well hand pumps and help putting it in.

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WE are done opening the well!!! it measures 36 ft to water and there is 6 ft of water. the water level seems low to me but if we do not put a pump on it we need to fill it and that will turn into a large bag of worms{trust me}. ? #1 the pitcher pumps i have found say they only go to 25 ft,is there a way to modify them? ?#2 the well is at ground level now we will raise it by useing a concrete sleeve should we cap it w/ concrete or iron and how to you figure out how to mount the pump? sorry for all these ?,s the inspector is coming tomorrow a.m and i cant find any info. anywhere. thanks

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), November 19, 2000

Answers

I have a pitcher hand pump for our well and I got an adapter for the 2 in. base to accomodate 3/4 in. schedule 40 pvc. The distance to our water is 35 ft and I have the line at a length of 43 ft. It takes about a gallon to prime and to make it easier to pump, I put a 4 ft wooden extender to the pump handle using c clamps. I can pump a gallon with 12 strokes. Its harder to pump with the smaller line, but at least we can get water up with it.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 19, 2000.

I'm so glad you decided to keep the well. I remember my great aunt had a pitcher pump right in her sink.My uncle had piped to the well for her.He was a really handy guy.It was a long time ago and I have no idea how he did it.But since he did,it can be done,and these folks will know how if anyone does,I'd say. Good hunting!

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), November 19, 2000.

Renee, Cumberland (General Store? Country Store? Anyway, they have a catalog) sells hand pumps and a book or booklet with instructions. I think Lehmen's does, also. See what you can find on-line -- they both have web-sites. But I know you can put a hand pump on a well as deep as eighty or a hundred feet, it just takes more pumping to get it up. And you have to have the right kind of pump, so get ahold of those catalogs!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 20, 2000.

I lived with a pitcher pump(short handle pump) atop a 20 foot driven 1.25inch well point for 10 years in Michigan. Had to be primed everytime one needed water. Also since there was more resistance in basically a 1.25inch well the cup leather wore out faily quickly. The flapper I replaced with a piece of inner tube cut into right shape. It acts as a sort of one way check valve. It last as long as I lived there.

If you have a larger diameter well, even a more shallow one, I strongly suggest finding a "long handle pump". I would have much preferred one of these in Michigan, but no way with a well point. This is the kind one sees in rural rest areas and on old wells in midwest farms. The pump cylinder with this type sits down into the water so priming is never necessary. This also means that these can be used in rather deep wells, although the deeper the well the more effort necessary at the handle end to get the water in your bucket. The top is just the spout and handle mechanism that pushes the sucker rod up and down moving the cup leather in the cylinder up and down and thus pumping water.

Unfortunately many of these long handle pumps are now yard decorations and the actual pump cylinder that sat down in the water is long ago discarded. Believe you can still buy just the cylinder part at Lehmans or other places. They were made of either cast iron or brass. Possibly could even make one out of PVC if you find appropriate size cup leather. Dont foget a flapper valve or a foot valve, or other check valve at bottom of cylinder if you make your own.

-- Hermit John (hermit@hilltop_homestead.zzn.com), November 20, 2000.


Unless you are really subject to power outages, I still would recommend putting in a submersible pump plumbed to an outside, frost- free faucet - so you can make the case it is for watering yard/garden only.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 20, 2000.


Waltonfeeds.com sells pumps for wells! I have not bought one yet, but plan too.

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), November 20, 2000.

Jay, since you are having to prime the pump each time, sounds like you have a small air leak.

When the electric goes out, the water in my trailer would siphon out. Was concerned the elements in the hot water heater would burn out. I had a plummer plumb in an anti-siphon valve, which stopped the problem. That might work at the bottom of your uptake pipe.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 21, 2000.


I was in a local hardware store recently and they have dceep well hand pumps for $300. that is a real bargain. It seems they bought them from another dealer who had stocked up on them for Y2K and thne got stuck with them/ Keep in mind that you can push water hundreds oif feet but only suck it a few feet (15-25') deep well or force pumps have the pump at the bottom on]f the well and push it up. we hgad a 350' well with a pum that you could just about chin yourself on before you got water. For every verticel foot of lift it is about 1# of stroke and for every foot of 5/8s sucker rod it is another pound of lift/stroke. so a 300' foot well would be like lifting 600# that is why the handles are so long and also why they use windmills to pump water. Pitcher pumps, (cistern pumps) generally will do about 15-18' but you can pump horizontaly for 100'+/- so you could have the well 50' more or less away from the house but pump it up inside the kitchen to a sink.

-- Howard C. Williams (redgate@echoweg.netm), November 21, 2000.

I have a well that doesn't produce enough water, to put a submersible in. So I have been looking for a hand operated well pump that will lift at least 70'. HELP....

-- Jake (sjlipari@juno.com), April 21, 2001.

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