# Requesting hand water pump ideas



## MountainGirl

Greetings all,

We're thinking about adding a 'pump-by-hand' capability to our existing well. The existing 3-wire pump is at 180' (drilled to 200' through solid granite, 2gpm) with a 6" casing. Static is at 40', so we'd like the hand pump to draw from 90-100'. The idea would be to fill a few 5gal buckets and stop, so as to not pump the top dry. 

All thoughts and/or product recommendations welcome, thanks!


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## 1skrewsloose

Interesting, seems many years ago we could stop at any wayside and give the pump maybe 6-12 pumps and get a drink of water. No idea how deep the well was. They must have had some sort of check valve, otherwise they'd freeze in winter. I have noticed I don't see a lot of them if any anymore. So....maybe not such a good idea? Shoot, they must have drawn water from wells before elec, How did they keep it from freezing off?


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Greetings all,
> 
> We're thinking about adding a 'pump-by-hand' capability to our existing well. The existing 3-wire pump is at 180' (drilled to 200' through solid granite, 2gpm) with a 6" casing. Static is at 40', so we'd like the hand pump to draw from 90-100'. The idea would be to fill a few 5gal buckets and stop, so as to not pump the top dry.
> 
> All thoughts and/or product recommendations welcome, thanks!


Wow, only 2gpm and solid granite. There are several makes of hands pumps and I researched them prior to biting the bullet & getting the Grundfos flex pump. But with only 2gpm, seems you might be better to get the well bucket I keep, the Well Waterboy, as the capacity for the model for a 6" casing is 2.2 gal. Costs $106 with free freight so maybe that would leave extra money to setup a pulley/winch system. I also have the tripod kit. There are some video reviews on that link. I'm wondering if it would be quicker & easier using a windlass with a bucket as opposed to hand pumping?
4? Heavy Duty WaterBoy Well Bucket ? Well WaterBoy Products


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## Smitty901

Pedal power may work for you . Something to look into. Converting a bike to power the pump is easy and you can do a lot more with your legs than arms.


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## SOCOM42

Some old the old pitcher pumps were self draining to keep from freezing, 

would have to pump the handle a dozen times or more to get the water up.

Resting, it would drain through a small hole.

Had one on the farm when I was a kid, never froze even in 20 below weather.

It was a shallow well, about 30 to 50 feet down, I don't remember.


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## Smitty901

Have you considered a small steam powered pump. Wood made in to charcoal endless fuel supply. Could even be used to make hot water.


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## Mad Trapper

Lots of hand pumps won't do much more than 30' deep.

Bison makes quality hand pumps but they are not inexpensive.

https://www.bisonpumps.com/

On the cheap but only for shallow wells:

View attachment PVC_Hand_Pumps well.pdf


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## MountainGirl

Smitty901 said:


> Have you considered a small steam powered pump. Wood made in to charcoal endless fuel supply. Could even be used to make hot water.


Well now that's an idea that would be right in Tom's wheelhouse... and an endless fuel supply of that nature we have. Hmmmm...


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## MountainGirl

Mad Trapper said:


> Lots of hand pumps won't do much more than 30' deep.
> 
> Bison makes quality hand pumps but they are not inexpensive.
> 
> https://www.bisonpumps.com/


Thanks for the link, Mad Trapper. Not inexpensive is right; their Offset (we'd need an Inline) deep well is $2000 for 60' (guessing depth, that sample bid included a 75' rope). Much to consider, here.


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## MountainGirl

@******* 
I like the Waterboy, thanks for that; the vids you posted, and the review ones on the Waterboy link are really good. Are you using yours now, or just keeping it in reserve? That's what we'd do (keep in reserve). If the existing pump becomes non-working (emp, SHTF, bad battery management, lol) this could go in without too much work...other than the hand digging 4' to disconnect the cabin's lateral line from the well's casing... which would now have to wait until spring. At least we have lots of snow now, if needed.


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## Redneck

So what are you using now? You want the new system to pressurize an existing water system in the house/yard? IMO, if that well can only deliver 2 gpm and is a bit deep and you only need say 15 gallons a day, then seems any hand pump would not make much financial sense. A well bucket can do that for next to nothing. If convenience is more important than money, then I'd look at a dc well pump, preferably a flex pump like Grundfos, which could operate directly off of a solar panel or your generator. If you only wanted to fill buckets, you wouldn't need the motor controllers & switches... it will pump just by hooking up the power. Then you could later add the controllers & pressure switch/float valve to automate.

When I was in the market I really looked at Bison. But when I considered how much they cost, and realized the inconvenience of hand pumping, I decided to spend a bit more for the Grundfos.


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> @*******
> I like the Waterboy, thanks for that; the vids you posted, and the review ones on the Waterboy link are really good. Are you using yours now, or just keeping it in reserve? That's what we'd do (keep in reserve). If the existing pump becomes non-working (emp, SHTF, bad battery management, lol) this could go in without too much work...other than the hand digging 4' to disconnect the cabin's lateral line from the well's casing... which would now have to wait until spring. At least we have lots of snow now, if needed.


Yes, it is in reserve... like my Grundfos. Actually my Grundfos & several solar panels, controllers & switches are in Faraday enclosures. So my Grundfos is my backup to my ac pump going out during a crisis (EMP) and the well bucket is the backup to that. Actually it would probably be used by neighbors if the Grundfos was operational.

Do you not have a pitless adapter in the well? Why would you need to dig up the lateral line? Sorry, I'm no well expert. Just know what I have. This thread might help some.

http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/...l-talk/70449-know-about-pitless-adapters.html


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> Yes, it is in reserve... like my Grundfos. Actually my Grundfos & several solar panels, controllers & switches are in Faraday enclosures. So my Grundfos is my backup to my ac pump going out during a crisis (EMP) and the well bucket is the backup to that. Actually it would probably be used by neighbors if the Grundfos was operational.
> 
> Do you not have a pitless adapter in the well? Why would you need to dig up the lateral line? Sorry, I'm no well expert. Just know what I have. This thread might help some.
> 
> http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/...l-talk/70449-know-about-pitless-adapters.html


Thanks for the link, very informative! So...the female half of the adapter can just stay in the casing and wont interfere with the Waterboy?
(Please say yes, lol)


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> So what are you using now? You want the new system to pressurize an existing water system in the house/yard?


Nope. Just want some daily water for personal consumption, cooking. There's a swampy area down 400' from here; it would be nice to not have to collect & carry it up in buckets then try & filter/treat somehow. Especially with that well 30' from the front door with the most pristine mountain water just waiting.


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Thanks for the link, very informative! So...the female half of the adapter can just stay in the casing and wont interfere with the Waterboy?
> (Please say yes, lol)


Correct, assuming you have a pitless adapter. That way you can pull up the pump to work on it or replace it without impacting the plumbing. Once the pump & pipe is pulled from the well, you now have a clean shot to that wonderful, pure mountain water. In my thread I linked, I gave a description of the tool you would need to pull up the old pump. There is a pic too. Mine hangs on the wall in my upper barn.

Now depending on the type of pipe running down to the pump & the depth, it can take more than one person to pull up the pump & pipe. That is why I stock all sorts of rope & pulleys to allow me to do so by myself if necessary & the tractor doesn't work. I have added more gear since this thread:
http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/...fting-using-pulleys-mechanical-advantage.html


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Nope. Just want some daily water for personal consumption, cooking. There's a swampy area down 400' from here; it would be nice to not have to collect & carry it up in buckets then try & filter/treat somehow. Especially with that well 30' from the front door with the most pristine mountain water just waiting.


So am I correct in assuming there is a non-functional pump down in your well?

If I understand your situation, I'd go with the large well bucket & work on ways to ease getting the full bucket up. A windlass works fine or most any pulley system. Might could rig up a dc winch to do it for you, since you have solar.

Here is another windlass.


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> Correct, assuming you have a pitless adapter. That way you can pull up the pump to work on it or replace it without impacting the plumbing. ...


 Right, and thanks for the heavy lifting link 

The pitless adapter is wonderful as you described for pulling the pump & replacing it.

I'm still not sure regarding how far out into the casing the 'female' half of the adapter sticks. It seems it would be out away from the inner casing wall - enough so that the 'male' part could slide in easily while replacing the pump. If it (the permanently attached femael half) only protrudes 1/2" or less - there'd be plenty of room for the 5"OD Waterboy to slide past it. Might catch it and hang up on the way down... but maybe some jiggling on the cable could bump it past? I need to put my hands on a pitless adapter somewhere to see for myself, lol. It would be great to not have to dig it to remove that half. Also need to dig out the paperwork to see what kind of adapter we have, and confirm it's pitless, but I'm pretty sure it is.

Thanks for your help, *******. Very much appreciated!


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> So am I correct in assuming there is a non-functional pump down in your well?


Nope. We have a really nice 3-wire 1/2H Franklin 220v, 80gal pressure tank inside, pressure-fed yard spigot, indoor plumbing runs to 2 sinks, toilet, shower, washing machine - all run off the solar system.

What we _don't_ have - is anything that is EMP protected, by choice.

Ours is a different path than most here. We decided that simple systems work best for us, things done by hand. Soooo... if/when EMP etc, rather than try and get back to what 'was' - our choice is to switch back over to the basics, that will fail only if/when we do. Harvest wood by hand, cook with fire, hunt/trap/gather/garden, and pull up water from the existing well. We are already set up (except for the well thing, which will be resolved soon) to do this now, hand tools, etc, and most of it Tom did for the years before we met.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I love being able to go to the sink & turn on the hot water faucet. And flush! :-D But I lived up here for a year without any of that stuff, with little electricity at all, so there's no desire to 'turn it off'. BUT if it does go 'off' ...well...we'll be just fine, and I like that we each have our own ways. 

(and...we'll still be able to flush. YAY!)


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Right, and thanks for the heavy lifting link
> 
> The pitless adapter is wonderful as you described for pulling the pump & replacing it.
> 
> I'm still not sure regarding how far out into the casing the 'female' half of the adapter sticks. It seems it would be out away from the inner casing wall - enough so that the 'male' part could slide in easily while replacing the pump. If it (the permanently attached femael half) only protrudes 1/2" or less - there'd be plenty of room for the 5"OD Waterboy to slide past it. Might catch it and hang up on the way down... but maybe some jiggling on the cable could bump it past? I need to put my hands on a pitless adapter somewhere to see for myself, lol. It would be great to not have to dig it to remove that half. Also need to dig out the paperwork to see what kind of adapter we have, and confirm it's pitless, but I'm pretty sure it is.


The 5" OD bucket is smaller than the casing so that there is room to slip past the adapter. Also they have several different models, the smallest being a 2 3/4" OD if you had other obstructions.


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## MountainGirl

@********* 
Found this on the Waterboy site, re selecting the right size -

How To Measure Your Well and Static Water Level ? Well WaterBoy Products

4″ Heavy Duty Bucket (5″ OD) is for a standard 6″ well casing or larger
3″ Heavy Duty Bucket (4″ OD) is for a 5″ well casing/liner
3″ Slim Line Bucket (3 9/16″ OD) is for a 4″ well casing/liner
2″ Super Slim Line Bucket (2 3/4″ OD) is for a pitless adapter inside ofa 4″ liner or for a 3″ casing/liner

I need to find out what's down there in ours, lol.

Edit to add: we posted at the same time; I sure appreciate all of your help.


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Nope. We have a really nice 3-wire 1/2H Franklin 220v, 80gal pressure tank inside, pressure-fed yard spigot, indoor plumbing runs to 2 sinks, toilet, shower, washing machine - all run off the solar system.
> 
> What we _don't_ have - is anything that is EMP protected, by choice.
> 
> Ours is a different path than most here. We decided that simple systems work best for us, things done by hand. Soooo... if/when EMP etc, rather than try and get back to what 'was' - our choice is to switch back over to the basics, that will fail only if/when we do. Harvest wood by hand, cook with fire, hunt/trap/gather/garden, and pull up water from the existing well. We are already set up (except for the well thing, which will be resolved soon) to do this now, hand tools, etc, and most of it Tom did for the years before we met.
> 
> Oh, don't get me wrong - I love being able to go to the sink & turn on the hot water faucet. And flush! :-D But I lived up here for a year without any of that stuff, with little electricity at all, so there's no desire to 'turn it off'. BUT if it does go 'off' ...well...we'll be just fine, and I like that we each have our own ways.
> 
> (and...we'll still be able to flush. YAY!)


OK understand. Then yes, especially with your low gpm, I'd get the well bucket. Seems to me a hand pump would be overkill for your needs.

I went with the Grundfos because yes, the well bucket will give you your water for basic uses, such as drinking, cooking, toilets & cleaning, but it mostly stops there. My style of prepping is to be self sufficient by growing many crops over acres of land. Right now I have about 2 acres in orchard, berries & muscadine grapes... all on drip irrigation. I have a small garden but am prepped to increase that greatly. I'm not prepared to allow drought to kill us off after a crisis, so the grundfos & panels, using no batteries, inverters, etc, will provide a pressurized system during the day to water crops. We have very abundant water about 80' down.


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> @*********
> Found this on the Waterboy site, re selecting the right size -
> 
> How To Measure Your Well and Static Water Level ? Well WaterBoy Products
> 
> 4″ Heavy Duty Bucket (5″ OD) is for a standard 6″ well casing or larger
> 3″ Heavy Duty Bucket (4″ OD) is for a 5″ well casing/liner
> 3″ Slim Line Bucket (3 9/16″ OD) is for a 4″ well casing/liner
> 2″ Super Slim Line Bucket (2 3/4″ OD) is for a pitless adapter inside ofa 4″ liner or for a 3″ casing/liner
> 
> I need to find out what's down there in ours, lol.
> 
> Edit to add: we posted at the same time; I sure appreciate all of your help.


Those are the correct models and yes, NOW is the time to figure out what you have & how to pull it. Surviving a crisis will be tough enough without water issues. Planning NOW to have that water, no matter what, makes sense to me.

Lady, providing help is what we do here, when not arguing politics. I've received more than I've given. Just pay it back. Heck now I'm coveting your Honda generator, even though I have a larger, natural gas whole (most) house one that switches on & off automatically.


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> OK understand. Then yes, especially with your low gpm, I'd get the well bucket. Seems to me a hand pump would be overkill for your needs.
> 
> I went with the Grundfos because yes, the well bucket will give you your water for basic uses, such as drinking, cooking, & cleaning, but it mostly stops there. My style of prepping is to be self sufficient by growing many crops over acres of land. Right now I have about 2 acres in orchard, berries & muscadine grapes... all on drip irrigation. I have a small garden but am prepped to increase that greatly. I'm not prepared to allow drought to kill us off after a crisis, so the grundfos & panels, using no batteries, inverters, etc, will provide a pressurized system during the day to water crops. We have very abundant water about 80' down.


That sounds like a really nice set up, especially the fruit, and the water so close up. It gets really dry in the summer up here; we hand watered the two apple trees & 6 berry bushes planted last spring (that the deer stripped clean in late Sept); maybe they'll come back, maybe not. Deer fencing comes before more planting, either way. And Tom just told me our pump is 3/4hp. I forgot. Tired from shoveling all that water off our stone steps, lol


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> Heck now I'm coveting your Honda generator, even though I have a larger, natural gas whole (most) house one that switches on & off automatically.


Will either of ours work post-EMP? Cool yours is natural gas...what about those switches in it?

Edit to add: Actually, never mind. My take is damn little is going to work anywhere. Your choice of the panels, flex & needed parts all protected is brilliant, imo. You've got a really good shot at getting water.


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## MountainGirl

Thanks, everybody, for your input and help. We gave it our _self-imposed mandatory 24-hour thought_ (lol) and decided on the WaterBoy. Ordered it this morning. Hope we never have to use it; nice to know we'll have something on hand to get water, if we do.

Stay safe,
MG


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Thanks, everybody, for your input and help. We gave it our _self-imposed mandatory 24-hour thought_ (lol) and decided on the WaterBoy. Ordered it this morning. Hope we never have to use it; nice to know we'll have something on hand to get water, if we do.


So do you have a pitless adapter in the well & if so, you working on making the tool to pull the pump? Also, give thought to how you will pull up the pump & pipe, full of water. I'm thinking a prusik knot will come in handy as it will slide down the pipe as the pipe is pulled up & then get another grip. You can make one from your rope but I have several prusik loops, already made up & some have rings built in for easy attachment. I'm thinking would work well with a pulley or even the front bucket on my tractor.


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## MountainGirl

@*******

Yes, it's a pitless, and I've printed out your Pitless Adapters OP, and will be making a puller. Thanks for the prusik info; that will come in handy for sure. Lifting it out will not be a problem; Tom was a mechanic for 30 yrs...and his latest project up here, when taking a break from the build, was dropping a 350 chev small block into a 26' Bayliner. He said we could use one of the downriggers to lower/raise the WaterBoy. :-D

I don't know about _that_....but he's totally on board with this and said to say thanks from him too. :vs_cool:


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## agmccall

I have been looking into the "Simple Pump" Hand Pump and Solar Pumps, for Your Water Well: Simple Pump Co.

You can pump from over 300' depth and fill your pressure tank. it is a bit pricey but it is something I will be investing in.

you can also tie into your pitless

al


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## Redneck

agmccall said:


> I have been looking into the "Simple Pump" Hand Pump and Solar Pumps, for Your Water Well: Simple Pump Co.
> 
> You can pump from over 300' depth and fill your pressure tank. it is a bit pricey but it is something I will be investing in.
> 
> you can also tie into your pitless
> 
> al


I considered one of these until I really considered costs vs benefits. I determined for a bit more money I could go with a dc well pump that could operate directly off of solar panels. I went with a Grundfos flex pump but there are cheaper options out there. A Simple Pump does have some benefits such as not having to pull the existing well pump and it does appear to be a quality unit, possibly best suited for folks just wanting the convenience of using indoor plumbing... maybe during a short term outage. In my case. I determined that was a lot of money to spend for a somewhat limited volume of water and that for my post SHTF gardens & orchards, I would need much more water than a hand pump could provide.

Let us know what you decide & how it went.


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## Gunn

We have the Deep Well Hand Pump from Lehman's and an Amish Bucket at the BOL.


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## quinnbrian

A good hand pump, will pump up to 300 feet, yes you have to have a foot valve...sometimes more then one...one at the bottom..one around the middle..etc.
I live off grid, as everybody knows. My setup is this, I have one pump down in the well (165 feet deep) ,that pumps water to a holding tank (100 gallon tank). I'm in Canada so winters are freezing . So the first pump , pumps water to the holding tank (inside, where is warmer) also where my batteries are stored..and invertor..and my SR2 genset is.
All the well lines are above ground, so they need to be drained, in the winter month, so they don't freeze. So how do you do it...just like the old hand pumps of yesterday, about 3 feet down the line inside the well casing I drill a 1/8-3/16 hole in the well line ,so the water can drain back off the top of the first 3 feet of pipe inside the well. The pipe that runs above ground has two valves ...one at the well casing and one at the other end..turn on the valves will release the suction on the pipes and drain all the above ground piping.
Not the best setup, but it works.
Inside on top of the 100 gallon tanks seats a second well pump and pressure tank, like you would find in any country home. And it pump water though the house...as normal.
The hand pumps are a great idea, if you can find one used, maybe in need of a new set of leather seals...but new ones are very $$$, the well bucket look like a great idea..never seen one before, very interesting!
Cheers
Brian


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## agmccall

******* said:


> I considered one of these until I really considered costs vs benefits. I determined for a bit more money I could go with a dc well pump that could operate directly off of solar panels. I went with a Grundfos flex pump but there are cheaper options out there. A Simple Pump does have some benefits such as not having to pull the existing well pump and it does appear to be a quality unit, possibly best suited for folks just wanting the convenience of using indoor plumbing... maybe during a short term outage. In my case. I determined that was a lot of money to spend for a somewhat limited volume of water and that for my post SHTF gardens & orchards, I would need much more water than a hand pump could provide.
> Let us know what you decide & how it went.


I am inerested in the flex pump, currently we live off grid and the only issue we have is the well pump. At night when the house is 100% battery power if the well pump kicks on the system shuts down. I usually fire up the generator fill the tank and conserve until the next day. I am hoping to add a wind turbine as well as a bigger generaor with autostart feature. But if the grundfos can dow what I need then it might just be the way to go. My well is 235 static and 253 total depth. At about 230 my well opens into a pretty big cave that holds about 150 gallons of water

al


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## MountainGirl

agmccall said:


> I am inerested in the flex pump, currently we live off grid and the only issue we have is the well pump. At night when the house is 100% battery power if the well pump kicks on the system shuts down. I usually fire up the generator fill the tank and conserve until the next day. I am hoping to add a wind turbine as well as a bigger generaor with autostart feature. But if the grundfos can dow what I need then it might just be the way to go. *My well is 235 static and 253 total depth. At about 230 my well opens into a pretty big cave that holds about 150 gallons of water*
> 
> al


Hi al, are those numbers typo's by chance? Ours is drilled to 200, with static in the 40's... How does your cave fill, with the static level below it? Also, what is kicking on your pump at night? Flushing?


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## agmccall

MountainGirl said:


> Hi al, are those numbers typo's by chance? Ours is drilled to 200, with static in the 40's... How does your cave fill, with the static level below it? Also, what is kicking on your pump at night? Flushing?


No the numbers are correct. at about 230 the cave opens up and the static is about 5'below that. The well driller did not want to go any deeper than the 253 for fear of hitting a vein or something that would drain the natural cistern. I live on a "Mountain" in upstate NY there are lots of veins that fill my well. I had the well fracked at the time of drilling and have a great flow of water. The static level is in the cave, not below it.

As far as useage it can be anything, flushing, dishwashing, anything you use water for. I am thinking of adding another pressure tank or 2 to the system.

al


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## MountainGirl

agmccall said:


> No the numbers are correct. at about 230 the cave opens up and the static is about 5'below that. The well driller did not want to go any deeper than the 253 for fear of hitting a vein or something that would drain the natural cistern. I live on a "Mountain" in upstate NY there are lots of veins that fill my well. I had the well fracked at the time of drilling and have a great flow of water. The static level is in the cave, not below it.
> 
> As far as useage it can be anything, flushing, dishwashing, anything you use water for. I am thinking of adding another pressure tank or 2 to the system.
> 
> al


Ah, ok, thanks. I forget normal people do things after dark.


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## unclefred

At our hunting camp we have a cistern topside on top of a storage building. Water is pumped to fill it and the water is then gravity flow to the cabin. That way there is no power consumption other than when filling the cistern.


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## MountainGirl

unclefred said:


> At our hunting camp we have a cistern topside on top of a storage building. Water is pumped to fill it and the water is then gravity flow to the cabin. That way there is no power consumption other than when filling the cistern.


I really like the simplicity of that. Do you have freezing issues?


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## azrancher

quinnbrian said:


> A good hand pump, will pump up to 300 feet, yes you have to have a foot valve...sometimes more then one...one at the bottom..one around the middle..etc.


I'm interested in how you can have a hand pumped well with a foot valve (check valve) in the middle, would you please explain that, and why you would need more than the foot valve?

*Rancher*


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## unclefred

MountainGirl said:


> I really like the simplicity of that. Do you have freezing issues?


My son wrapped all of the pipe and hose and as far as I know there hasn't been a problem. I didn't get up there this summer or fall because I didn't draw any tags.


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## quinnbrian

azrancher said:


> I'm interested in how you can have a hand pumped well with a foot valve (check valve) in the middle, would you please explain that, and why you would need more than the foot valve?
> 
> *Rancher*


It has a two stag lift..just like a normal well. Maybe a said it wrong...a foot valve is at the bottom of the well, and then there is a second "check" valve located up farther up the line. It help with the lifting...not as far to lift...the second check valve, just stop the water from traveling down the pipe, so the pump doesn't have to lift, so much at first , when you first start pumping.
Most of the time the one foot valve will work, but it does make it easier, I remember having to prime one of these pump, when I was a kid...pouring water onto the leather seals.


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## azrancher

quinnbrian said:


> It has a two stag lift..just like a normal well. Maybe a said it wrong...a foot valve is at the bottom of the well, and then there is a second "check" valve located up farther up the line. It help with the lifting...not as far to lift...the second check valve, just stop the water from traveling down the pipe, so the pump doesn't have to lift, so much at first , when you first start pumping.
> Most of the time the one foot valve will work, but it does make it easier, I remember having to prime one of these pump, when I was a kid...pouring water onto the leather seals.


Oh OK, I understand now (not really), where are these leather seals located (pump leathers), and how do you get the pump rod thru that second check valve to the bottom?

*Rancher*


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## Ayn Rand

Around here most people think Bison makes the best hand pump but expensive. We went with Handy well pump model OP-360 with a 2 hole seal. This allows the electric pump and hand pump to share the same well (we have a 6" well). https://handywellpump.com/our-pumps/ 
Call them and the guy will make sure you have all of the needed parts but we bought the pipe and couplings locally.

The electric pump hangs at 200' and the hand pump at 140' in our 400' deep well.

A less expensive but not super sturdy pump a few people in this area have is here. http://www.ezwaterwellhandpumps.com/?utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={water%20well%20hand%20pumps}&utm_content=17158353190&utm_campaign={1}


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## 0rocky

Mountain Girl, I'm in a semi-arrid climate/area and elected to instal a hand pump by Bison. My static is about 60' (I say about due to the seasonal differences).








When I first moved here that was my only source of water, even though it co-exists with an electric pump, initially I had no power.


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## MountainGirl

0rocky said:


> Mountain Girl, I'm in a semi-arrid climate/area and elected to instal a hand pump by Bison. My static is about 60' (I say about due to the seasonal differences).
> View attachment 66346
> 
> 
> When I first moved here that was my only source of water, even though it co-exists with an electric pump, initially I had no power.


Hiya Orocky! What's your well depth, do you know by chance? Just curious, lol. We had no idea how deep ours would end up being (200') but luckily static runs 40ish. Water is so precious to have...Tom hauled it in the first 8yrs he lived up here alone; after a year of me up here with him... it became time to drill - and when that ice cold mountain water first came out the spigot I burst into happy tears, lol.

Our system & pump is all electric, fed/sustained only by solar, gen backup but rarely needed... and I wanted something on hand to get that water out from the 40' level by hand... in case everything went sideways. I'll go back to no power up here, but I wont go back to no water. It's a girl thing.


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> I'll go back to no power up here, but I wont go back to no water. It's a girl thing.


You calling me a girl? 

Any prepper that has such a well needs to have the tools and know how to get to that cool, clean water. Actually any prepper that plans on heading out to the country during a crisis should likewise.


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> You calling me a girl?


Yes, yes I am. And it's a compliment.


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## Redneck

MountainGirl said:


> Yes, yes I am. And it's a compliment.


I can't argue with that.


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## MountainGirl

******* said:


> I can't argue with that.


True! You may not be a girl, but you know enough to not argue with one. :angel:


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## 23897

MountainGirl said:


> Well now that's an idea that would be right in Tom's wheelhouse... and an endless fuel supply of that nature we have. Hmmmm...


This might be of interest to you:

https://www.homepower.com/articles/home-efficiency/electricity/ask-experts-steam-electricity

Fangfarrier

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## 0rocky

MountainGirl said:


> Hiya Orocky! What's your well depth, do you know by chance? Just curious, lol. We had no idea how deep ours would end up being (200') but luckily static runs 40ish. Water is so precious to have...Tom hauled it in the first 8yrs he lived up here alone; after a year of me up here with him... it became time to drill - and when that ice cold mountain water first came out the spigot I burst into happy tears, lol.
> 
> Our system & pump is all electric, fed/sustained only by solar, gen backup but rarely needed... and I wanted something on hand to get that water out from the 40' level by hand... in case everything went sideways. I'll go back to no power up here, but I wont go back to no water. It's a girl thing.


Hi MountainGirl: I wanted to do a few rough calculations first. I seem to recall reading from your earlier post, a concern over your dropping the water level in the well casing should you draw 'too much' via a manual pump. For each gallon you draw, you will lower the static level in the casing approximately 1 foot. I used 5-1/2" as the inside diameter of your casing and the volume comes out to 1.2 gallons/foot.

My static level varies seasonally from about 50' to 65' and is exacerbated by some local folks doing 'serious' irrigation. I actually needed to have my well driller come out this past summer to deepen the well another 40' to give me a bigger safety margin. I first noticed a lot of silt in my pail using the manual -since my electric pump is placed below my manual pump, I thought there was a problem with the piston as there was air coming out in addition to the silt. The pump manufacturer advised that the water level dropped and I had tried to keep an open mind but being a city boy I've experienced more than my share of 'finger pointing' saying it's not my fault it the other guys. I wondered if the pump people just didn't want to admit there was an problem with their equipment. I heard some scary stories of large corporations pumping insane amounts of water from aquifers and distributing bottled water. The border of the aquifer does not coincide with a state's boundary so when a large corporation get's drilling and water rights from one state ... well you get the rest. The aquifer did, in fact, drop.


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## MountainGirl

fangfarrier said:


> This might be of interest to you:
> 
> https://www.homepower.com/articles/home-efficiency/electricity/ask-experts-steam-electricity
> 
> Fangfarrier
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Good article, farrier, much to think about. Thanks!


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## MountainGirl

0rocky said:


> Hi MountainGirl: I wanted to do a few rough calculations first. I seem to recall reading from your earlier post, a concern over your dropping the water level in the well casing should you draw 'too much' via a manual pump. For each gallon you draw, you will lower the static level in the casing approximately 1 foot. I used 5-1/2" as the inside diameter of your casing and the volume comes out to 1.2 gallons/foot.
> 
> My static level varies seasonally from about 50' to 65' and is exacerbated by some local folks doing 'serious' irrigation. I actually needed to have my well driller come out this past summer to deepen the well another 40' to give me a bigger safety margin. I first noticed a lot of silt in my pail using the manual -since my electric pump is placed below my manual pump, I thought there was a problem with the piston as there was air coming out in addition to the silt. The pump manufacturer advised that the water level dropped and I had tried to keep an open mind but being a city boy I've experienced more than my share of 'finger pointing' saying it's not my fault it the other guys. I wondered if the pump people just didn't want to admit there was an problem with their equipment. I heard some scary stories of large corporations pumping insane amounts of water from aquifers and distributing bottled water. The border of the aquifer does not coincide with a state's boundary so when a large corporation get's drilling and water rights from one state ... well you get the rest. The aquifer did, in fact, drop.


Hi 0rocky, thanks for the calcs.  Yeah, when & if - we'll probably drop the water bucket to around 70...or whatever it takes to fill a few 5-gal buckets each day. Our GPM is only about 1.5-2, so...there it is. As long as we and the critters have something to drink, all's good.

IMO - _sans_ SHTF etc - the big wars will be over water and yes I know they've already started. We're lucky, up here; tapped into underground vein flowing down from Canada. My understanding is a whole lot would have to go sideways before that stopped. Only two summers so far with it - but last year was pretty dry on top, and there was no noticeable change in output.

Meant to mention: thanks for the pic of your area! Sure is wide open spaces.... how's the wind?


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## 0rocky

MountainGirl said:


> <snip>
> 
> Meant to mention: thanks for the pic of your area! Sure is wide open spaces.... how's the wind?


You're quite welcome for the pic. The wind is variable in both intensity and oddly enough, direction. One of those situations where if you don't like the weather wait for 30 minutes. It makes it a real challenge to do things like painting. One minute everythings going fine; the next you're wearing the paint as it blows off from the brush onto whatever is downwind. I 'like' the variety, love the views of and from up in the mountains ... but the local properties, mine included, were it not for the views would not be worth much (trying to be nice).









40 minutes drive - Custer National Forest


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