Hand pump for well?

[eldirector]

The house is on a well, rather than connected to city water. When the power goes out, each toilet gets one flush

Is there a way to "convert" my well into a hand pump? Can I put a hand pump along side the current pump?

Eventually, I'll have a generator for short-term outages. For longer term, I'll still need water after the genset's fuel runs out.

 

[redneckmedic]

In short answer yes, I did a thread just like this many months ago.

You need a lot of time, hard work, and plumbing knowledge to do it though. The problem is you have a closed pumping system now. You need to be able to tap into that system and then draw to your pressure tank. That will break the system in at least two places. You might consider a second tank with your hand pump. Here are a few places I found some info.

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

Hand pumps to furnish drinking water from wells and cisterns

I would look at putting a frost free pump and a second tank some where.

 

[Eddie]

If the toilets are your main concern, for short term water outages we keep a couple of jugs of water under the sink in each bathroom. You can refill the tank that way and get another flush. We had a cistern with a hand pump here when I moved it. I removed the pump and stored it so that it wouldn't rust and capped the cistern, but it is all still there.

 

[JD31]

You might give this link a look. It has plans for a simple cheap, do it yourself "Well Bucket." Might not be the greatest, but once the gas is gone from the generator, you might wish you had one. This is the solution, I will use should the need arise. Cheap and stores easily in the garage.

How to get water from a drilled well when the power is off by Steve Belanger from the January/February, 1999 issue of Countryside & Small Stock Journal

 

[resdep]

This is most interesting. My wife and I have discussed what we could do if we have a prolonged power outage and we have not come to a reasonable conclusion. We have discussed the Big Berky water filter because we have a pond I figured we could pump water from that. But the idea of using our well is a much better solution.
Thanks for the link.

 

[redneckmedic]

TAG

 

[fireworks#5]

Pumps

The EPS is a pump system I installed in my well for emergencies. The website is Smith Distributing USA - emergency manual pumping system for water wells and the owner can be reached at ivans@sdusa.net. Very easy to pump water in emergencies.

 

[resdep]

Water well

If you have a basement you could hand drive a hand pump well there. I have a friend that has done a number times and we are going to put one in my basement. Sure would beat the heck out of going outside in the winter to pump water.

 

[Eddie]

If you have a basement you could hand drive a hand pump well there. I have a friend that has done a number times and we are going to put one in my basement. Sure would beat the heck out of going outside in the winter to pump water.

Could you describe how he does this?

 

[resdep]

The way he described it to me is as follows:
Core drill hole in basement floor, I'm not sure what size yet.
Purchase well point and 2.5' sections of pipe.
He built a driver that he said is like a heavy fence post driver.
Drive the pipe into the ground.
Install pitcher type pump
He also has a tool to pull the pipe if the screen gets clogged.
He said we can do this for about $200.

Sorry if I have something here that doesn't add up. I don't know anything about wells except you get water out of them.

When we do mine I'll pay attention and report back.

resdep

 

[tenring]

Did I miss the part where you guys that want to put in a hand [pitcher] pump, also have some spare leathers?

Forgot to add that those nice plastic barrel [if you have a place to store them] make a great rain catcher. Just run your downspouts into them.

 

[redneckmedic]

How do you keep the basement from flooding after a nice rain with a big hole in floor?


​

 

[cosermann]

Is there a way to "convert" my well into a hand pump? Can I put a hand pump along side the current pump?

Yes and yes.

Hand Water Pumps by Simple Pump. 'The Modern Hand Water Pump'

Remember when sizing the generator it should support about 3x the amp rating of your well pump to start it up.

 

[Eddie]

The way he described it to me is as follows:
Core drill hole in basement floor, I'm not sure what size yet.
Purchase well point and 2.5' sections of pipe.
He built a driver that he said is like a heavy fence post driver.
Drive the pipe into the ground.
Install pitcher type pump
He also has a tool to pull the pipe if the screen gets clogged.
He said we can do this for about $200.

Sorry if I have something here that doesn't add up. I don't know anything about wells except you get water out of them.

When we do mine I'll pay attention and report back.

resdep

Nope, sounds like a very interesting idea.

 

[hickuleas]

I have an basic old style hand pump mounted on well cap. It works good for me but i am only drawing water from 10' down.

 

[redneckmedic]

How do you keep the basement from flooding after a nice rain with a big hole in floor?

 

[resdep]

Geese Redneck,
It will only be a hole large enough to get the pipe through. Maybe 4". Most basements I have seen have an 18" hole in the floors and they don't flood. My sump pump rarely runs so I am not concerned about a 4" hole in the center of the basement floor. Yes, I said center. I have a wall that runs the length of the basement and our intent is to put the pump close to that wall.

 

[DougBarnes101]

The way he described it to me is as follows:
Core drill hole in basement floor, I'm not sure what size yet.
Purchase well point and 2.5' sections of pipe.
He built a driver that he said is like a heavy fence post driver.
Drive the pipe into the ground.
Install pitcher type pump
He also has a tool to pull the pipe if the screen gets clogged.
He said we can do this for about $200.

Sorry if I have something here that doesn't add up. I don't know anything about wells except you get water out of them.

When we do mine I'll pay attention and report back.

resdep

Hope you don't live on top of a hill or the aquafer is only down about 10-20 feet. Driving a well a couple of hundred feet will get tiring and expensive. I have only heard of people driving a well about 20-30 feet. But I my be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[cosermann]

Drive points work best with a relatively shallow water table and sandy or loamy soil. They are sometimes called "sand points" because of this. They're small diameter wells 1 1/4" to 2" usually. Areas with heavy and/or rocky soils are not usually good candidates. Since they're usually relatively shallow, all typical shallow well caveats apply.

My grandpa's hunting property up in northern Michigan had a wonderful well he sunk with a drive point. But, my neck of the woods now (southern IN) is not drive point friendly.

Google "drive point well" and you'll come up with lots of information.

 

[resdep]

My neighbor drove a well a couple of years ago by hand and hit water at 20'. I don't know how the quality was. So if your'e starting 8' down already hopefully I could hit water in 20' or less. Won't know until I try. The original well that I had was 40' deep. Granted the water was very hard but it worked until lighting struck and the case cracked. At this point I won't know until I try.