# Getting water from a well with no power.



## Arklatex

You can cheaply make your own well torpedoes. Torpedo Well Buckets

Excluding generators, how else can I get water from my well? Hand pumps seem to be a good option but I know nothing about them. Who has ideas?


----------



## paraquack

How deep is your well?


----------



## Survival223

I'm curious as well. I have an old well on my property since my house was built in 1988. It is a shallow well around 50 ft or so. I was thinking of investing in a hand pump.


----------



## Arklatex

I'm not sure off the top of my head. But we are surrounded by springs and lakes so I'm guessing it is on the shallow side.

The intent of this thread is general knowledge, not my specific situation.


----------



## James m

Someone made a post a few days ago about a 12 volt pump from an rv or camper. If you don't find it ill look in a minute. I think it was an introduction.

Read the thread wrong. Turns out to be a pump for moving water from a storage container. Doh.


----------



## Chipper

Just take the cap off your well head and measure down to the water. Stop at the hardware store and buy a hand pump with enough PVC pipe and fittings to reach well below the water line. Cap the ends of the pipe, put the fittings in a bag along with the pump and store them someplace. Move onto the next problem. Keep it simple.


----------



## tks

Ours is 300 ft. We haven't decided which direction to go yet buy we're leaning towards solar with an electric back-up but keeping a hand pump in the shop that can be connected if needed. The newer hand pumps do a pretty good job without too much work but it's still a good amount of pumping. Our other property an old old hand pump, you'll definitely get a workout using that one for sure.

We've also considered a windmill type, but I don't know enough about how they work. Hubs seems to know and he wants to add one of those instead of a hand pump.


----------



## Slippy

Arklatex said:


> You can cheaply make your own well torpedoes. Torpedo Well Buckets
> 
> Excluding generators, how else can I get water from my well? Hand pumps seem to be a good option but I know nothing about them. Who has ideas?


Ark,
Option 1 is to hook up a Solar Power System including Inverter, Controller/Regulator and Deep Cell Batteries and dedicate it to your well pump. These guys are a good resource; Solar, Hydro and Wind Systems for your home.

Option 2 is to install a 1000 gallon resevoir tank underground between your well and home. The holding tank fills up before the water comes into your house and that way you have a shallow tank that you can easily access should you need it in a short term emergency. Norwesco :: Below Ground Tanks :: Cistern

Option 2 A is to have a hand pump option for both deep well and your holding tank. FloJac pumps have a good reputation; FloJak Pump Store


----------



## SecretPrepper

We have a pitcher pump in one of the flower beds. It is old and still has the leather gaskets. I have new gaskets, bolts and plates for it if it stops working. We keep a bucket of water under it for priming.


----------



## hawgrider

Arklatex said:


> You can cheaply make your own well torpedoes. Torpedo Well Buckets
> 
> Excluding generators, how else can I get water from my well? Hand pumps seem to be a good option but I know nothing about them. Who has ideas?


They make deep well and shallow well hand pumps. Shallow well pumps are good for 25 ft and less.

They go fairly deep here is one example-


> http://www.sunshineworks.com/deep-well-hand-pump.htm
> If you need a hand pump to pump water from a deep well there is nothing that compares with Simple Pump.
> 
> Simple Pump is designed to deliver water from static water levels as deep as 325 feet with half the effort or less required for other deep well hand pumps that can only pump from 200 feet static.


----------



## Slippy

You two crack me up!


----------



## Sockpuppet

Slippy said:


> You two crack me up!


Its all in good fun, at least from my end.


----------



## hawgrider

Sockpuppet said:


> You're certainly the expert upon the subject. :lol:


And your an expert at being a dick. I have 35 years experience in the mechanical fields of electrical, plumbing, HVAC, boilers, absorption chillers, centrifugal chillers so yeah I might know a little bit about them.


----------



## tks

hawgrider said:


> And your an expert at being a dick. I have 35 years experience in the mechanical fields of electrical, plumbing, HVAC, boilers, absorption chillers, centrifugal chillers so yeah I might know a little bit about them.


He was just razzing you bud. Chill. I know things started out hot between you guys but you have to be able to drop it, that's what guys do, punch each other out, then have a shot together, and then give each other sh*t. It's no different on the boards.


----------



## Sockpuppet

tks said:


> He was just razzing you bud. Chill. I know things started out hot between you guys but you have to be able to drop it, that's what guys do, punch each other out, then have a shot together, and then give each other sh*t. It's no different on the boards.


Don't bother. He doesn't get it.......Though maybe that frustration is the underlying problem. :lol:


----------



## tks

Sockpuppet said:


> Don't bother. He doesn't get it.......Though maybe that frustration is the underlying problem. :lol:


Sock...... *palmface*


----------



## Sockpuppet

tks said:


> Sock...... *palmface*


You have a dirty mind. :lol:


----------



## tks

Sockpuppet said:


> You have a dirty mind. :lol:


Didn't bother you..... I'm gonna behave and not finish that.


----------



## Sockpuppet

tks said:


> Didn't bother you..... I'm gonna behave and not finish that.


Of course it didn't bother me, but it didn't bother you either. :grin:

Why start behaving now?


----------



## Arklatex

Thanks for the info everyone...


----------



## Slippy

Ark,
One more thing to add to my earlier post. if you bury a cistern and feed your incoming water line into the cistern to fil it up and create a resevoir you need to make sure that the cistern cou;d handle the water pressure so that you don't lose pressure to your house/barn/outbuildings etc. I'm sure the Norwesco tank could handle he pressure but please confirm with a plumber.
Slip


----------



## hawgrider

This is a interesting read
Living Off Grid - A Home Made Deep Well Pump


----------



## Arklatex

Slippy said:


> Ark,
> One more thing to add to my earlier post. if you bury a cistern and feed your incoming water line into the cistern to fil it up and create a resevoir you need to make sure that the cistern cou;d handle the water pressure so that you don't lose pressure to your house/barn/outbuildings etc. I'm sure the Norwesco tank could handle he pressure but please confirm with a plumber.
> Slip


Great stuff slippy! I find norwesco to be an excellent product. I really like their above ground water tanks.

Did George Rodrigue draw your avatar?


----------



## Slippy

hawgrider said:


> This is a interesting read
> Living Off Grid - A Home Made Deep Well Pump


Hawg,
I saw that pump a while back and thought it was a great idea but I didn't remember where I saw it. Good find!::clapping::


----------



## Slippy

Arklatex said:


> Great stuff slippy! I find norwesco to be an excellent product. I really like their above ground water tanks.
> 
> Did George Rodrigue draw your avatar?


My Norwesco above grounds are great. I used to live about 25 miles from their Georgia plant and bought my first one and saw the excellent quality. I'm a customer for life.

Yes, it is a George Rodrigue Red Dog. As you probably know, George hit the jackpot with his Blue Dog series. He added a Red Dog a few years ago and when I got my Red Heeler, Mrs Slippy suggested we buy a print of George's Red Dog. I couldn't win the lottery nor am I good at robbing banks (Mrs S thinks I'm made of meony sometimes), so I downloaded Red Dog from George's website. I added it to my avatar today. I saw Toronto Gal's new avatar and asked her if she could "cartoonize" my picture of Beasley (our red heeler). She couldn't so I started looking and wallah! Long answer to a short question but Yes!


----------



## hawgrider

Slippy said:


> Hawg,
> I saw that pump a while back and thought it was a great idea but I didn't remember where I saw it. Good find!::clapping::


Pretty impressive design. The volume of water being pumped is crazy


----------



## thepeartree

hawgrider said:


> This is a interesting read
> Living Off Grid - A Home Made Deep Well Pump


I like the results. IF they can pump from 500 feet, as claimed. And if the pump doesn't cost too much. You'll note that it's not a set of plans in the public domain, it's a "new invention". So pardon me if there are a few too many if's for me to get excited yet.

UPDATE:
Aha! Now I won't worry so much about my extra 42'. I just did some digging around their well site. The comparison price for this new hand-powered pump is... $6,495! 
That's a little too far above my budget. Let's send it over to those people at Doomsday Preppers!


----------



## Arklatex

hawgrider said:


> This is a interesting read
> Living Off Grid - A Home Made Deep Well Pump


That was an awesome read full of good links. Thanks hawg!

Here is one of the videos I was led to:

Hand Water Pump Breaks Record -- 22 GPM at 80' St&#8230;:


----------



## thepeartree

Read my update above


----------



## Arklatex

thepeartree said:


> UPDATE:
> Aha! Now I won't worry so much about my extra 42'. I just did some digging around their well site. The comparison price for this new hand-powered pump is... $6,495!
> That's a little too far above my budget. Let's send it over to those people at Doomsday Preppers!


Couldn't find it. Can you post a link? 7k is very steep... even if it will last a lifetime.


----------



## thepeartree

Arklatex said:


> Couldn't find it. Can you post a link? 7k is very steep... even if it will last a lifetime.


Here you go : Price Comparison | Off-Grid Products for Self-Reliance

And even at that price, it takes more tubing and fittings to get into operation plus a professional installer (although you could skip that, I bet). Then there's still a question about the 500 foot claim. The pump installed specs quoted read "static 80' water level". That may be just for purposes of comparison, I don't know. Oh, it's a page showing cost comparison with a solar powered well, a windmill powered setup, the waterbuck pump, and a "commercial hand-powered pump".


----------



## Arklatex

Thanks peartree. I bet I could make and install one of these for a lot cheaper than 7k. That said, I think solar is my solution. With a torpedo as backup.


----------



## thepeartree

Arklatex said:


> Thanks peartree. I bet I could make and install one of these for a lot cheaper than 7k. That said, I think solar is my solution. With a torpedo as backup.


Well, so could I, but considering the cost quoted was for that 80' static level and my well is probably 500+ feet static, I'll pass. I don't like any of the quoted prices. I'd rather spend the money on making sure I have electricity.


----------



## Moonshinedave

I just posted this yesterday on another thread, it's low tech, but it will work. Not sure if it's what they are calling a torpedo bucket, we call them a baler.
View attachment 7944


----------



## thepeartree

Yeah, that's a torp. Or just a long thin bucket. Whatever. I don't have the patience to deal with 500 feet of rope for a bucket of water.


----------



## hawgrider

thepeartree said:


> Well, so could I, but considering the cost quoted was for that 80' static level and my well is probably 500+ feet static, I'll pass. I don't like any of the quoted prices. I'd rather spend the money on making sure I have electricity.


Its the concept thats cool. If he built it you could too. I make things I cant afford to buy.


----------



## Moonshinedave

thepeartree said:


> Yeah, that's a torp. Or just a long thin bucket. Whatever. I don't have the patience to deal with 500 feet of rope for a bucket of water.


I suppose that would depend on how thirsty a person was huh?


----------



## thepeartree

Moonshinedave said:


> I suppose that would depend on how thirsty a person was huh?


Yep. Ain't going to get that thirsty  I've got backup power for the well pump. Put in a new 1/2 horse pump 2 years ago. It'll be good for all the years I'll need it. Other people around here have hundred foot or so wells. Mine's 542 foot. I don't get nervous in dry years.

Might be fun to set up a steam-powered well pump as a backup...


----------



## hawgrider

thepeartree said:


> Yep. Ain't going to get that thirsty  I've got backup power for the well pump. Put in a new 1/2 horse pump 2 years ago. It'll be good for all the years I'll need it. Other people around here have hundred foot or so wells. Mine's 542 foot. I don't get nervous in dry years.
> 
> Might be fun to set up a steam-powered well pump as a backup...


Average well in Meatchicken is less than 200 feet. Many shallow wells installed the good ole days are still in service. Ive driven 3 shallow wells by hand with a driving bell powdered by beer. Deepest well Ive had to date is 55 feet hired the well driller for that one.


----------



## KarVer

So how would you go about making your own well an putting in a hand pump? Hammer in pipe and cap it off? Ace Hardware have the stuff?


----------



## hawgrider

KarVer said:


> So how would you go about making your own well an putting in a hand pump? Hammer in pipe and cap it off? Ace Hardware have the stuff?


Shallow wells we drive with 1 1/4 pipe by installing a driving cap on each section being driven or you will destroy the threads of the pipe. Keep the threads tight always!. I use 5 ft sections so they are easy to work with. For tougher jobs I have built a tripod with a pulley system for hoisting and dropping the driving bell. The driving bells can be rented from tool rental facilities or from some old fashioned hardware stores. I doubt ACE would have one but maybe? I would try a true value hardware store first. The driving bell comes in different weights. The last one I used was a 100 pounder on the tripod system I built. Of course things can go bad that may cost you to lose your well point. Rocks and thick layers of clay can ruin your day. Its not always successful but you wont know until you try.


----------

