into the ground about 3 to 10 feet apart, whose riser pipes connect to a common header. A well-point pump holds a vacuum on the header and pumps out the water that drains to the well points.

The same standard lists well points as commonly used in shallow or staged excavations, quick to install, and limited to about 15 feet of drawdown per stage. Where an excavation is deeper than 30 or 40 feet, it says deep wells or eductor well points may be the more practical main method.

An open excavation in sandy soil with water standing in the bottom. Pipes run along its edges, and rows of thin curved hoses lead from the pipes into the ground.
Header pipes and well-point hoses around an excavation.
A white header pipe laid across gravel. Ribbed flexible hoses lead from it to narrow white riser pipes standing in the ground beside it.
A header pipe with a flexible hose to each well point.

2Permits

Permits

The South Florida Water Management District treats dewatering as a use of water. Its rule covers “short-term dewatering operations, such as well pointing” with a general permit granted by rule (Rule 40E-2.061, Florida Administrative Code), as long as the job stays inside the rule’s limits: less than 5 million gallons pumped in a day, less than 100 million gallons in total over one year, and all discharge kept on the project site. The rule adds distance limits, among them from saline water, wetlands and known contamination.

In other parts of South and Central Florida a different water management district applies, with its own rules.

3On request

Ask us about your job

We do well-point dewatering on request, job by job.

  • Tell us what you have. Where the job is and what has to be kept dry. A phone number or an email address is enough.
  • We call back within 2 hours on business days (usually sooner).
  • The site visit is free, and we come within 7 days (usually sooner).
  • An online estimate gives you a price range within 24 hours. It is a range, not a quote.
  • Where we work. South and Central Florida, 21 counties.

See the four methods we compare 

4Estimate

Get your free online estimate

Takes about 20 seconds. Your price range arrives by email within 24 hours.

Rather talk? Call (954) 284-0812.

About how long is the damaged section?

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What happens after you write

  1. We call back

    Within 2 hours on business days (usually sooner).

  2. Free site visit

    For one lake, within 7 days (usually sooner). The method is settled on site.

  3. Written proposal

    With a price range, within 2 days of the site visit.

If you ask for an online estimate instead, you get a price range within 24 hours. It is a range, not a quote, and it never names a method.

The whole process, step by step 

Call (954) 284-0812Free estimate