Manual Well Pump?

[Gaudard]

Seen some threads on here about storing water, which got me to thinking...

What about a hand pump for a well? I've got about a hundred foot well, so plenty of storage there, but during a power outage that wouldn't do me any good.

Getting it setup to to plug into a generator would be handy as well, which I'll look into but some type of manual hand pump would be handy too.

So any ideas?

 

[redneckmedic]

I have done a ton of research, as I am in the same boat as you, except my well isn't as deep.

Here is what you can do. You can drive a well yourself. At the hardware stores (the big ones) you by well pipe its galvanized comes in about 10 ft sections and threaded on both ends. The first one is pointed with several holes taped into the end, and a mesh on the inside to hold back dirt and debris. You put a double female on the other end and drive into the ground using a tripod and pully weight system. Unscrew the double female put an undamaged one on it, connect another section and repeat until you reach depth. Then connect your hand pump. I haven't done this yet, but I plan to next spring. If your ground is too rocky or hard you can pay a well company to drill for you only a couple hundred bucks. Its good in theory.. we will see.

 

[Big John]

WOW my .02 is going to come to good use here!

Hand Water Well Pumps - Deep & Shallow @ Survival Unlimited .com

There are several others who offer manual pumps for deep well systems but this is the only one I had bookmarked.

 

[bogus]

Check this link out. They're not exactly cheap but look to be good quality and well designed. They can be installed in the same well casing along with your current pump according to the site.

Bison Hand Water Pumps

 

[caneman]

If you go to places like Rural King you can buy drive points, sand filters, hand pumps etc. We used a shallow well only 18' deep at the lake for 25 years before we tore down and re-built. The water was tested every year and never had a problem.

You are talking about an EMERGENCY. Standards will change snd you only have to make it SAFE. Even a Brita or Pur pitcher will do a lot to remove unwanteds. Not perfect, but you are talking about SURVIVAL.

Modern society is pretty hung up on perfection. I'm OLD and when I was a kid we had one pair of pants and a shirt for play all week and one school pants with two shirts for school. Play shoes were often last years school shoes laced loose to have a little extra room or go barefoot.

Think in terms of living one hundred years ago for a subsistance goal.

 

[redneckmedic]

WOW my .02 is going to come to good use here!

Hand Water Well Pumps - Deep & Shallow*@*Survival Unlimited .com

There are several others who offer manual pumps for deep well systems but this is the only one I had bookmarked.

Check this link out. They're not exactly cheap but look to be good quality and well designed. They can be installed in the same well casing along with your current pump according to the site.

Bison Hand Water Pumps

These first two ideas are really nice. And if you could drop the dime on them it would be great for service in need. However 1K is a lot of money and there are better ways. I like that bison a lot, but wow its expensive.

If you go to places like Rural King you can buy drive points, sand filters, hand pumps etc. We used a shallow well only 18' deep at the lake for 25 years before we tore down and re-built. The water was tested every year and never had a problem.

You are talking about an EMERGENCY. Standards will change snd you only have to make it SAFE. Even a Brita or Pur pitcher will do a lot to remove unwanteds. Not perfect, but you are talking about SURVIVAL.

Modern society is pretty hung up on perfection. I'm OLD and when I was a kid we had one pair of pants and a shirt for play all week and one school pants with two shirts for school. Play shoes were often last years school shoes laced loose to have a little extra room or go barefoot.

Think in terms of living one hundred years ago for a subsistance goal.

I'm glad someone else has seen what I am talking about. I think we are on the same page with our ideas. I think the simpler life is the better choice of the two.

 

[singlestacksig]

last week i picked up all the parts i needed for a 25' hand pump well from Menard's , for less than $200..

if you need to go below 25' you will need to get a hand pump that has the pump mechanism on a shaft that goes down the well..

you could just pull up your electric pump and hook a hand one to your current well..

 

[redneckmedic]

last week i picked up all the parts i needed for a 25' hand pump well from Menard's , for less than $200..

if you need to go below 25' you will need to get a hand pump that has the pump mechanism on a shaft that goes down the well..

you could just pull up your electric pump and hook a hand one to your current well..

What do you mean by pull? Do you mean get rid of it completely?

 

[Arm America]

I think what he means is if you have a deep well, 4"-6" well casing in the yard, you would need to remove the existing electrical wire, well piping and the actual pump before installing your hand pump. (no easy task)
Like a poster said above, you won't be pulling a suction or drawing water from an inexpensive hand pump with a casing depth of 100'.

I doubt you could draw water from much over 25'-30' with the lesser
expensive Rural King pumps to be honest.

On the pump systems that are located in your crawl space, these are
usually considered shallow well systems.
These can be modified to accept the lesser expensive Rural King hand pumps with the pump being located on the outside of the house. (via a few fittings & a valve)

 

[singlestacksig]

right, if your electric pump is a submerged jet type, you unhook the hose and power lines and haul it out of well..

get the correct diameter pump mechanisms for a mechanical pump and run it down to the water..

it is the same mechanisms that lift oil from deep underground..

you would just have to pump it by hand instead of the see saw counter weight you see in the fields..

 

[singlestacksig]

Bison Hand Water Pumps

 

[singlestacksig]

here is some more info.


Helpful Hints for Hand Pump Use.

 

[Gaudard]

Check this link out. They're not exactly cheap but look to be good quality and well designed. They can be installed in the same well casing along with your current pump according to the site.

Bison Hand Water Pumps

Thanks,

I've seen both of those sites, and I like that one the best. But didn't realize it would be so expensive!

 

[singlestacksig]

you might want to find out where your water table really is..
Just because your well is drilled 100' does not mean that is how far down the water it..


they may have drilled it that deep to get below a bedrock layer, for cleaner water..
If you hand pump is for emergency use..
a shollower well may work fine for you..

if you can get to the well head, open it and run a plumb bob down..

 

[PatMcGroyne]

Some safety tips & questions

No hand-pump can lift water over approx 30 ft. But a pressurized pump can PUSH water up electrically from the bottom higher than that ( a submersible jet-pump ). The submerged pump needs to be pulled to find the real water-table so a hand-pump may be installed. Folks survived for centuries with the old cast-iron pitcher-pumps. If a family is going to go into "Fortress mode" and stay at home, one of these pumps could be handy, and another or two as barter. $39.95 @ local hardware. 6 in stock. Now as for driving a well, is it a good idea health-wise to use galvanized pipe? Isn't there a danger from the lead-coating? Black-iron gas-pipe is costlier, but twice as strong, and doesn't leach lead into your water. Is this incorrect?? A strong arm and proper storage containers inside the house could keep a lot of water. Old, stripped water-heaters are excellent for this, and I remember in an old MotherEarthNews that they can be elevated, for pressure, and painted black, for soar-heating. But a water-filled 30gal. heater can weigh over 450 pounds. Keep that in mind. Pat

 

[singlestacksig]

patmcgroyne, check the links above, there are plenty of hand pumps that work at 200' +...

a pump that works on suction alone is limited to around 25'.

but a deep well hand pump is really only limited by the mechanical force needed to lift a 100'+ column of water...

 

[PatMcGroyne]

Deep-wells and hand-pumps

If you are getting clean water from your deep-pump now, then a hand-pump casing can be lowered into the point in water-table above the deep-well site ,assuming that the water is at that depth (30 ft or so). Plain plastic water-pipe will work, because you aren't driving through anything. Still, a simple filter on the bottom will keep loosened debris out. Laws of gravity preclude lifting or raising water above approximately 30 feet by hand-pump. But a pressurized (with air) airdraulic pump can. A small generator for just that pump is a cheap investment (or use a solar-rechargeable battery-pack.) Pat

 

[Gaudard]

Yea, solar power might be the way to go.