There is an article in the Countryside archives called 'How To Get Water From A Drilled Well When The Power Is Off' which describes how to build a simple emergency pump. The article tested it on a 20 foot well.

I have a 120 foot well. Will this pump still work for me?

Has anyone else tried this pump?

Are there any other ways to get electricity out of a drilled well when the power is off?

-- Richard Askwith (askwith@grey-bruce.net), January 20, 2002

Answers

We live in the Gulf Coast area of Texas and have lots of power outages. The worst cases are after Huracains and Tropical storms.We have a 5.5KW coleman Generator that can be hooked into the power for escentials..well,AC in the summer ect. This is the only way to use our well when power is out. Hope this helps. God Bless and have a Great day.

-- Charles Steen (xbeeman412@aol.com), January 20, 2002.

I don't think the issue is so much how deep the well is as it is how much water is in the well casing. Example: Our well is 180' deep but it has water in the casing up to twenty feet. In other words, if I set up a shallow well pump, rated for 25', it would work until I drew the well down another 5'. You need to find out how much water is actually in the well.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 20, 2002.

We have the same concerns here. Our well is at least 250 feet so the plumber has told us. I think before too long we just might buy a little generator. Something to pull that water up for us and the animals. Don't think we will get one that lights up the whole town though. I have heard of "ways" to get your water up for drinking....was it a ram of some sorts...would hold the water at different heights until it reached the top or something like that. Not much help with that idea am I ?? With the Y2K finished with generators aren't too, too expensive. Maybe that is the way we should both go and hope we have no severe storms. Good Luck !!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), January 20, 2002.

Richard:

I assume your last sentence was intended to read ...to get water out of a...

My neighbors had a drilled well long before they had electricity to put a pump in it. They obtained water using a Well Bucket, which is a metal tube about 4 1/2" OD which was lowered into the well casing. A flapper valve at the bottom allowed it to fill with water. See the Lehman's catalog for an example. Their model brings up two gallons at a time. Was in my catalog is $37.85 plus shipping. My neighbor's son said it was his job on washday to fill two of the large washing pots a container full at a time.

I've heard of this being done and it seems practical. Use a length, perhaps 6', of 2" PVC pipe and an end cap. Drill say a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the end cap. Now cut rubber from an old inner tube so it fits snuggly in the bottom of the cap. Then cut a horseshoe flapper valve in the rubber larger than the drilled hole. That is your flapper valve. Next glue the cap on the end of the pipe and attach a rope to the top through drilled holes. Should bring up about 1/2 gallon at a time. Going to a larger diameter pipe would, of course, increase the volume.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 20, 2002.

The issue with pumps are head and draw. Draw is how far a pump will suck. The mechanical militations of any pump are 25' (in theory). head is how far a pump will push water. Head is much farther than draw. This is why pumps are 1) submersible if over 25 draw or 2) push air in to get water out (jet pump). So if the pump that you are refering to sucks from the top then no it won't work as it exceeds a draw of 25', but if it sucks from within the well casing i.e. it is submerible then it should work

-- mark (toymeister@hotmail.com), January 20, 2002.

Richard, my best advice is to do like we did. Go to a company that deals in wells and pumps. We went to one in the Houston area, which had serval hand pumps and pitcher pumps set up, you could see how it worked, how you could put it along side an inground or surface mounted pump. Like the previous poster, makes a difference where you water level is, because though we have a deep well with a submersible pump our hand pump works very well, though we also had been told it couldn't work. I love having a generator also, but nothing is as nice as not having to haul water to the stock. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 20, 2002.

Becareful with a generator.Make sure it will run a pump.You don't want to burn out your pump.The start-up is what will do it.I have a big one just for this reason.I want it to run the furnace too,even though we have a wood stove in the cellar and a cookstove in the kitchen. Get it bigger than want you need. I think I have a 6000 watts genertor.I've only used it twice. The Farm Chesterville,Me

-- Ray (thecfarm@midmaine.com), January 20, 2002.

One warm summer day when you really want to know the answer to this take the pipe loose from your well put fittings on the top so it looks like a jay then pull up 4 ft and push down again like a pump (the whole pipe) we used to do this after our pump lost its prime the valve on the bottom worked like a one way. dont know what you have down there thats why tey it when you dont need it not in the next emergency. hope it works.

-- leroy hamann (yorel_56714@yahoo.com), January 26, 2002.