Every geotechnical engineer should know about this innovative tool for draining excess water from soil. Basically, it is built like an oversized kink free garden hose with some sort of fabric inside of it that will wick water through it using a combination of capillary forces and any existing water pressure.
Draining water from soil is an important step in consolidating it to make it stable before the foundation for a building, a road, or another structure is constructed on top of it. If you build a structure onto unconsolidated soil, the soil may settle in some places faster than it does in others, causing that structure to crack or otherwise fall apart. Clay soils are especially unstable when wet.
They are rammed into the ground with a special drill like tool. Usually, many of them are used to drain the same area.
Web Reference
http://www.geotechnics.com/vertical.htm