Norton's Patent Tube Wells
A quick bit of research provides some detail on Norton's Patent Tube Well, as discussed in "A Handbook of Hygiene and Sanitary Science", by George Wilson MA MD, FRSE (Fellow of the Chemical Society, Fellow of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, Medical Officer of Health for the Mid-Warwickshire Sanitary District) published 1883 in London by J. & A. Churchill.
"For a small or temporary [water] supply the American tube well (Norton's patent) has been found to be very useful. It consists of a narrow iron tube driven into the ground in lengths, the lower part being pointed and perforated at its end, and is fitted with a single or double action pump according to the depth. The water enters the tube through the perforations, and, if the bed is sandy, has to be filtered for some time, until by gradual removal of the sand, a well is formed around the lower end, and the water is obtained without sediment. This pump is especially adapted for country districts, and it possesses the further advantage of helping to keep out surface impurities."
Norton Tube Wells are also known as Abyssinian wells after their successful use in the Abyssinian War of 1867/1868.